Answer:
Mr. Lathan's activity involving reading buddies can be an effective way to improve students' comprehension skills in several ways:
1. **Active Engagement:** In this activity, students actively participate in reading, listening, questioning, discussing, and summarizing. This engagement helps them stay focused and attentive, which is essential for comprehension.
2. **Oral Reading:** When students take turns reading sections aloud, they not only practice their reading skills but also improve their listening skills. Hearing text read aloud can enhance comprehension by providing auditory reinforcement of the content.
3. **Questioning:** The act of asking questions about the text promotes critical thinking and deeper understanding. When students formulate questions, they are encouraged to think about the main ideas, details, and connections within the text.
4. **Discussion:** Engaging in discussions with their reading buddies encourages students to articulate their thoughts, share perspectives, and clarify their understanding of the material. This back-and-forth dialogue allows them to explore different interpretations and build a more comprehensive understanding of the content.
5. **Summarization:** Summarizing what they have read and discussed requires students to distill the key points and main ideas of the text. This process of summarization reinforces their ability to identify and prioritize essential information.
6. **Peer Learning:** Pairing students as reading buddies fosters peer learning and collaboration. They can learn from each other, ask for clarification from their peers, and benefit from varied perspectives and approaches to comprehension.
7. **Active Listening:** As listeners, students are encouraged to pay attention to their buddies' reading and ask relevant questions. This active listening skill is crucial for comprehension, as it promotes the ability to extract meaning from spoken information.
8. **Metacognition:** Through this activity, students develop metacognitive skills by reflecting on their reading and comprehension processes. They become more aware of their thinking strategies and can refine them as needed.
9. **Repeated Exposure:** Hearing the same content from multiple perspectives (their reading buddies) reinforces comprehension. Different students may emphasize different aspects of the text, providing a well-rounded understanding.
10. **Accountability:** Knowing that they will be summarizing and discussing the material with their reading buddy encourages students to pay closer attention to the reading, fostering a sense of responsibility for their comprehension.