“Wow you read that beautifully!” My second grade teacher said. I beamed with pride, knowing I had read the story with perfect fluency, pausing at full stops and commas as well as using expression.
“So tell me what happened in the story Angela” … What? I froze. I had no response. I was so focussed on ‘reading’ it perfectly that I had forgot to READ it!
I have no memory of this happening of course. My Dad tells me that story as it was told to him at parent teacher interviews. While I was a perfect little ‘reader’ my comprehension was lacking. From that moment on he always asked me to retell the story, and in time, I learned to ‘read’ as well as ‘read’. Confusing no? But it is true, sometimes we get so caught up in making sure children know the difference between what sounds ‘a’ and ‘b’ make that we forget… Read the rest