| Step by step, block by block, see how you can get your reading stragglers over the bridge to comprehension.
The Building Blocks of the Bridge:
The bridge to comprehension for students who have mastered the necessary decoding skills consists of the four processes outlined by Dr. Louisa Moats and others, as well as the foundation of knowledge and language. By adding instruction and practice of these skills and strategies to your reading program, you can help strengthen the comprehension of your average and struggling readers.
- Fluency
- Vocabulary
- Reading Strategies
- Writing
- Knowledge and Language, or "Mental Models"
Special Education Focus: Skills for Reading
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Struggling and basic readers are, by definition, lacking in the skills that support fluent reading for meaning. Skills include everything from syllable division to recognizing punctuation to the interpretation of an idiom. Research strongly suggests that both kinds of instruction—in skills and in strategies—are necessary for poor readers. Skill development enhances comprehension, but comprehension must be practiced strategically with longer segments of text. Keep these things in mind:
- Divide time between skill practice and comprehension strategies.
- Read longer, more challenging passages aloud to students if they do not have the skills to read them independently, and teach reading strategies as oral comprehension strategies.
- Give skill practice in short doses; keep practicing and reviewing the skill until students are secure with it.
- After directly teaching a skill and giving it sufficient practice, look for opportunities to reinforce it when reading a longer text for meaning.
- It is better to teach fewer skills thoroughly than to teach many superficially.
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