167. Fundamental, Cognitive, and Environmental Factors That Affect Reading Comprehension

The Literacy Dive Podcast: Reading and Writing Strategies for Upper Elementary Teachers and Parents - A podcast by Megan Polk, Literacy Specialist, Elementary Teacher - Mondays

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One, if not the biggest, thing we focus on as literacy teachers is getting our students to be successful readers. But as upper elementary teachers, you know that you will have several students in your class who struggle with reading comprehension. This then becomes a major focus in our classrooms, but we know a student’s lack of reading comprehension can vary based on the student’s needs. So, how do we identify the root of the problem? In today’s episode, I’m sharing the different skills, processes, and factors that contribute to a student’s lack of reading comprehension.As teachers, it’s in our nature to try and fix problems before they happen or quickly implement strategies that improve a skill any student is lacking. However, when it comes to a student’s lack of reading comprehension, it’s important to work backward and get to the root before planning proper intervention techniques. In my experience, if a student is struggling with reading comprehension, it’s because they struggle with either fundamental skills, cognitive processes, or environmental factors. I’m going to highlight each of these areas and identify 14 potential causes as to why reading comprehension is difficult for a student in your class.Being a successful reader is more than just reading words on a page; it’s also the ability to analyze, comprehend, and explain what’s happening in the text. So, when students lack reading comprehension skills, they don’t have the necessary tools to be successful readers. In order to help them with this, we first need to identify what they’re struggling with in the area of reading comprehension before we plan intervention strategies for the student. Stay tuned to next week’s episode, where I unpack the reading comprehension causes shared today and dive further into strategies and interventions to help your students! Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode167Resources Mentioned:Vocabulary Writing Prompts SampleFREE Context Clues Activity SetReading Comprehension Activity BundleReading Graphic OrganizersReading Comprehension Question RingsReading Skills and Strategies Anchor ChartsSentence Stem Response CardsSentence Stem Anchor ChartsConnect with Me:Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership hereShop my TpT store