Rigor, analysis, and critical thinking, oh my. Every educator and every leader should put a quarter in a jar each time one of those words is uttered, and I bet they would have enough to take a nice, long vacation. There is nothing wrong with any of these words. Moving to higher forms of thinking and learning is the ultimate goal for most classroom teachers. However, we can't forget the grandmaster king of them all of them all - comprehension. Comprehension is a never-ending spiral. Even as adults, there are times where we may not comprehend everything we read especially if it's for an unfamiliar subject matter. If you give me a book on aerodynamics, I may initially react the same way students do to the first chapter of To Kill A Mockingbird.
If we could all instantly have high-level conversations immediately about the plant in A Raisin in the Sun, or the true meaning of Ponyboy's poem in The Outsiders, it'd be fantastic. Most teachers of reading love literature. However, we need to make sure we are guiding students correctly and assessing the text-complexity levels of all texts. This needs to be a part of teacher planning. Does the text have new vocab? Is the syntax different? Is it written in a different dialect?
The pitfall to getting overly excited about rigor and analysis is that there can be an assumption that kids will just "get it" because of a text they did the day before. Analyzing character is impossible if the new text has a series of domain-specific words that confuse students. It's our job as educators to bridge the gap and constantly confirm comprehension before asking the "juicier/more engaging questions".
5 tips to center comprehension and still prioritize rigor
1. Always confirm comprehension before moving onto analysis. This can be done through class conversation, stop and jots, a multiple choice question, or other methods that prove students comprehend the important key points. I want to ensure at least 65-70% of the class demonstrates solid comprehension before moving on. Students who still are confused, can receive 1:1 check ins or be pulled for a small group.
2. The harder the text, the more comprehension questions you may need to create. A higher level class will likely breeze through the key points of a chapter easily. However, most students struggle more with non-fiction than fiction. Teachers should not assume that a particular class or sub-set of students will always have the same level of comprehension on new texts. Teachers should know how to differentiate but understand when a text is more harder than the next. Remind even your highest performers that the skills and strategies for genres can shift slightly in difficulty.
3. Don't get frustrated if they aren't giving the right answer. You've called on five eager students but they are all wrong. You glance at your top students' answers and they're wrong too. Pause. Maybe you need to re-read a page. Ask questions to see where students got stuck. There could have been something written in a complex way, tricky phrases, or students made assumptions without reading carefully. Make sure you share a transferable strategy if students get stuck. "Class, we didn't pay attention to who was speaking to each other which is why we struggled with #6. When you see dialogue that is confusing, make sure you pause and label who is speaking for each line. Let's practice this with page 5 before we move on".
4. The independent learner has a bank of strategies that can be used to drive their learning. However, students will vary in comprehension no matter the level of the class. Students should re-read difficult sections, solve for unknown words, and ask clarifying questions! Yes, during independent reading I allow students to ask me questions. We have moved beyond "what does this mean"? and I often hear students saying, "Look..Ms. G I read this section which seems similar to the other chapter when __________does this mean that _________________________". The fact that students can tell me their thought process and their likely answer makes it completely fine that they are getting feedback during independent reading. It means they are actively reading and care enough to check their own comprehension!
5. Lastly, it should get more rigorous. If your students are getting everything right every day, it is time for more of a challenge. If students are only exposed to the same novel all report period of course they will become experts. But what happens when you throw in a short story from the Victorian era? Their comprehension should slow down. They would need to start to understand the setting and any differences contrasted to modern society. Your more advanced students are usually wishing and waiting for more rigorous texts because they often get bored. It's important to note when giving students more unfamiliar texts, you'll need to spend more time on framing and comprehension. There is nothing wrong with this because the deeper comprehension is, the better the analysis.
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