Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading, and it goes way beyond just remembering facts and repeating them.

Comprehension can be challenging to assess using traditional assessment tools because it is such a complex task. Many formal assessments, used by classroom teachers, reading specialists, and school psychologists, can assess parts of comprehension well. For example, background knowledge, vocabulary, putting logical words into a story, or briefly explaining what is read can be measured with particular tests. But, what if a child shows success with these isolated skills and still has difficulty really understanding a text?

The best way to truly assess comprehension is a thorough conversation with a child to gather insights, confusion, and how he/she is thinking about a text. Questions should always start out simple to build confidence and success and slowly become more difficult and dependent on the text and things the reader already knows.

Best Habits Before, During, and After Reading

Background Knowledge/Schema

Comprehension Strategies

Our goal is for students to recognize their thinking while they're reading. As adults, we might have a question, relate something to our own lives, or realize we had a misconception about something. This happens very quickly, and often we don't recognize we are even doing it.

Commonly Taught Reading Strategies

Making Connections

Inferring Meaning

Building and Using Background Knowledge

Visualizing (Making Images in Our Mind)

Asking Questions

Recognizing Important Information/Summarizing

Developing readers benefit from clear, direct instruction in how to predict, connect, infer, and pay attention to their own reading. Students need to be taught these skills.

What's the best thing a parent can do? Remember that you are an experienced reader, and you can model these concepts for your child. Read together, even for just five minutes. Truly, set a timer for five minutes - you'll be amazed how much you can accomplish in just that amount of time! Narrate your thoughts out loud to your child. Don't panic if he/she doesn't have much to say - just let him/her listen to your reading and thinking. If he/she wants to share a lot, encourage listening only to your thinking first, then give time to share. You might sound like this...

• "Wow, I didn't know that information about this bird! Now it makes me wonder how it catches food."
• "This character really reminds me of your friend, _________! They both love going fishing and spending time outside! They also know a lot about the outdoors. That helps me understand more about this character."
• "I think they are going to solve the next clue really soon since the author told us they found the secret tunnel." Later on... "Whoa! My prediction was completely wrong! That tunnel didn't lead anywhere! Now I'm thinking that they will have to go back and check the map for new clues. They must be frustrated to start all over again."

For a quick list of strategies you can use with your reader, check out Before/During/After Reading Strategies.