As I said in my previous posts in this series on 'Improving
Comprehension', we need to encourage ‘deep’ reading. For the
reading of literature we want children not only to be able to
read the words and follow a basic narrative plot, we want them
to grasp the richness of characterization, the devices the
author uses to create mood and tension, the intent and purpose
of the writer and the language devices employed; all the while
being moved by the text and able to reflect and respond
critically to it. When reading non-fiction we want readers to be
able to understand what it is that the author is seeking to
communicate, to learn from the reading of the text, to use the
text for varied appropriate purposes, and to be able to critique
the accuracy and truth of its content. The importance of prior
knowledge In any act of reading prior knowledge is important.
Research on Schema theory in the 1970s by Richard C. Anderson
and his colleagues and students at the University of Illinois
taught us a great deal about the wa