It’s a common frustration for parents and educators alike: a child can read the words on a page perfectly, but when you ask them what they just read, you’re met with a blank stare. This gap between decoding and understanding is where the real work of reading begins. Comprehension is the ultimate goal—the point where letters and sounds transform into ideas, stories, and knowledge. It’s not a skill that children just pick up on their own; it must be taught explicitly and systematically. This guide is designed to show you exactly how to teach reading comprehension using proven, research-backed strategies that turn passive word-callers into active, engaged thinkers.
Key Takeaways
- Teach comprehension as an active skill: Move beyond just decoding by explicitly teaching students how to use strategies like questioning, visualizing, and making connections to actively construct meaning from text.
- Use a systematic framework to reach every student: A structured, multisensory approach like Orton-Gillingham provides a clear roadmap for instruction, allowing you to adapt lessons and support the unique needs of every learner.
- Foster independence through environment and routine: Build confident, lifelong readers by creating a supportive learning space, establishing consistent reading habits, and teaching students to monitor their own understanding.
What is Reading Comprehension?
Reading comprehension is much more than just recognizing words on a page. It’s the ability to process text, understand its meaning, and connect it with what you already know. Think of it as the ultimate goal of reading—the point where letters and sounds transform into ideas and stories. When a child has strong reading comprehension, they aren’t just decoding; they’re thinking, learning, and engaging with the text. This active process is built on a few key pillars, from understanding the science behind how we learn to using specific strategies that make reading a meaningful experience.
The Science Behind It
So, how does comprehension actually work in the brain? According to The Science of Reading, it boils down to two critical parts: word recognition and language comprehension. Word recognition is the ability to look at a word and read it correctly without a struggle. Language comprehension is understanding the meaning of those words and sentences. While phonics is essential for mastering word recognition, language comprehension is a much broader skill that we need to nurture from the very beginning. It’s the part that allows a child to grasp the story’s plot, the author’s purpose, and the ideas behind the words.
Why It Matters for Young Readers
For young readers, comprehension is what makes reading feel purposeful and exciting. It’s the difference between simply reading a list of words and getting lost in a story about dragons or learning cool facts about sharks. Teaching comprehension strategies is most effective when you connect them to a specific topic the child is learning about. This approach helps them see reading as a tool for discovery. Instead of just practicing ‘finding the main idea,’ they’re using that skill to understand a chapter about the solar system. This makes the learning stick and shows them that reading is the key to exploring their interests and the world around them.
The Building Blocks of Comprehension
Strong readers don’t just passively absorb words; they use a mental toolkit of strategies to make sense of what they’re reading. These are the building blocks of comprehension. Explicitly teaching these strategies helps students become active, engaged readers who know how to think about a text. Some of these core strategies include making predictions, asking questions, summarizing what they’ve read, and clarifying confusing parts. This is a cornerstone of a structured literacy approach, which systematically gives students the tools they need to not only read the words but truly understand the meaning behind them.
Proven Strategies for Teaching Comprehension
Once a child can decode words, the real magic of reading begins: comprehension. This is where they learn to go beyond simply saying the words on the page and start to understand the story, the information, and the ideas behind them. True comprehension is an active process of constructing meaning, and the good news is that it’s a skill that can be taught, practiced, and strengthened over time. Think of it like giving a young reader a toolkit full of strategies they can pull from whenever they encounter a new book, a tricky paragraph, or an unfamiliar idea. By explicitly teaching these methods, which are deeply aligned with the Science of Reading, you can empower students to become active, thoughtful readers. These evidence-based strategies help make the invisible process of understanding visible, turning abstract concepts into concrete actions your students can use for a lifetime of confident reading.
Use the Think-Aloud Method
One of the most effective ways to show students how to comprehend is to make your own thinking process visible. The think-aloud method involves reading a passage aloud and pausing to share your thoughts, questions, and connections. For example, you might say, “The author used the word ‘gloomy’ to describe the forest. That makes me picture a dark, maybe even scary, place. I wonder why the character is going in there alone?” This modeling shows students that active readers are constantly thinking and questioning. It gives them a script for their own internal monologue, helping them make thinking processes visible and turning reading from a passive activity into an active investigation.
