Reading Comprehension It is a fundamental belief that comprehension succeeds decoding.

A students can only comprehend once literacy has been established. Comprehension is a word taken from the Latin word term comprehendere. The root word prehendere means to seize thus comprehension means the act of capacity or getting, seizing, or understanding. Applying this into reading comprehension can very well mean as getting, seizing, or understanding the reading text. Comprehension includes correct association of meaning with word symbols, selection of the correct meaning as suggested by the context, the organization and retention of meanings, the abilty to reason ones way through smaller idea segments, and the ability to grasp the meaning of a larger unitary idea (Dechant, 1982) In schema theory, readers build connections between old knowledge and new knowledge through repeated interaction with content. These interaction results in hypotheses that the readers confirm or reject in relation to the text and their background knowledge. Comprehension is the synthesis of these hypotheses that results in constructing meaning. Although schema theory provides an appropriate explanation of what happens when the reader encounters known ideas and events, it is not as satisfactory when new ideas or events are involved (McNamara, Miller, & Bransford, 1991). According to Gunning (2006) the situations or mental model presents readers as creating in their minds representation of what they have read or a representation of the situation model reflects the key information in the text and the way it is organized. Common reading comprehension skills tested in standardized test are Noting Details, Predicting Outcomes and getting the Main Idea. When students give specific information on what they have read, they develop their skill of noting details. Noting of details is in the literal level of comprehension- the lowest level in Herbers hierarchy of reading comprehension Question beginning with who, what, when, and where are questions that call for details from the selection. Predicting outcomes is shown when a students can tell the next event prior to reading the succeeding part of the text. They are predicting outcomes of the details they have read. Readers also show their comprehension of text when they can sum up the main idea of the text. When they can tell the topic sentence, the moral lesson of a story, the theme, and suggest a title of an untitled work they read, they develop the skill of getting the main idea. These last two skills, predicting outcomes and getting the main idea belong to the interpretative level of comprehension where students read between the lines in order to arrive at conclusion for some parts or the entirety of the text. Because problem solving can engage students in developing deep understanding and applying ideas to real world situations. (Effective Teaching Strategies [lessons from research and practices] by: Roy Killen 5th edition 2009 page 242-248) Problem solving engages learners actively and purposefully in learning and develops their thinking and reasoning skills-that is, their ability to analyse situations, to apply

their existing knowledge to new situations, to recognize the difference between facts and opinions, and to make objective judgments. Problem solving enables learning to be focused on the concerns and interests of students and encourage them to discover answer to questions that arise from those concerns and interests. When the problem engages and difficult, higher levels of comprehension and skill development occur than in direct instruction because developing meaningful solutions to problems leads to deeper understanding of the subject matter. Problem solving helps to make learners responsible for shaping and directing their own learning (Savoie & Hughes, 1994). It is rewarding for them to see that their learning is a results of their own efforts. Problem solving can develop learners critical thinking skills and their ability to adapt to new learning situations (Christensen & Martin, 1992), but only if they have learned to be conscious is what they are doing (Marshal, 2003:1). Problem solving, particularly in groups, encourages learners to talk about the concepts they are trying to understand. This helps them to evaluate their own understanding and to identify flaws in their thinking. It also develops their language and comprehension skills. Problems solving promotes learners interactions and teamwork, thereby enhancing learners interpersonal skills (Bernstein, Tipping, Bercovitz & Skinner, 1995). Problem solving can help learners to develop qualities such as resourcefulness, independence, patience and tenacity. Appropriately challehnging problems can encourage students to continue learning long after the formal lessons is finished. Problem solving helps pupils to see the teacher as a resource who can help them learn, rather than hust as a source of information (Aspy, Aspy & Quimby, 1993)