3321-M&W Chapter 3

What we read: Comprehension, Vocabular, & Discussion

Basically comprehension is actually being able to understand what we read. There have been times when I read something that is not interesting to me so I skim through it and in the end I have no idea what I just read. Therefore I must agree that without comprehension, I simply decoded the words. I had never looked at it this way but I can surely relate to this concept. Pearson & Gallgher state that comprehension bridges the new to the known. When pre-kinders first start school they bring with them their own knowledge of their world. According to most of them, they know how to do anything and everything with the few exceptions that will state they don't know how to do it. I believe that this is the age where it is very important to grasp their attention. My role as a facilitator is to therefore learn the things that interest them and take what they already know (schemas) and introduce new concepts and vocabulary. Since vocabulary does play an important role as what they will understand, then we encourage parents to speak to them using correct words such as food instead of "papa". In the later years with good reading experiences, they will be able to define words by simply looking at the context in which it is being used.