Ask Strategic Questions
Asking questions before, during, and after reading helps students focus their attention and interact with the text on a deeper level. These aren’t “gotcha” questions, but rather guiding inquiries that encourage critical thinking. Before reading, ask, “What do you think this book might be about based on the title and cover?” During reading, pause to ask, “What do you predict will happen next?” After reading, ask, “What was the main idea of the story?” This is one of the key strategies to teach students text comprehension because it helps them check their own understanding and connect new information with what they already know, building a strong foundation for analysis.
Encourage Visualization
Have you ever felt like you were watching a movie in your head while reading a great book? That’s visualization, and it’s a powerful comprehension tool. Encourage your students to create mental images as they read. You can prompt them by saying, “Close your eyes and picture the scene the author is describing. What do you see? What do you hear?” If a student struggles to create a picture in their mind, it’s a strong clue that their comprehension is breaking down. You can also have them draw what they’re reading to make the process more concrete. This strategy helps students engage with the text and creates a richer, more memorable reading experience.
Help Students Make Connections
Readers understand and remember a text better when they connect it to their own lives, other texts, or the world around them. You can guide this by prompting students to find connections. A text-to-self connection might sound like, “This character loves dogs, just like I do.” A text-to-text connection could be, “This story’s problem is similar to the one in the last book we read.” A text-to-world connection might be, “This book is about recycling, which we learned about in science.” Using tools like story maps can also help students identify key elements and find the main parts of a story, making it easier to see how everything fits together.
Try Reciprocal Teaching
Reciprocal teaching is a collaborative strategy that puts students in the driver’s seat. In small groups, students take turns leading a discussion about a section of text. There are typically four roles: the Summarizer, who recaps the main points; the Questioner, who asks questions about the passage; the Clarifier, who addresses confusing parts; and the Predictor, who guesses what will happen next. This approach is effective because it encourages students to use several comprehension strategies at once in a supportive, peer-led environment. It’s a fantastic way to foster discussion and build both comprehension and communication skills simultaneously.
Incorporate Multisensory Learning
Every learner is different, and incorporating multiple senses into your teaching can make a world of difference, especially for students with learning challenges like dyslexia. This is a core principle of the Orton-Gillingham approach, which uses sight, sound, touch, and movement to build strong neural pathways for literacy. For comprehension, this could look like using storyboards to visually map a plot, acting out scenes from a book, or using textured objects to represent characters or settings. A multisensory, structured approach ensures that you are reaching every student by catering to their unique learning style, making abstract concepts tangible and easier to grasp.
Key Elements of Comprehension Instruction
Think of reading comprehension as a house. The strategies we’ve discussed are the tools you use to build it, but you also need a solid foundation. The key elements of comprehension instruction are those foundational pillars. By focusing on these core components, you give your students the essential building blocks they need to construct meaning from text. Integrating these elements into your lessons ensures you’re not just teaching students to read words, but to understand worlds.
This approach is central to the Science of Reading, which emphasizes explicit and systematic instruction in all areas of literacy. When you intentionally teach vocabulary, build background knowledge, and guide students through the nuances of text, you create strong, confident readers who are equipped to tackle any book you put in front of them. Let’s look at the five elements that will make the biggest impact.
Build a Rich Vocabulary
A strong vocabulary is the bedrock of reading comprehension. When a child stumbles over too many unknown words, the overall meaning of the text gets lost. You can directly build their vocabulary by explicitly teaching new words before they begin reading. Introduce a word, define it in simple terms, use it in a sentence, and ask them to create their own sentence. You can also teach them how to use context clues to make educated guesses about unfamiliar words. Consistent exposure through varied materials, like decodable books, helps cement new words in their memory, allowing them to read with greater fluency and understanding.
Expand Background Knowledge
Have you ever tried to read an article about a topic you know nothing about? It’s tough. The same is true for our students. Before they dive into a new text, take a few minutes to activate and build their background knowledge. You can start a simple discussion by asking, “What do you already know about this topic?” This simple step helps students connect what they’re about to read with what they already understand. For topics that are completely new, use videos, pictures, or brief stories to provide some context. This bridge between the known and the new makes the text more accessible and meaningful.
Teach Inference Skills
Not everything is spelled out for us in a story. Great readers are like detectives, using clues from the text and their own experiences to figure out what the author doesn’t say directly. This is called making an inference. To teach this skill, model it for your students. As you read, pause and say, “The author doesn’t say the character is sad, but she’s crying and won’t talk to anyone. I can infer that she’s feeling upset.” Encouraging students to read between the lines is crucial for developing a deeper level of comprehension and critical thinking, especially for learners who may struggle with abstract concepts.
