Teachers need to help students choose the right books. This requires explicit teaching about book choice and frequent discussion about what makes a book easy or hard to read. This is the most important question on the checklist. Reading instruction that focuses on correct pronunciation or rapid decoding may result in students who sound as though they are good readers but who cannot retell what they read. Comprehension is the key.
Students only acquire literacy when they make sense of texts.
Proficient readers construct meaning from text by using their background knowledge and cues from all three cue systems. At the same time, they focus on meaning and use only as many cues as they need to make sense of texts. As students talk about their reading during literature studies or content area discussions, they connect the reading to their lives. They also clarify difficult passages and develop greater comprehension. Talk is a crucial component in any good literacy program.