Comprehension Issue or Assignment Issue?

From the desk of Hope…

I write this blog as a question hoping to get some interaction and feedback from you.

Recently I’ve had three parents approach me about “issues” their children are having with reading comprehension.  Before I go into the “issues” I would like to describe these children to you as I know all three of them well – one boy and two girls, all in third grade.

These children are avid readers. They have a book, or two, going at all times. Through personal conversations with them, there is evidence they transport themselves to the scene of plots, they become the characters and they can’t wait to find out what is going to happen next.

I have heard all three of these children talk about texts they are reading in great details and with enthusiasm. They recount their favorite parts and laugh as they think about them obviously connecting to characters, events and drawing pictures in their minds.

All three of these readers are self-expanders- meaning they do not have to be told to read, they read because they want to. They are curious and ask questions about their world and then research their curiosities. They “expand” themselves in a self-directed kind of way. In other words, they teach themselves for the simple reason they love to learn.

All three of these children are reading at least two years ahead based on my assessment with the Fountas and Pinnell Reading Assessment System and they are in academically gifted classrooms.

So you may be saying to yourself, “what is the problem?”

These three readers are having trouble with reading comprehension assignments at school. Their parents are getting comments from teachers that these students are not proficient when given work which asks higher level questions and this sometimes results in grades as low as D or F.

Two of them have started tutoring to help with their “issues”.

When I asked these parents to be specific with me about the problematic assignments, the assignments were described as passages and questions to answer about the passages, mostly in, select A,B,C,D format. Teachers send home supplemental worksheets for them to get some extra practice.

Is this really a reading comprehension issue or is this a reading assignment issue?

As a reading specialist and someone who these parents have come to for help with reading “issues”, it is hard, nearly impossible, for me to know how to help these parents who, in my opinion, have just the kind of readers we want.  These readers love to read, spend lots of time reading, read well above grade level and clearly understand what they are reading. (Trust me when I tell you that you would not find children reading this much if it was not making sense to them.)

Could it be that these very strong and proficient readers don’t want to be bothered with such non-meaningful reading assignments? Could it be that these readers are so into making meaning as they read, connecting to the text and creatively using their imaginations, they lose sight of the assignment?

I have been doing a lot of thinking about his lately and I know these kids need to “do school” but where do we draw the line with doing what is best for kids?

I throw my hands up to you and ask, what are your thoughts, reactions  and questions to these perceived “reading comprehension issues”?