Analyze Text Structure
Every text is organized in a specific way, whether it’s a story with a beginning, middle, and end, or a non-fiction article that compares and contrasts two things. Teaching students to recognize these patterns, or text structures, gives them a mental map for organizing information as they read. Explicitly point out structures like cause and effect, problem and solution, or chronological order. This is a key component of a structured literacy approach. When students can identify the framework of a text, they are better able to locate the main idea and key details, which significantly improves their overall comprehension.
Practice Summarization Techniques
Can your student tell you what they just read in their own words? The ability to summarize is a clear sign of understanding. Teach students how to pull out the most important ideas from a text and leave out the less important details. A great way to start is with the “Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then” framework for fiction. For non-fiction, guide them to identify the main idea and a few key supporting details. Practicing summarization forces students to process what they’ve read, filter for importance, and consolidate their understanding, making it a powerful tool for retention.
How to Support Every Learner
Every child walks into the classroom with a unique set of skills, experiences, and challenges. A one-size-fits-all approach to teaching reading comprehension simply doesn’t work because our learners aren’t all the same. Supporting every student means creating a flexible, responsive environment where each child has the tools and instruction they need to succeed. It starts with understanding their individual needs and adapting our methods to meet them where they are. By embracing strategies that cater to diverse learning profiles, we can help all students build the confidence and skills to become strong, proficient readers. This commitment to personalized support is the foundation of effective comprehension instruction.
Understand Common Reading Challenges
It’s not uncommon for students, even in middle school, to struggle with basic decoding and vocabulary. Some get so good at hiding their difficulties that they manage to “fake read” for years, leaving foundational gaps unaddressed. Common challenges can range from a limited vocabulary and difficulty understanding sentence structure to more significant learning differences like dyslexia. When a child expends all their mental energy just trying to figure out the words on the page, there’s little left over for understanding the meaning behind them. Recognizing the root of a student’s struggle is the first step toward providing the right support.
Adapt for Different Learning Needs
To help students overcome these challenges, we need to adapt our teaching methods. Approaches like Orton-Gillingham were specifically designed to support struggling readers by explicitly teaching the connections between letters and sounds. This systematic and multisensory instruction makes language rules clear and memorable. Instead of expecting students to simply absorb how to read, this method breaks it down into manageable skills. By engaging sight, sound, and touch, we give students multiple pathways to learning, which is especially helpful for those who find traditional methods confusing. This ensures that the instruction sticks and builds a solid foundation for comprehension.
Use Differentiated Instruction
Differentiated instruction is about tailoring your teaching to meet individual student needs. In a reading comprehension lesson, this means you might use different texts for different reading levels, form small groups for targeted practice, or offer various ways for students to demonstrate their understanding. The key is to clearly teach comprehension strategies and then give students plenty of opportunities to practice them with helpful feedback. A structured literacy framework provides an excellent roadmap for this, ensuring that while the activities may vary, every student is working toward the same core learning objectives in a way that makes sense for them.
Choose Age-Appropriate Strategies
Keeping students engaged is crucial, and that means using materials and strategies that are right for their age and interests. Instead of just practicing a reading skill in isolation, try choosing reading materials based on a specific topic, like a science unit on volcanoes or a social studies lesson on ancient civilizations. This approach builds valuable background knowledge, which is a critical component of comprehension. When students are interested in what they’re reading, they’re more motivated to work through challenging texts. Using high-interest decodable books can also be a great way to ensure students are practicing their decoding skills with content that feels relevant and fun.
Integrate Technology Thoughtfully
Technology can be a powerful ally in the classroom when used with intention. Instead of letting it become a distraction, integrate digital tools that support specific comprehension goals. Audiobooks can model fluent reading, interactive websites can make vocabulary practice more dynamic, and digital graphic organizers can help students map out their thoughts. You can also encourage students to use tablets or laptops to record questions that come to mind as they read, which they can try to answer later. The goal isn’t to replace proven teaching methods but to enhance them, offering new ways for students to interact with texts and organize their learning.
Create an Engaging Learning Environment
The environment where a child learns to read is just as important as the curriculum you use. A positive, engaging space can transform reading from a challenging task into an exciting adventure. This isn’t about having the most colorful classroom or the fanciest furniture; it’s about creating a supportive atmosphere that minimizes anxiety and encourages curiosity. When students feel safe and motivated, they’re more willing to take risks, ask questions, and dive into texts. By thoughtfully organizing your space, planning interactive lessons, and building positive routines, you can create a learning environment where every child has the opportunity to thrive.
