Teaching Reading Strategies for Comprehension
The best way for 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 we 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 children reading 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
- 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
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
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