Reading Tips from Mrs. Wrubel

6 Ways to Improve Reading Comprehension

1.      Have him/her read aloud.  This forces your child to read slower, which gives him/her more time to process what is being read.  Plus, he/she is not only seeing the words, he/she is hearing them as well!

2.      Provide the right kinds of books.  Make sure your child gets lots of practice reading books that are not too hard!  He/she should recognize at least 90% of the words without any help.  Stopping any more often than that to figure out a word makes it difficult for him/her to focus on the overall meaning of the story.

3.      Reread to build fluency.  To gain meaning from text, your child needs to read quickly and smoothly- a skill known as fluency.  Rereading familiar, simple books gives your child practice at decoding words quickly, so he/she will become more fluent.

4.      Talk to the teacher.  If your child is struggling mightily with comprehension, he/she may need more help with his/her reading- for example, building his/her vocabulary or practicing phonics skills.

5.      Supplement class reading.  If your child’s class is studying a particular theme, look for easy-to-read books or magazines on the topic.  Some prior knowledge will help him/her make his/her way through tougher classroom text.

6.      Talk about what he/she is reading.  This “verbal processing” helps him/her remember and think through the themes of the book.  Ask questions before, during, and after a reading session.  For example:

•  Before:  “What are you interested in about this book?  What doesn’t interest you?”
•        During:  “What is going on in the book?  Is it turning out the way you thought it would?  What do you think will happen next?
• After:  “Can you summarize the book?  What did you like about it?  What other books does it remind you of?”