Organize Your Physical Space
A welcoming and organized space can make a world of difference for a young reader. Think about creating a designated reading nook with comfy seating like beanbags or pillows, good lighting, and a small shelf with a rotating selection of books. When reading materials are easy to see and reach, children are more likely to pick them up independently. Keeping your space tidy and clutter-free also helps minimize distractions, which is especially important for students who struggle with focus. Having a clear system for storing materials, like decodable books and writing tools, empowers students to find what they need without interrupting their learning flow. This sense of order and accessibility helps make the reading process feel manageable and inviting.
Plan Interactive Activities
To truly build comprehension, we need to get kids actively involved with the text. Moving beyond round-robin reading and worksheets is key. Instead, try interactive read-alouds where you model your thinking by pausing to ask questions, make predictions, and share connections. You can also have students use story maps to outline the plot, act out scenes from a book, or draw their favorite characters. These hands-on activities help make abstract concepts concrete and give students different ways to process and express their understanding. This aligns perfectly with a multisensory Orton-Gillingham approach, which uses sight, sound, and touch to help cement learning and make reading a more dynamic experience.
Encourage Collaborative Learning
Reading doesn’t have to be a solo activity. Encouraging students to work together can deepen their understanding and build valuable social skills. Simple strategies like “turn and talk,” where students pair up to discuss a question before sharing with the class, can get everyone participating. Partner reading is another great option, allowing students to practice fluency and support each other with tricky words. Working in small groups to summarize a chapter or discuss a character’s motivations gives them a chance to hear different perspectives and build on each other’s ideas. This collaborative spirit creates a supportive community of learners where students feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and learning from their peers.
Incorporate Fun Reading Games
Who said learning can’t be fun? Incorporating games into your reading instruction is a fantastic way to practice essential skills in a low-pressure, high-engagement format. You can play vocabulary bingo, character charades, or a “text detective” game where students search for evidence in the story to answer a question. Games can reinforce everything from identifying the main idea to making inferences, all while students are simply enjoying themselves. Using materials like dedicated practice books can also provide structured, game-like activities that feel less like work and more like play. When children associate reading with positive, enjoyable experiences, they are much more likely to stay motivated and build confidence.
Build Consistent Reading Routines
Children thrive on routine and predictability. Establishing consistent reading routines helps create a sense of safety and structure, which frees up mental energy for the hard work of comprehension. This could look like starting every day with 15 minutes of silent reading, holding a “reading workshop” at the same time each afternoon, or ending the day with a read-aloud. When students know what to expect, they can transition more smoothly and focus more effectively. These routines aren’t just about managing your schedule; they are about building powerful habits. By making reading a non-negotiable, positive part of every day, you are helping students develop a lifelong love of books and learning, which is a core principle of the Science of Reading.
Track and Measure Student Progress
To truly support a developing reader, you need to know where they are and where they’re going. Tracking progress isn’t about assigning grades; it’s about gathering information to make your instruction as effective as possible. When you measure a student’s comprehension skills, you can celebrate their wins, identify areas that need more attention, and adjust your teaching plan accordingly. This approach ensures that every lesson is targeted, meaningful, and moves your learner closer to becoming a confident, independent reader.
Start with Diagnostic Tools
Think of diagnostic tools as your starting point—a map that shows you a student’s unique reading landscape. These assessments help you pinpoint specific strengths and weaknesses in areas like phonemic awareness, decoding, and, of course, comprehension. Instead of guessing, you get a clear picture of what a child already knows and which skills need reinforcement. This initial evaluation is essential for creating a targeted teaching plan that meets the learner exactly where they are. Using screening and assessment tools allows you to build a foundation for instruction that is both efficient and effective from day one.
Apply Formative Assessments
Formative assessments are the regular check-ins you use to monitor a student’s journey. These aren’t high-stakes tests but rather ongoing, informal evaluations that happen in the flow of learning. This can look like observing a student during a read-aloud, asking targeted questions after a chapter, or using short quizzes and exit slips. The goal is to gather real-time feedback on how well a student is grasping the material. This information is invaluable because it allows you to provide immediate support and adjust your teaching strategies on the fly, ensuring your instruction remains responsive to your student’s needs.
