Skilled Comprehension and Its Development Through Instruction

Abstract

This article addresses the myth that children will be able to comprehend a text simply because they can decode words in it. Evidence is provided to support the claim that developing readers benefit from explicit teaching of comprehension strategies via direct explanation and modeling of strategies. Transactional strategies in which readers interact with text and with each other are more effective in improving reading comprehension than reciprocal teaching, which involves less explicit instruction by the teacher. Classroom observation studies show that insufficient attention is directed to comprehension, which needs to be taught and not just monitored.