Literacy News

BUILDING COMPREHENSION

Comprehension, or making meaning, is the ultimate goal of reading. It is an extremely important part of the Big Six of Literacy. Comprehension is when readers go beyond decoding words; it involves understanding and connecting ideas. A curriculum filled with rich content—covering subjects like history, geography, science, and literature—gives students the background knowledge needed to make sense of new information and form deeper connections. At CPS we are building a knowledge-rich curriculum in order to develop deeper understandings of what we are learning. This is being achieved through carefully planned novel and unit studies which allow students to discuss and write about what they are reading to support building background knowledge.

When students talk about texts, they practice expressing their thoughts and hearing others’ perspectives, which helps build their own understanding. Writing about we are reading allows students to organise their thoughts, reflect on what they've learned, and clarify ideas. This process of discussing and writing promotes critical thinking and deepens comprehension, making students more engaged and knowledgeable readers.

Here are some examples of recent unit studies in Grade 1 & 2:

Grade 1:

Students recently studied a unit called, Different Lands, Similar Stories. Each week a different folktale from around the world was shared and discussed. Students compared what was the same and what was different between the folktales while also learning the country of origin for the folktales. After reading a range of folktales featuring tiny characters like Tom Thumb from England, Thumbelina from Denmark and Issun Boshi from Japan the students were tasked to write their own narrative. It was great to see children taking inspiration from what was learned and then applying it to structure their own stories. 

Mrs Washington Grade 1 teacher