Use Curriculum-Based Measures
The most direct way to see if your teaching is hitting the mark is to use curriculum-based measures. These assessments are tied directly to the scope and sequence of your structured literacy program, like the Orton-Gillingham approach. Because they measure skills you’ve explicitly taught, they provide a clear and accurate picture of a student’s progress within the curriculum. For example, if you just taught a lesson on identifying the main idea, your assessment will focus on that specific skill. This alignment makes it easy to see if a student has mastered a concept or if they need more practice before moving on.
Let Data Guide Your Instruction
All the information you gather from assessments is data, and that data is your most powerful teaching tool. Whether it comes from a diagnostic tool or a quick formative check-in, this information should guide every instructional decision you make. The data tells you which skills need more focus, which students might need small group support, and when it’s time to introduce a new concept. By letting data lead the way, you can tailor your teaching to fit the specific needs of each learner. This data-driven approach helps you become a more intentional and impactful teacher, creating a personalized path to success for every student.
Choose and Use the Right Reading Materials
Having a toolbox of teaching strategies is fantastic, but the materials you put in front of your students are just as crucial. The right books and resources can make the difference between a child who feels defeated by reading and one who feels empowered. When we select materials thoughtfully, we give students the best possible chance to connect with the text, build background knowledge, and practice their comprehension skills in a meaningful way. It’s not just about finding books at the right reading level; it’s about choosing content that sparks curiosity and is structured to support their learning journey.
This means looking for resources that align with the Science of Reading, where skills are taught explicitly and systematically. When a student, especially one with learning differences like dyslexia, has access to well-designed materials, they can apply the strategies you’ve taught them with more confidence. From decodable texts that reinforce phonics skills to graphic organizers that make complex ideas clear, the right materials act as a bridge, helping learners move from simply reading words to truly understanding them. Let’s explore how to choose and use these resources effectively.
Select Appropriate Texts
The best texts do more than just help a child practice a skill—they build a world of knowledge. When choosing reading materials, try to center them around a specific topic, like space or ocean animals. You can use a mix of storybooks and informational texts about the same subject to deepen their understanding from different angles. This approach helps expand a child’s vocabulary and background knowledge, which are essential for comprehension. For beginning readers, using high-quality decodable books is key. These books are carefully crafted so that students can sound out the words using the phonics rules they’ve already learned, building confidence and fluency along the way.
Use Graphic Organizers Effectively
Sometimes, the ideas in a text can feel jumbled and overwhelming for a young reader. Graphic organizers are simple visual tools that help students sort through that information and see how it all connects. Think of them as maps for a story or topic. Using tools like webs, charts, and diagrams helps students pinpoint main ideas, track character development, or compare and contrast concepts. This process makes abstract ideas more concrete and manageable. It also gives them a clear framework for summarizing what they’ve read, a skill that is foundational to strong comprehension. You can find many great examples of graphic organizers to use with your students.
Find Quality Structured Literacy Resources
For students to truly thrive, especially those who struggle with reading, the materials you use should be systematic and explicit. This is the core of a structured literacy approach. Resources built on the Orton-Gillingham methodology are designed to teach reading and spelling in a logical, sequential way that makes sense to the learner. These programs don’t leave anything to chance. They break down concepts into small, digestible steps and incorporate multisensory activities to reinforce learning. When you invest in a comprehensive, research-based curriculum, you’re not just getting books; you’re getting a proven roadmap to guide your instruction and support your child’s success.
Leverage Digital Learning Tools
Technology can be a powerful partner in teaching reading comprehension when used thoughtfully. Digital tools can make learning more interactive and help you personalize instruction for each student. For example, many apps and online platforms offer features where students can highlight text, make notes, or even record themselves asking questions as they read. This encourages active engagement with the material. Digital resources can also provide immediate feedback, which helps students correct misunderstandings in the moment. If you’re looking for guidance on integrating technology or need extra support, working with PRIDE Reading Specialists can provide you with expert strategies tailored to your child’s needs.
How to Develop Independent Readers
The ultimate goal of teaching reading comprehension is to help students become confident, independent readers who can explore texts on their own. This transition from guided instruction to self-sufficient learning is where the magic happens. It’s the bridge between learning to read and reading to learn. When a child becomes an independent reader, they gain the power to explore any topic that sparks their curiosity, from ancient history to outer space. They learn to think critically, solve problems, and engage with the world in a deeper way. Fostering this independence is about giving students the tools and the confidence to take ownership of their reading journey, turning them into active participants who can make sense of what they read long after they’ve left your classroom or homeschool table.
