Reading Comprehension - Tweets discussion with Dr. Sam Bommarito

                                                             

Here is a Twitter discussion between Dr. Sam Bommarito and me.

Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel Nov 8

Dr. Sam Bommarito, the simple view of reading says:

   Reading comprehension = Word Recognition X Language Comprehension.

Almost all of my students were unable to answer comprehension questions found at the back of the book when they read the passages. But all of them could answer when I read to them.

Is it a language comprehension problem or a word recognition problem?

If it is not a Language Comprehension problem, then where does the Reading Comprehension problem come from?

How is it that kids who have gone to school for 2 or 3 years have a word recognition problem?

Dr. Sam Bommarito @DoctorSam7

See my previous answer regarding why kids have word recognition problems; that is a complex question. BTW, effective instruction like @TimRasinski1 outlined (and P.D. Pearson & @RacheGabriel & @nellkduke have outlined) will help kids overcome both word recognition and comprehension problems.

Note: Dr. Sam avoided the question about why kids after 2 to 3 years of schooling have a word recognition problem. 

Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel

'Poor readers are less efficient in transforming letters into sounds.' (P.D.Pearson).

He got it wrong too. I asked him questions which he said he would reply soon.

Read my post on the interview with you. LINK

It is not a complex question. The image above explains.

The students I taught were able to comprehend when I read to them. Therefore, the problem is in word recognition and not in language comprehension.

I have explained this in my post here.  LINK

 

Dr. Sam Bommarito @DoctorSam7

That demonstrates that they have a good listening comprehension capacity.  If you make "read to remember" or "tell me about the story now that you've read it" a regular part of your lessons, I think you will find that their comprehension of passages they read will improve.

Note: I am talking about word recognition and he keeps harping on comprehension. The simple view above explains that they are two separate parts of an equation.

Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel

Phonics is sounds represented by letters + blending.

How does one expect a kid to blend letters that are taught with extraneous sounds? This is the main reason why many kids shut down/ disengage from learning to read. I have described this in my book. LINK

Tell me why most kids who are unable to read are brought to grade level within a short period of intervention. Please don't tell me it is because of Tim Rasinski's Morphology exercises.

 

Note: Many of the educators on Twitter put the blame on phonics without understanding that phonics is Sound Symbol + Blending. The problem is not phonics but the way the letter sounds are taught. If sounds of consonants are taught without extraneous sounds then no kid will be left behind. 

Again, Dr. Sam has conveniently avoided my question on why most kids who were unable to read were able to read within a short period of intervention.

Tim Rasinski @TimRasinski1

Fluency matters. - Check out the results from xxx.

 

Note: This guy, Tim Rasinski, is only interested in selling his wares. He has published a few books and all he wants is to market his products. How in the world does morphology help kids to decode?

Luqman Michel @luqmanmichel

Tim, I don't doubt for a moment that this will improve comprehension/fluency of many. Take off those blinkers and for goodness sake read my links attached.

How in the world is your fluency or whatever going to help kids who are unable to decode?

Note: Of course there is no reply and I don't expect any.