A Quick Review of Reading Aloud and Reading Comprehension
What You Need to Know
Remember When Reading with Children:
Support children's efforts with positive reinforcement and provide opportunities for successful practice.
Fluent readers can focus on content. Children who struggle and make many mistakes will have difficulty understanding and remembering what they have read.
Rereading familiar stories allows children to read quickly and smoothly without stumbling on unfamiliar words. Rereading a paragraph or sentence helps them resolve confusion. When children’s train of thought is interrupted, rereading helps them reconnect with the text.
To facilitate reading comprehension, it is vital to determine the children’s background knowledge.
Children should be encouraged to say when unfamiliar words or confusing sentences are read. When they are baffled, help them discover the nature of the problem.
Knowledge of Greek and Latin prefixes and suffixes can help children determine word meaning.
Children should know that some books are read for information while others are read for pleasure. When reading nonfiction (such as mathematics, history, and science), they must be able to identify important information. When reading fiction, children should focus on the main idea, the author's style, and the characters’ motivations, actions, and reactions.
Good readers recognize when they are having trouble understanding a passage. They are willing to spend time making adjustments (using metacognitive strategies) based on their reasons for reading the text, familiarity with the subject, and the difficulty level of the passage. Ineffective readers are reluctant to spend additional time with complex text. Emphasize the value of spending time clarifying troublesome content.
Children need to learn visualization strategies. Picturing characters, settings, and concepts stimulates the imagination and helps them comprehend the text.
Wondering about ideas, predicting what might happen, or using the text to justify opinions is also crucial.
Children must learn how to gather information and make inferences from the text.
Help children develop strategies and skills by ending each story or chapter with a discussion or question-and-answer session. Talk about previous stories the children have read and how they relate to the present story. Ask them questions such as: "What did you learn? What problems did the main character experience? How was the problem solved? What lesson did the main character learn (if there was a moral)?" Follow up with, "How do you know?" Children should be able to explain their answers by citing events and details in the story. Encourage them to generate and answer questions independently.
Suggest activities that will improve understanding. Have children draw pictures to illustrate what has been read, create story maps that sequence events, identify the main idea, and list supporting details. Have the children write a sentence or paragraph summarizing the story.
When working on comprehension, focus on one strategy or skill. Children should use these strategies and skills in a variety of situations. Find out from their teachers what is being taught in the classroom.
Summary and Final Suggestions
It is not necessary to teach/review all strategies and skills in every session. Instead, adapt each reading comprehension lesson to meet children’s needs.
Explain and Identify Strategies and Skills
Strategies and skills (such as accessing prior knowledge, using context to determine the meaning of a word, identifying the main idea, or summarizing) should be explicitly explained to children and reviewed often. Identifying strategies and skills by name (accessing background knowledge, visualizing, summarizing, comparing, and contrasting) helps children understand that they should be purposely chosen and used.
Demonstrate using strategies and skills by thinking out loud. After several demonstrations, gradually relinquish responsibility to the children. Encourage them to think aloud. Provide help only when necessary.
Reread
Children who read slower than their target reading rates will improve with practice. At the beginning of a session, have children who need to improve fluency reread a short story or several paragraphs from a familiar book. Use passages the children read in class or during a previous lesson. The text can be reread several times.
Prepare
Preparing children for reading helps pique interest and promotes comprehension.
When preparing to read a new selection:
- Pick topics that complement what children are studying in school.
- Study the entire selection before the children read it, noting opportunities to reinforce the use of comprehension strategies and skills.
- Evaluate the children's understanding of the topic and develop background knowledge as needed.
- Discuss critical concepts.
Browse through the book with the children before they read it:
- Look at the headings and illustrations.
- Identify problem words and decode them before they read the passage.
- Define words children may not understand.
If the selection was introduced in an earlier session:
- Review what the children read.
- Ask questions that will help children remember the details.
Provide Opportunities for Success
When improving fluency, provide ample practice using material children can read successfully. Decodable text at or slightly below the child’s present reading level is preferable to other types of literature. Children can concentrate on improving automaticity and reading speed because the text is controlled (only uses sounds/spellings children have learned). Reading material with multisyllabic words or sounds/spellings that children have not learned complicates and hinders the process. Resist the temptation to use reading material above the children’s reading ability when working on fluency.
Children may need to be convinced that reading comprehension strategies and skills are helpful. Struggling readers may believe they need someone else’s help to explain meanings and see no benefit in using strategies and skills independently. Encourage children to practice new strategies with materials they can readily read. As they become more competent, the level of difficulty increases. Point out the advantages of using strategies and skills. For example, say, "When you realized you didn't understand the last paragraph, you stopped and reread it. Rereading helped you get back on track."
Pause, Giving Children Time to Think
Encourage reading independence. One way to do this is to pause and allow children to use strategies and skills without a prior prompt. Allowing children time to decode an unknown word or choose a reading strategy or skill fosters independence. Intervening too soon may unknowingly suggest it is believed that the children cannot read well without help.
Some children may be too shy or afraid of making mistakes. Children who can make mistakes and correct them without fear or embarrassment are more willing to take risks. Risk takers have a better chance of improving their reading skills. Pausing sends a powerful message. It tells children that you are confident they will succeed.
If decoding is the issue, pause for no more than five seconds. This should allow sufficient time for the children to blend an unknown word. Fluency will not develop if children struggle too long or too often. After five seconds, say the word aloud. Then, have them reread the sentence to get back on track. Encourage children to read the sentence as they would say it (with prosody).
Remind Children to Self-Monitor Comprehension
Reading instruction aims to develop readers who monitor their reading comprehension and reflect on the content. Good readers are constantly aware of whether they understand the text. Monitoring reading comprehension is ultimately the children’s responsibility. Share these self-monitoring tips:
- Ask questions while reading (What do I know? What would I like to learn? What will happen next? Why did the main character…?).
- Identify inconsistent information and recognize sentences that contain topics unrelated to other sentences in the passage.
- Adjust understandings/opinions when necessary/appropriate.
Encourage the children to follow the abovementioned steps when a passage is confusing. Provide positive feedback when the children independently implement a comprehension strategy. Discuss the benefits of self-monitoring.
Summarize
Occasionally, during a reading session, children should be asked to summarize the most critical parts of a story or passage during a reading session. Talk about what has been read. Retelling is not summarizing. Summarizing helps children determine if they understand the material.
If reading rates are slow, the children may not recall much information or be unable to summarize, explain the plot, or identify the main idea. In such instances, review the significant parts of the text and help them understand what the story was about. Have the children reread relevant text passages. Appropriate times to summarize are:
- When the text is long and covers several different events.
- When a lot of new information has been introduced.
- After a critical part of the story has been read.
- When complex, detailed information is presented.
- Anytime there is potential for confusion.
Regularly Assess Reading Rate
Regular assessment of reading rate provides information about children’s ability to decode words quickly and automatically. Reading rate is also a proxy (an indirect) measure for improvements in comprehension. Therefore, frequently assess how many words the children can read in one minute and record the results. These assessments should be fun and game-like. Timing passages children have previously read will help develop confidence.
Explain to the children that reading comprehension goes hand in hand with reading fluency. Tell them this is why reading rate is measured and why improving reading rate is important.
Reinforce and Praise
Praise can be very influential. Encourage and reinforce success to foster confidence and build self-esteem with every opportunity. Your enthusiasm will inspire children to take risks. When appropriate, compliment the children by saying:
- “You read this paragraph exceptionally well.”
- “Working with children who work so hard is a pleasure.”
- “Your ability to read with expression is impressive.”
- “You asked a significant question. Good thinking!”
- “Your ability to identify when a passage is confusing has improved.”
- “You used this strategy effectively.
- “Your progress is remarkable. Keep up the good work.”
Children usually have a good sense of their performance. Praise confirms their thoughts of how well they are reading. Praising children for efforts not earned or accomplishments not realized is not advised. Children know when praise is unjustified and may learn not to trust the flattery. Praise works wonders. When appropriate, don't hesitate to praise.
Always be gentle and respectful when making corrections.
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