However...I think we need to understand that when we make a diagnosis about the strengths and weaknesses of a student as a reader, we are always making a hypothesis. Students who read slowly orally and comprehend poorly, MAY also have that problem when they read silently. We can't KNOW for sure, but we darn well better investigate and find out! An example, a child can comprehend poorly because they read too slowly---they read too slowly because they are spending too much mental energy in the decoding process. The flip side of this...when a child reads accurately and fluently but has no comprehension is a different problem and we need to start diagnosis at a different spot. It may be that they don't have enough background, they lack vocabulary knowledge, they can't synthesize ideas across the text or maybe they read too fast and lack engagement in what they are reading. While I totally agree with you that you can't be 100% certain that if students have trouble reading orally then they also will struggle silently, there are times when difficulties with oral reading also manifest themselves in when reading silently. It is our responsibility as educators to gather info from as many sources as possible, understand the limitations of the info we gather and then try to teach in a way to utilize the strengths of our students and work around or remediate the weaknesses. It isn't about "guessing"... it is making an informed hypothesis by gathering info. When a kid struggles, I want to know how they are doing with oral reading AND silent reading... Don't discount what oral read alouds may tell you about how a child reads...just interpret it in light of what ever else you know about how that child learns. Jennifer Maryland In a message dated 7/17/2007 8:13:18 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
And that's why I say that the question, "How can we possibly know that?" was indeed a brilliant question. What we have seen and heard on this listserve in reponse to that discussion pretty much show us adults, who probably have a better"guess" about what aids/hinders their comprehension, giving us well-documented and personal answers about oral/silent reading and comprehension. ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
