I had 19 students in my first-grade class. Ten were girls and nine were boys. The students came from all over the metropolitan community because we are an open enrollment school. About 40 percent of our population were students who lived in the neighborhood, and 60 percent were students who enrolled from outside the district. The school originally became open enrollment because the neighborhood population that fed into the school was diminishing. However, families opted into the building for a variety of reasons. Some families selected this school because they were unhappy with their neighborhood school. Another reason families selected to opt in is because the location was convenient for their families' commute to work, and other families opted in because the students' parents work in the building. The students had a wide range of abilities. Three of the students were reading at a third grade level, and two qualified as non-readers. I had three students who were on Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). One of these students had only behavior goals. Another student had behavior goals as well as language goals. The third student had goals for his fine and gross motor skills. Over 17 percent of the school qualified for free or reduced lunch prices.
My students were showing gaps in their comprehension skills, which is why a new strategy for reading comprehension was needed. On a reading benchmark exam the students took, 12 out of the 19 students incorrectly answered at least one comprehension question. 8 out of 19 students also scored lower than 80 percent on the unit one end of selection test, which tests students' reading comprehension. The MAP (Measure of Academic Progress, an adaptive test) data also showed that my students had a need for improved comprehension instruction. Five out of 19 students had below grade level score in the comprehension sections. I also observed that during classroom discussions many of the students were unable to answer within, beyond, and about the text comprehension questions. In addition, few students were able to cite the text or revert back to the text to answer comprehension questions.
I chose to focus on targeted questioning to improve comprehension because it not only improves students' reading skills, but also helps them be more successful in all other aspects of the curriculum. Students need to be able to read and comprehend text to solve math problems, develop science and social studies skills and content, and also to be effective writers. It is important that students are able to comprehend and answer questions about text because reading is a fundamental skill needed to be literate in society. Comprehension is a key piece of developing reading skills that connect across the curriculum and throughout life.
On a benchmark exam 12 out of 19 missed at least one question regarding comprehension
8 out of the 19 students scored lower than 80 percent on an end of selection comprehension test
MAP data showed that 5 out of the 19 students were not demonstrating the comprehension skills they should be in first grade
During classroom discussions, many of the students were unable to answer within, beyond or about the text comprehension questions
Few students specifically cited the text or reverted back to the text when answering comprehension questions