Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to (1) decode what they read; (2) make connections between what they read and what they already know; and (3) think deeply about what they have read.
(taken from: http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/comprehension)
"We believe that constructing meaning is the goal of comprehension. We want students to enhance their understanding, acquire and use their knowledge, monitor their understanding, and develop insight." (Harvey, pg. 8) Proficient readers will use the following strategies to construct meaning.
-Making Connections: Readers naturally bring their prior knowledge and experience to reading, but they comprehend better when they think about the connections they make between the text, their lives, and the larger world.
-Asking Questions: Questioning is the strategy that keeps readers engaged. When readers ask questions, they clarify understanding and forge ahead to making meaning. Asking questions is at the heart of thoughtful reading.
-Visualizing: Active readers create visual images in their minds based on the words they read in the text. The pictures they create enhance their understanding.
-Drawing Inferences: Inferring is at the intersection of taking what is known, garnering clues from the text, and thinking ahead to make a judgment, discern a theme, or speculate about what is to come.
-Determining Important Ideas: Thoughtful readers grasp essential ideas and important information when reading. Readers must differentiate between less important ideas and key ideas that are central to the meaning of the text.
-Synthesizing Information: Synthesizing involves combining new information with existing knowledge to form an original idea or interpretation. Reviewing, sorting, and sifting important information can lead to new insights that change the way readers think.
(taken from: Harvey, Stephanie, and Goudvis, Anne; Strategies That Work, Stenhouse, Portland, ME, 2000)
One big part of comprehension is having a sufficient vocabulary, or knowing the meanings of enough words. Readers who have strong comprehension are able to draw conclusions about what they read – what is important, what is a fact, what caused an event to happen, which characters are funny. Thus comprehension involves combining reading with thinking and reasoning.
(taken from: http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/comprehension)