Reading Comprehension Strategies

Reading comprehension strategies for children help them to be prepared for the academic challenges they face. Often how much children learn depends on their ability to read efficiently. Good readers use different strategies naturally, but not everybody is familiar with the ways that work best for them individually.

The following five strategies can be incorporated by both teachers and parents alike.

1. Visualize
2. Summarize
3. Predict
4. Ask Questions
5. Find Connections

These comprehension strategies are helpful for those who already have decent reading skills and want to develop a better understanding.

Visualize: Have the children imagine or draw what a character looks like. Have them verbally explain what a setting looks like. Many students think visually while others have difficulty, so this can be helpful for both types of learners.

Summarize: Have the children retell the text challenges their retention. Summarizing allows students to differentiate between the main thoughts and the minor details.

Predict: Ask the children to predict what they think will happen next. Ask them why they think so. This helps encourage active reading and helps them stay engaged with the text. It also helps signal a misunderstanding of the text.

Ask Questions: Have the children come up with questions about the text, steer them away from the questions about minor details and have them focus on questions about the meaning or message. This helps nurture active learning.

Find Connections: Have the children relate a new perspective. This encourages deeper thought.

What reading comprehension strategy can you use in your classroom?

From Professional Learning Board’s online continuing education course for teachers: Cognitive Skills – Understanding Learning Challenges