We’ve all had the experience of reading something — an IRS form, a New Yorker cartoon — and not having a clue what it means. There’s more to reading than recognizing words. We need to grasp the meaning behind what we read in order for reading to be of any use. For some young readers, good decoding skills and a deep vocabulary lead to understanding. But a lot of kids need explicit instruction in how to decipher the meaning of what they read.

In a webcast from PBS Reading Rockets entitled Making Reading Count:  Essential Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension, experts Isabel Beck, Nanci Bell, and Sharon Walpole discuss the essential components for developing good reading comprehension skills in young children.  In addition, they identify some of the potential stumbling blocks and offer research-based comprehension strategies that teachers can use in the classroom to teach all children to become better readers.  You can check out part one of the webcast here:

You can download a PowerPoint presentation from the webcast that addresses areas such as children with learning disabilities, teaching comprehension to ELLS, and what we can learn from brain studies.  Additional resources  include recommended resources and Discussion questions.