[MOSAIC] Comprehension Instruction for Primary Grades

[Tracy Bottrill]

I have been following this list-serv for about a month.  There has been a 
lot of discussion on comprehension startegies, what works and what doesn't. 
Many of the discussions were aimed at intermediate grade levels and higher.  
I'm looking for some help in a primary classroom.   I teach in an inner-city 
first grade inclusion classroom.  While we teach comprehension startegies 
such as retelling/summarizing and model question asking techniques about the 
stroy structure.   Our students struggle when it comes to taking an 
independent reading assessment in the reading series we use.  The reading 
assessment usually consists of 3-4 stories followed by 5-6 comprehension 
questions for each story.  I believe the majority of the problem is the 
maturity level of first graders.  It's hard for most of them to focus on an 
independent task to begin with.  What would be some techniques in 
instructing them to be better test takers at this age?   I only allow them 
to do one story per day, so that they won't feel overwhelmed. I stress the 
importance of going back to the story and underlining their answer within 
the story.   I hesistate to have them read aloud to an adult each time 
because they might not have that support in the following years classroom.  
Help!  I know they are capable of doing better then they do on these 
assessments.