Megan Jones

Edok #3
Fall 2010
Dr. Jeanie Cozens

Bishop, P. A., Reyes, C., & Pflaum, S. W. (2006). Read smarter, not harder: Global
reading comprehension strategies. Reading Teacher, 60(1), 66-69.

CENTRAL THEME:
The main idea of this paper was to tell educators that there is a variety of ways to
help student comprehend what they are reading. That it is best to build on students’
knowledge and strategies. Helping students discover and use new strategies is a key
concept of to help move students from decoding to comprehension that is meaningful.

MAIN IDEAS:
1. First idea is that educators need to take action, “all of these strategies are
critical to helping students move beyond literal comprehension and begin to
question, evaluate, and reconsider text.”
2. To model global reading strategies is the next main idea. That educators need
to help students realize what they are doing and how to improve on it; even if
it’s just asking questions.
3. It’s best to build on existing strategies that the student’s already know such as:
problem solving, inventories, surveys, informal interviews, drawings.
Helping students learn how to use textual and visual clues in a range of ways.
Try to use frontload text, active prior knowledge, word webs, predictions, and
even role-playing scenarios. That even skipping words, or known as
skimming the text, can be helpful.

AUTHORS’ CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, the three authors were stating that is the job of educators to help
students take reading to the next level. That without the tools of comprehension students
would not be reading or understanding what they are supposed to. That the best way to
help students learn these strategies is to use scaffolding, building on what they know and
helping them reach new levels.

EVALUATION:
All together this article was very helpful. Although I am not a very strong reader,
there are certain aspects to this article that help me realized why I like to read what I do.
If I can understand why I read what I want, and not what I like, will help me to better
understand my students needs around me. I have never taken the time to think about how
I comprehend what I do read. At some point in my educational life I suppose I was
taught these concepts that helped take me from decoding words and not understanding to
fully grasping a story and its depth. This article will be a good reference for all areas of
content and for all educators, administrators, and even parents.