This course focuses specifically on supporting the academic development of students who are competent decoders but who struggle to understand the meaning of what they read. We will explore the different types of comprehension difficulties students may face and will introduce a number of research-based strategies to improve comprehension skills. Instructional strategies will focus on building vocabulary skills, using teacher modeling, having students work collaboratively, and building comprehension monitoring skills. As a final project, participants will design and implement a lesson plan focused on improving students' reading comprehension.

Goals and Products

This workshop will enable participants to:

• Identify the different kinds of comprehension difficulties students may experience
• Understand and apply techniques for improving student comprehension through teacher modeling, peer-to-peer work and independent reading
• Explore strategies for helping struggling readers to become more engaged with text, more independent as readers and more proficient at finding ways to monitor their reading
• As a final product, participants will create a lesson plan for struggling readers using the knowledge they have gained from the session

Format and Requirements

Prerequisites

Participants are expected to have regular access to computers. In addition, participants should be proficient with using email, browsing the Internet, and navigating to computer files.