Teach Self-Monitoring Strategies
One of the most important skills you can teach a developing reader is how to self-monitor. This is essentially teaching them to have an internal conversation while they read, checking in with themselves to make sure they understand the text. Good readers do this automatically. They pause when something doesn’t make sense, reread a confusing sentence, or ask themselves questions about the characters and plot. You can model this by thinking aloud as you read. For example, you might say, “Wait, I’m a little confused about why the character did that. I’m going to go back and reread that last paragraph.” By teaching these comprehension strategies, you equip students to become active problem-solvers as they read.
Help Students Set Reading Goals
Setting clear, achievable goals can transform reading from a passive activity into a personal mission. Goals give students a sense of purpose and direction, making the process more engaging and rewarding. Start small to build momentum. A goal could be as simple as reading for 20 minutes every night, finishing one chapter book a week, or exploring a new genre each month. You can create a simple reading log or a visual chart where students can track their progress. Celebrating these milestones, no matter how small, reinforces their effort and shows them that they are growing as readers. This practice helps them see reading not as a task to be completed, but as a skill they can actively improve.
Build Reading Confidence
Confidence is the fuel that powers a child’s desire to read. When students feel successful, they are more motivated to pick up a book. A powerful way to build this confidence is by giving them choices. Allowing students to select their own reading materials gives them a sense of ownership and ensures they are invested in the content. It’s also crucial to provide them with texts that match their skill level. Using decodable books ensures that early readers can apply their phonics knowledge successfully, leading to positive and affirming experiences. Remember to praise their effort and progress, creating a supportive environment where it’s safe to make mistakes and learn from them.
Establish Lifelong Reading Habits
Our goal isn’t just to teach children how to read; it’s to help them become people who love to read. This means establishing habits that extend beyond the classroom. Create a consistent routine by setting aside a specific time for reading each day, free from distractions. You can also create a cozy reading nook to make the experience feel special. As an educator or parent, one of the best things you can do is model a love of reading yourself. When children see the adults in their lives enjoying books, it sends a powerful message. The more students read for pleasure, the stronger their skills will become, creating a positive cycle that can last a lifetime. A well-designed homeschool curriculum can provide the structure needed to build these routines effectively.
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Frequently Asked Questions
My child can read all the words correctly but can’t tell me anything about the story afterward. Why is this happening? This is a very common situation, and it highlights the difference between decoding and comprehending. Decoding is the skill of sounding out words, while comprehension is the ability to understand their meaning. Your child has mastered the first part, but they may be using so much mental energy to read the words that there isn’t much left for understanding the story. The key is to start explicitly teaching them how to think about the text as they read, using strategies like asking questions and making connections.
With so many strategies, how do I know which one to teach first? There isn’t one perfect starting point, so don’t feel pressured to teach them all at once. A great place to begin is with a strategy that feels natural and can be used with any book, like making connections. Prompting your child to connect the story to their own life, another book, or the world around them is an intuitive way to get them thinking more deeply about the text and making the story more memorable.
How is teaching comprehension different for a child with dyslexia? For a child with dyslexia, the act of decoding can be incredibly demanding. Because of this, comprehension instruction needs to be very direct, systematic, and multisensory. An Orton-Gillingham approach is ideal because it breaks down skills into manageable pieces and uses sight, sound, and touch to make learning stick. The goal is to build their decoding skills and comprehension strategies at the same time, ensuring they aren’t overwhelmed while still developing the ability to understand what they read.
What’s the difference between building background knowledge and just giving my child the answers? That’s a great question. Building background knowledge is about providing context before reading to make the text accessible. For example, if you’re reading a book about castles, you might watch a short video about what a moat is. This isn’t giving away the plot; it’s giving them the foundational concepts they need to understand the story’s world. It equips them to make sense of the details on their own, rather than just telling them what happens.
My child finds reading frustrating. How can I make practicing these skills less of a battle? When reading feels like a chore, it’s tough to make progress. The best way to reduce frustration is to build confidence. Start by letting your child choose books about topics they genuinely love, whether it’s dinosaurs or dancing. Also, make sure they are reading books at the right level, like high-interest decodable books, so they can experience success. Turning practice into a game or a collaborative activity can also transform the mood and make learning feel more like play.