Summary
The participants in the directed reading exercise found the activity extremely interesting. This is mainly because they had an opportunity to discuss their understanding and perceptions of the book. When the learners were introduced to the title and the illustrations, the responses received were both broad and general. For instance, the students did not point out the exact topic in the story but instead gave answers that were closely related to the same. The most interesting thing about the learners is that they easily developed a link between the title and the illustrations. Thus, they tried to guess a topic that would bring out the perceived relationship between the two. Another important point to note is that the imaginative abilities of the students were depicted in the responses given. In this case, the more imaginative students almost gave the right story topic.
After the first reading, it became apparent that the learners had a glimpse of what the story was all about. As a result, they changed their initial predictions. The argument at this point was that the students sought to establish a connection between the introduction, the title and the illustrations. Most of the predictions given were thus almost similar and closer to the story’s main topic. A common observation amongst the learners was that most stories often take a different direction after the introduction. Therefore, it’s hard to guess the exact conflict or end of a particular story. Nevertheless, there were evident efforts by the learners to move more closely to the required responses after going through the introduction.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
As the students read and discussed their understanding of the various sections of the book, it became apparent that they had understood the concept under discussion and would comfortably restate the connection between the already read segments. The fact that the learners were allowed to read and then stop to reflect on the sections covered meant that they had adequate time to reinvent what they had already read. This helped them in increasing their understanding of the stories. Therefore, breaking the book into segments increased the understanding as well as the retention rates of the students. As a result, it seemed easier to understand one section and relate it to other segments without reading the entire book first. At the end of the book, all students could comfortably reiterate what they had read and understood about the book. In one instance, when asked to explain the changes made in their initial predictions, the students quickly pointed out that their understanding improved as they continued reading the book. Overall, the directed reading activity was not only interesting but also interactive, and as a result, the students enjoyed the session.
Reflective Analysis
Reading and understanding comprehension is one of the most important objectives of learners in elementary level. Unfortunately, a significant number of students do not have the right reading skills and as a result, often fail to understand comprehensions. Directed reading is thus one approach that can be used to improve the learner's score in comprehension significantly. The fact that the approach emphasizes on interaction with the written text implies that a student has to first establish the point of interaction before proceeding to read the book. Interaction in return adds up to the overall understanding and content retention (El-Koumy, 2006).
Different people hold different opinions on the same subject matter. This results in disparities in the learners’ predictions. This emanates from the fact that every person processes information differently and this results in different levels of understanding. Coupled with differences in creative abilities, the presence of various opinions on a similar matter becomes a reality. However, there exists a point at which all the opinions seem to converge. For instance, after analyzing the illustrations and the title, the learners had different predictions about the contents of the book. Despite this, each of the students had valid reasons in justifying his or her position. Similarly, after reading the introductory segment, the students could still not entirely agree on the book’s main themes. Also, their predictions were different. However, after reading the various parts of the book to completion, they all agreed on the main themes as well as on the supporting points. Hence, the essence of comprehension is the establishment of a common point and level of understanding amongst learners, particularly when they are required to apply the learnt concepts in subsequent activities (El-Koumy, 2006).
Further reflecting on the exercise, one key observation is that learners quickly make certain conclusions based on the first impressions of the written text. Subsequently, the conclusions drawn determine the students’ attitudes towards the written text, and hence the point of interaction with the same text. As one reads through the book, there are tendencies to confirm the already established notions about the material being read. As a result, some learners may easily fail to deduce the most important points due to the preconceived notions. Directive reading, fortunately, can be used to train students on creating a neutral first impression of any given text and hence the urge and curiosity to read through (El-Koumy, 2006). For instance, the primary objective of the exercise was to align the learners’ imaginative abilities to the book’s main points. Once the student’s imagination is ignited so that he or she develops the urge to continue reading, there are high chances that the assigned material will be read to completion.
References
El-Koumy, A. S. A. (2006). The effects of the directed reading-thinking activity on EFL students' referential and inferential comprehension. Browser Download This Paper.
