Reading Comprehension Building Blocks

Target Audience:

SLPs, Educators, OTs, Psychologists, Parents

Course Level:

Introductory

Course Description:

Do we really understand what reading comprehension is all about?

Do we know how to teach reading comprehension and are we teaching it in ways that meet the needs of our diverse academic classrooms?

In this session, we will explore the components of reading comprehension, specifically the notion of schema and the critical role it plays in the development of understanding text – for without schema there is no comprehension!

In order to comprehend a written text, a reader must activate, revise, or create a schema which generates a representation of the text in the reader’s mind that adequately interprets the text.  Successful comprehension requires readers to construct- based on their schema- a coherent representation of the text and to continuously interact and process printed text by simultaneously using their lexical, syntactical and language skills. How do we know if our students are doing this? And more importantly, are we teaching our students to make these interactive connections?

In this workshop, we will learn how to examine the different ways students attempt to comprehend text.  In addition, we will learn several strategies that help students make appropriate representation of written text as well as helping them interact with written texts more efficiently!

Speaker:

Dr. Rebeka Gutkind has served the special needs population of the Jewish community for over thirty years.  She earned her Doctorate from Fordham University specializing in Language Literacy and Learning.  She received a Master of Science from Ferkauf Graduate School, Yeshiva University in Special Education and a Bachelor of Science at the University of Nebraska in Special Education.  She was founder and director of the Rabenstein Learning Center in Far Rockaway, New York, from 1983 to 2008, an integrated bilingual special education program within a larger educational community.  This center included a resource room, inclusionary and self -contained classes, an educational testing center, a child study team, and a behavior management program.  Over the years, Dr. Gutkind has also advised and facilitated the program development for emerging special education projects.

At the present time Dr. Gutkind is an Educational Consultant in private practice and has taught Special Education courses at Fordham Graduate School of Education.  She gives in-service training for teachers and principals at schools across the New York City area.  Dr. Gutkind also consults for schools and personal clients in developing and implementing appropriate interventions and methodologies for all types of classroom settings.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this seminar, learners will be able to:

• Differentiate the components of language that relate to reading comprehension
• Explain how schema plays a role in the development of comprehension
• Demonstrate strategies that will help students with reading and expressive language skills
• Understand how to differentiate between efficient and inefficient comprehenders

Special Needs:

We would be happy to accomodate your ADA needs and special requests.  Please call at least two weeks prior to the seminar date.