Webinar: Considering Comprehension Across English AND Maths | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

This webinar discusses the importance of comprehension in both English and math, offering strategies for teaching reading comprehension and mathematical reasoning.

Key Insights

• 🧑‍🎓 Comprehension involves both language comprehension and mathematical reasoning, and weaknesses in any of these areas can affect a student's understanding.
• 🖕 Teachers should take a comprehensive approach to teaching comprehension, addressing both English and math, and collaborating with middle leaders to develop content across the curriculum.
• 🧑‍🎓 Explicitly teaching comprehension strategies, such as visualization and questioning, can help improve students' comprehension skills in both subjects.
• ❓ Extensive reading and problem-solving practice are crucial for developing comprehension skills.
• ⏯️ Metacognition plays a significant role in comprehension, as good readers and problem solvers use metacognitive strategies to monitor and adjust their understanding.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: What is the difference between reading comprehension in English and mathematical reasoning?

While reading comprehension focuses on understanding written text using language and background knowledge, mathematical reasoning involves logic, reasoning, and understanding of symbols, numbers, and relationships.

Q: How can teachers help students improve their comprehension skills in both English and math?

Teachers should explicitly teach comprehension strategies, such as visualization and questioning, and provide opportunities for extensive reading and problem-solving practice.

Q: What role does metacognition play in comprehension?

Metacognition, or thinking about thinking, is crucial in developing comprehension skills. Good readers and problem solvers use metacognitive strategies to monitor and adjust their understanding while reading or solving math problems.

Q: How can parents support their children's comprehension skills?

Parents can read with their children and engage in discussions about what they are reading. They should also monitor their own attitudes towards math and promote a positive mindset towards learning.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The webinar aims to address the challenges teachers face when teaching comprehension in English and math, as identified by a survey of over 200 teachers.

• Comprehension involves various cognitive processes, including background knowledge, vocabulary, inference, and working memory. Weaknesses in any of these elements can affect a reader's understanding.

• The webinar emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to comprehension, spanning both English and math, and suggests strategies for explicit teaching, visualization, and questioning.