Module 4: Text Reflections

I found the points made in Chapter 9 of the Opitz text to be so very true. Students who are exposed to more and different types of text are usually much more proficient readers; I can always tell a difference in my kindergartners who are exposed to different types of text and whose parents read with them at home.
In my classroom I attempt to expose my students to as many different types of text as possible but I end up most often relying on basal readers and predictable books which are probably my favorite. Predictable books are wonderful for rhyme and word family activities as well as comprehension strategies such as sequencing. The students are usually engaged by the rhythm and the illustrations so are much more likely to respond to the text than some other types.
In the 10^th chapter of the Opitz text, comprehension is addressed. The first point made in the chapter that struck me as so very relevant, was the statement on p. 210 that explained the relationship between listening and reading comprehension. I have seen how one affects the other because all of my students have a developmental language delay. A student can have amazing word recognition and fluency but if they don’t have a grasp of spoken language, it greatly affects their reading comprehension.
As it especially relevant to my day to day work in regards to language and cognitive development, I found the section on schema theory very interesting. It’s so fascinating to me how new information is assimilated with prior knowledge.
The rest of the chapter goes on to explain the different levels of comprehension, from literal meaning to creative reading where the student uses information presented to come up with alternatives to the author’s ideas. The chapter further explains comprehension strategies with tables explaining each. This will serve as a useful reference for later.
Chapter 11 of the Opitz text explains how new vocabulary is acquired, different levels of vocabulary knowledge, and strategies for instruction. I found the most useful portion of the chapter to be the table that illustrates a Diagnostic Checklist for Vocabulary Development on p. 266. This checklist is an excellent developmental scale of vocabulary acquisition. I will be referencing this chapter further as I try to add new strategies for teaching vocabulary.