This video came from the Reading Rockets page off of the WETA website. The reason I picked this video is because despite the fact that it is for elementary students, it offers valid points for middle grade teachers to use as well. She was explaining how we really need to help them group words together which is a big part of teaching them how to read especially in a math or science class. They need to be able to read a sentence and bring in other concepts with just that one sentence because often times we need to use multiple steps or concepts in a math or science class. Grouping words and concepts is a valuable lesson to learn when reading even though it can be hard.

Reading in school goes so much further than in English class. In order to learn effectively in all other subjects, we must be able to read the passages. However, each subject has a different purpose and prior knowledge which makes a huge impact on the ability to comprehend the information. I honestly did not think about how much prior knowledge is needed for every subject that makes it harder to comprehend a passage. This prior knowledge creates a network of information which is called a schema. This schema is necessary to build more information on top of it. In our EMAT class, we are working on looking at the standards, and discussing how specific standards from the previous years are needed in order to learn the new standard for the new grade level. This means as teachers we cannot assume that they remember the background information and might need to spend some time helping them remember previous standards.

The students might be able to answer a set of reading questions using context clues, but that does not mean they understood the new concept. Reading is a staged process in which there must be some sort of activating prior knowledge within the process. Therefore, reading is specific for each subject which means that all teachers need to be prepared to teach students how to read specifically for that subject. As students read, they need tools and materials to read with in order to help them interpret and analyze the passage. This might take them beyond the standards, but it is necessary for them to understand the different passages. As we support their reading then we also help them engage more thoroughly and deeply in the subject we are teaching. This is something that I will definitely want to make sure I do in my future math class.

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