Components of Effective Reading Instruction: Comprehension
Before Reading
Before reading, the teacher may:
- motivate students through activities that may increase their interest—book talks, dramatic readings, or displays of art related to the text—to make the text relevant to students in some way
- activate students' background knowledge important to the content of the text by discussing what students will read and what they already know about its topic and about the text organization
Students, with some help from the teacher, may:
- establish a purpose for reading
- identify and discuss difficult words, phrases, and concepts in the text
- preview the text (by surveying the title, illustrations, and unusual text structures) to make predictions about its content
- think, talk, and write about the topic of the text
During Reading
During reading, the teacher may:
- remind students to use comprehension strategies as they read and to monitor their understanding
- ask questions that keep students on track and focus their attention on main ideas and important points in the text
- focus attention on parts in a text that require students to make inferences
- call on students to summarize key sections or events
- encourage students to return to any predictions they have made before reading to see if these predictions are confirmed by the text
Students, with some help from the teacher, may:
- determine and summarize important ideas and supportive details
- make connections between and among important ideas in the text
- integrate new ideas with existing background knowledge
- ask themselves questions about the text
- sequence events and ideas in the text
- offer interpretations of and responses to the text
- check understanding by paraphrasing or restating important and/or difficult sentences and paragraphs
- visualize characters, settings, or events in a text
After Reading
After reading, the teacher may:
- guide discussion of the reading
- ask students to recall and tell in their own words important parts of the text
- offer students opportunities to respond to the reading in various ways, including through writing, dramatic play, music, readers' theatre, videos, debate, or pantomime
Students, with some help from the teacher, may:
- evaluate and discuss the ideas encountered in the text.
- apply and extend these ideas to other texts and real life situations.
- summarize what was read by retelling the main ideas.
- discuss ideas for further reading
This publication is based on K-2 Teacher Reading Academies, ©2002 University of Texas System and the Texas Education Agency, which has been reprinted and modified with their permission in Just Read, Florida! K-3 Reading Academy: Reference Articles—Comprehension, Handout 3: Instructional Procedures that Promote Comprehension.
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