What does it mean for a student to comprehend what they are reading? In order to fully comprehend a text–whether it be a novel, short story, or article–students must be able to read the text, critically think about the content of the text, and create meaning of the text. And when I say understand, I don’t just mean answering the age old question, “What is the theme of the story?” It goes beyond that. Your student must be able to engage in what they are reading. They must ask questions, grapple with the knowledge they are gaining, and connect it to their own lives or the lives of others. This is real reading comprehension. Equipping your students with reading strategies for comprehension is the key to helping them truly understand the texts they encounter.
Why do students struggle to comprehend?
Overwhelmed? Yeah, so are our students when they don’t understand what they’re reading. In my experience as a teacher, I’ve come across many students who struggle with reading comprehension. But before we dive into the reading strategies to improve comprehension, we must get to the root of the problem. Why do students struggle to comprehend? I’ve come up with three roadblocks that are the main culprits to the lack of comprehension:
- Vocabulary acquisition is low: Students who are passively learning new vocabulary are actively contributing to low or no reading comprehension.
- Background knowledge is lacking: When students have little to no knowledge about the topics, time periods, or subject matter of what they are reading, this limits their ability to fully understand the text.
- Low interest or no interest: Let’s be honest, readers are more likely to comprehend what they are read if they have a genuine interest in the content. Without interest, students are less likely to dig deep within a text to find meaning and increase understanding.
Your students no longer have to struggle with reading comprehension. With time, patience, and a few reading strategies, your students will gradually increase comprehension and grow as fluent readers!
Now What? Reading Strategies to Improve Comprehension
Strategy 1: Pre-teach Vocabulary
Don’t let vocabulary be a roadblock for your students’ ability to comprehend a text. Teachers must help their student actively build their vocabulary in order to ensure comprehension now and in the future. For example, if I know my students will be reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, I will have to explicitly teach vocabulary words, such as tradition, ritual, generation, perfunctory, reprimand, and paraphernalia, just to name a few. Because my students will already know the meaning of these words before they engage with the text, when they do come across those words, their understanding of the story will deepen.
Strategy 2: Build Background Knowledge
We’ve all heard the saying, “Knowledge is power.” When it comes to reading comprehension, it holds true. The more your students know about the topic they are reading, the more they will comprehend what they are reading.
Strategy 3: Create Interest
Finding a topic that students enjoy reading about is what I consider literacy gold! When a student is genuinely interested in what they are reading, they are more likely to invest more time analyzing the text. The more they analyze it, the more they understand it.
Strategy 4: Visualization is Key
I don’t know how many times I’ve urged students to, “Create a movie in their minds,” but let me tell you… it works! Seeing is believing. When a students sees in their mind what a text is describing, they better comprehend what they are reading.
Strategy 5: Rigorous and Intentional Questioning
Now this where you, as the teacher, come in heavy! I cannot stress the importance of rigorous and intentional questioning. Intentional questioning is how you guide your student to comprehension. In order to achieve this, first think about what you want your students to be able to do, and then work backwards.
For example, after reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, I want my students to understand that just because traditions are often the bedrock of our communities, that does not mean that they are beneficial.
Then ask yourself: What are a series of questions I can ask in order for my students to understand this?
- What is the tradition of this town?
- How do the townspeople feel about this tradition they call the lottery?
- Do their feelings conflict with one another? If so, why?
- Do you think this tradition is beneficial to the community? Why or why not?
- Why do the townspeople continue to engage in this tradition?
- What is the purpose of the author writing a story like this one?
If my students were able to answer these questions with little to no struggle, that means they comprehended what they read, and I would be one happy teacher! Wouldn’t you?
*Insert happy dance*
Reading with Comprehension
As a teacher, it’s hard to listen to your student read a text and not understand it! But it’s as simple as these five strategies. Pre-teaching vocabulary, building knowledge, creating interest, visualization, and intentional questioning is the secret recipe to your students comprehending the next novel, short story, or article they read.
Stay Wild,
Click HERE to access resources mentioned in this blog post:
