[?] Click to link to this site

Best Selling Ebooks

Teaching Opportunities

Standards and Subjects

Strategies & Interventions

Running a Classrom

Teachers' Lounge

Teaching Reading Strategies

Teaching reading strategies for comprehension is to teach students to question and reflect during reading. Children reading is more than sounding out words…it is making meaning through reading comprehension strategies.

When teachers listen to children reading, teachers are actively listening for more than just the correct pronunciation of words.

We are observing reading behaviors that show a deep understanding of the text. These observations are often used to determine guided reading strategies for individual learners.

Teachers guide with a series of scaffolded questions that are designed to show students how to read with a purpose. One of the easiest ways to begin to do this is with Before, During and After Reading questions.

These techniques can be used with any genre.

Whether you are teaching guided reading mini-lessons, whole class texts, individual conferences, or doing a teacher read aloud, these are best practices for teaching reading comprehension.

Teaching Reading Strategies: Before Reading

teaching reading strategies

Take a Book Walk to find:

Title, chapters, heading, subheadings
Pictures, graphs captions, maps, diagrams
Bold vocabulary (use to pre-teach 4-5 vocabulary words)
Prologue, preface, last chapter conclusion
Highlighted or boxed information

Activate Prior Knowledge

What do you already know about…?
What experiences have you already had about…?
Make a prediction

Create a Purpose for Reading

Choose one strategy you will use during reading
Why do you think the author wrote this book?
What is your personal reading goal?

Teaching Reading Strategies: During Reading

Read Slowly for Metacognition

Mark text with Post-It Notes
√ Got It! I know this!
! This is interesting or important to me
? I don't understand this word or part
"C" I can make a connection to this

Use Graphic Organizers

Use Think Alouds to model thoughts during and about reading

Develop questions to ask during reading

Make a Simple Salad

Clarify vocabulary

Analyze diagrams, charts and graphs
Incorporate a phonics activity that focuses on a particular skill or pattern

Teaching Reading Strategies: After Reading

Pause and Reflect

√ Do I understand the main idea or topics?
√ Can I explain this in my own words?
√ How did the graphics, diagrams or pictures help me understand the text?
√ Were my predictions correct?
√ Is there another connection to my life, other texts or the world?

Re-Read

Skim the text to look for specific information (Look for headings, bold text and sub-headings)
Slow down to get the details
Find support for your ideas from the text

Decide what you like or dislike about the:

Genre
Author's style
Theme

Return to Top: Teaching Reading Strategies

...or click a button and go to: