Comprehension Strategies

Reading is the process of deriving meaning from text. Decoding the words does not guarantee the text has been understood. The easiest way to understand this is to think about a foreign language. It is entirely possible to read the words and yet have absolutely no idea about the meaning of the decoded text. The following strategies can be used to help readers comprehend the passages that have been read.

I understand what I read by:

Ø Asking questions about the cover

Ø Using schema and background knowledge (sets up vocabulary)

Ø Doing a "picture walk" (sets up vocabulary and plot/topic)

Ø Making predictions

Ø Asking questions as I read

Ø Confirming or modifying predictions I made at the beginning

Ø Identifying character's physical and personality traits

Ø Determining what motivates a character to act a certain way

Ø Understanding how a character's feelings change throughout the story

Ø Determining importance of events

Ø Making inferences/Drawing conclusions

Ø Making connections to myself, other texts, real world happenings

Ø Visualizing and create sensory images

Ø Retelling the story sequentially in my own words