244. Are You Making This Mistake in Your Comprehension Instruction? (Part 1)
Mar 17, 2025
Many upper elementary teachers struggle with students mastering comprehension skills, often because they teach these skills in isolation. This approach can hinder lasting understanding. Instead, a deeper, integrative method is recommended, taking into account factors like background knowledge and vocabulary. The discussion emphasizes the importance of viewing comprehension as an outcome rather than a checklist. Listeners are encouraged to rethink their strategies and can look forward to more insights in a workshop and future discussions.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Check Your Approach
Check if you teach comprehension by isolating standards.
This approach may hinder lasting comprehension.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Data-Driven Doesn't Always Work
Sarah Marie shares her experience with data-driven instruction.
Focusing on isolated standards led to inconsistent student results.
insights INSIGHT
Comprehension is Not a Single Skill
Students mastering a skill in one text may struggle with it in another.
True comprehension requires more than isolated skill mastery.
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If you’ve ever wondered why your students can master comprehension skills one week but struggle the next, you’re not alone. Many upper elementary teachers follow a standards-based approach, teaching comprehension skills in isolation. But what if that’s the very thing preventing students from building lasting comprehension? In today’s episode, we’re diving into the biggest mistake teachers make when teaching comprehension—and why shifting your approach can lead to better results.
Too often, comprehension instruction in upper elementary classrooms is structured around a checklist of isolated skills—one week on main idea, another on summarizing, then moving on to character analysis. But is this approach truly helping students become strong, independent readers? The reality is that comprehension isn’t just about mastering individual skills—it’s an outcome that depends on multiple factors, including background knowledge, vocabulary, and fluency. When we focus too heavily on isolated comprehension strategies, we miss the bigger picture of what truly helps students understand and retain what they read.
We’ll break down why teaching comprehension skills in isolation doesn’t lead to lasting comprehension and discuss the key factors that truly impact students’ ability to understand a text. By the end of this episode, you’ll start to see comprehension not as a checklist of strategies but as an outcome—one that requires the right instructional conditions to happen. And if you want to take an even deeper dive into this topic, be sure to join us for our upcoming Unlocking Comprehension workshop this March at stellarteacher.com/workshop.
Stellar Teacher Podcast: A Podcast for Upper Elementary Teachers