Cognition, content, and comprehension are all interrelated. Each aspect has an individual role to place in reading but to fully comprehend what is being read, cognition and content come into play.
Let’s start with discussing the cognition side of comprehension. When I say the cognition side, I refer to how the brain operates while reading. Reading is not a bystander event but instead is an active process that requires the working of a brain. Right now, while you’re reading this, your brain is working without you even realizing it. To be a reader, you must also be a comprehender of the text. Comprehenders set goals while reading, make inferences and predictions and ask questions while reading (Brown & Deweitz 2014). In Mosaic of Thought, the authors refer to these attributes as metacognitive strategies and includes asking questions, inferring, synthesizing, and more (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). Without being actively engaged, comprehension will lack.
In addition, the content also comes into play. Content impacts how an individual reads the text. Personally, when I read a fictional novel about something of interest to me, I am much more unconsciously engaged. On the other hand, if the content I’m reading is a fictional text of let’s say space, I would have to consciously engaged. In other words, I would have to actively try to be engaged with the text. Background knowledge and personal experiences are huge while reading a text. Each individual brings a different perspective when reading, impacting comprehension. For students who don’t have much background or experience, modeling becomes a very important role. Some students are not able to process how things work if they don’t have a step by step example. Showing students to relate what they’re currently reading with information before and after and developing a type of scheme also helps students comprehend what they’re reading (Keene & Zimmermann 2007).
In tying it all together, it becomes impossible to have adequate comprehension without acknowledging that the brain plays a critical role in addition to the type of content including one’s individual experiences. Although an individual cannot tangibly grasp the process of reading and comprehension, it is important for educators, and quite frankly any individual working with students learning to read, to understand that all aspects are intertwined to help promote and foster comprehension in addition to helping struggling readers. In understanding the different processes, we can also understand that where a student may be lacking in comprehension it could be due to different, individual processes such as relating it to their own life. If an educator can determine what aspect the student is struggling with, the teacher can promote comprehension. For example, if a student is struggling with relating the text to his or her life, the teacher can model a think aloud to show how to relate the text to better understand.
One thing I really enjoyed from Mosaic of Thoughtin this module’s readings was the chapter of imagery. The authors discussed the benefits of being able to depict the images in details of the story (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). I agree with the authors that depicting the story helps the reader better understand the characters in the text which leads to better comprehension (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). I also was able to relate to the story of the student who struggled to know what words were important in Mosaic of Thought.My students struggle as well with determining what words to focus on. I plan on teaching them the suggestion that was given in the book of explaining to them the definitions of contentives and functors (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). I believe that teaching them these things will help students differentiate between what’s important in sentences and in that help with determining what’s important overall.
References:
Brown, R., & Dewitz, P. (2014). Building comprehension in every classroom: Instruction with literature, informational texts, and basal programs New York, NY: Guilford.
Keene, E. O., & Zimmermann, S. (2007). Mosaic of thought: The power of comprehension strategy instruction: second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Cognition, Comprehension, and Content 