Reading is a purposeful and wilful act which many people around the world engage in, all in order to establish meaning. Meaning is at the core of all reading, and is presented to us in many different forms of multiliteracies such as through print, digital, visual or verbal. It involves many complex metacognitive strategies that we as educators need to be able to critically teach to our students in order for them to become ‘executive readers’ (Winch, 2010). ‘Students need to be taught comprehension strategies to enable them to become executive readers and fully understand text’ (Winch, 2010, p.8).
Comprehension of text is the aim of reading, and allows us to be able interpret what we are reading, and make more sense of the world around us. ‘Reading is the process of constructing meaning from text, whether written or graphic, paper based or digital’ (Winch, 2010, p.4). Text is everywhere and we use it for many aspects of our daily lives, from reading the newspaper to checking prices at shopping centres, and even reading road signs and instructions. Reading is concrete to our existence and we undertake in order to gain understanding and meaning, and respond appropriately and when necessary.
Comprehension of text is the aim of reading, and allows us to be able interpret what we are reading, and make more sense of the world around us. ‘Reading is the process of constructing meaning from text, whether written or graphic, paper based or digital’ (Winch, 2010, p.4). Text is everywhere and we use it for many aspects of our daily lives, from reading the newspaper to checking prices at shopping centres, and even reading road signs and instructions. Reading is concrete to our existence and we undertake in order to gain understanding and meaning, and respond appropriately and when necessary.
As teachers, it is essential we equip our students with the skills and strategies required to become 'executive readers' and readers for life. Developing exceptional comprehension skills supports 'good readers' (Duke & Pearson, 2002) and will be a skill that resonates with almost every aspect of students school and personal life. It is our hope that this website will provide you as beginning teachers, with some useful information, strategies and support systems to implement into your classrooms.
"Comprehension of text is the aim of reading, and allows individuals to interpret what it is they are reading, and make more sense of the world around them."
Reading is an active process so:
- Readers must have a clear understanding of why they are reading, what they are expected to gain from reading and how they are going to use the information
- Readers need to be aware of suitable reading methods they can choose to use before they read the text
- Readers need to see processes modelled demonstrating how competent readers construct meaning