Comprehension for Lifelong Learning:

Comprehension strategies are mental problem-solving actions that readers can use to gain meaning from a text. Meta-cognition, or "thinking about thinking", takes strategic reading one step further by helping us recognize how we process information. Effective readers use comprehension and meta-cognitive strategies in conjunction to develop a deeper understanding of a text. Our reading program "Benchmark Literacy" develops the following comprehension strategies and meta-cognition hand in hand.

Meta-cognitive Strategies:

Ask Questions

Determine Text Importance

Fix-Up Monitoring

Make Connections

Make Inferences

Summarize and Synthesize

Visualize

Comprehension Strategies:

Analyze Character

Analyze Story Elements

Compare and Contrast

Distinguish and Evaluate Fact and Opinion

Draw Conclusions

Evaluate Author's Purpose

Identify Cause and Effect

Identify Main Idea and Supporting Details

Identify Sequence of Events

Make Inferences

Make Judgments

Make Predictions

Summarize Information