Comprehension Strategies

Introduction
The purpose of reading is comprehension, that is, to have the ability to gather
meaning from the printed page. Although much of the attention and debate in
reading focuses on word recognition, the problems related to reading
comprehension are more difficult to solve. Comprehension skills do not
automatically evolve after word recognition skills have developed. Students
need to learn strategies to help them become active readers who understand
the text.

Vocabulary Instruction
Vocabulary knowledge requires the student not only to recognise the word but
also to apply it appropriately in context. Instruction in vocabulary leads to
gains in comprehension. The methods must be appropriate for the age and
ability of the reader. Vocabulary can be learned incidentally in the context of
storybook reading or by listening to others. The instructional procedure of
teaching vocabulary before reading a text is helpful.

As readers try to comprehend the material they read, they must bridge the
gap between the information presented in the written text and the knowledge
they possess. Reading comprehension thus involves thinking. The reader’s
background knowledge, interest and the reading situation affect
comprehension of the material.

Reading comprehension depends on what the reader brings to the

written material.
Reading comprehension depends on the reader’s experience, knowledge of
language and recognition of syntactic structure as well as on the redundancy
of the printed passage. To appreciate the importance of the reader’s
knowledge in reading comprehension, read the following illustration.

A newspaper is better than a magazine and on a sea-shore is a better

place than a street. At first it is better to run than to walk. Also you
may have to try several times. It takes some skill but it’s easy to learn.
Even young students can enjoy it. Once successful, complications are
minimal. Birds seldom get too close. One needs lots of room. Rain
soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also
cause problems. If there are no complications, it can be very peaceful.
A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break loose from it, however,
you will not get a second chance.

As a mature reader you are able to understand every word of this paragraph,
yet you did not understand the passage and cannot explain what it is about.
The reason you had difficulty is that you did not have the appropriate
background knowledge to bring to the printed text.

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Comprehension Strategies

The passage above is about kites.

Reading Comprehension is a Thinking Process.

The key to teaching from this perspective is to guide students to set up their
own questions and purposes for reading. Students then read to solve
problems that they have devised for themselves. Students can be
encouraged first to guess what will happen next in the story and then to read
to determine the accuracy of those predictions.

Reading comprehension requires active interaction with the text.

Readers must be active participants interacting with the text material. They
must actively combine their existing knowledge with the new information of
the printed text. There is evidence that good readers generally do not read
every word of a passage, instead they sample certain words to determine the
meaning and skip many others. They go back and read every word only
when they encounter something unexpected.

Comprehension Activities Before, During and After Reading.

Before reading a story teachers should motivate and interest students in the
reading selection, activate background knowledge and have them predict
what the story will be about.

Before Reading
• Establish a purpose for reading
• Review vocabulary
• Build background knowledge
• Relate background knowledge and information to the story
• Encourage students to predict what the story is about
• Discuss the author if such knowledge helps to set up the story

During reading the teacher should direct the student’s attention to the difficult
or subtle dimensions of the story, anticipate difficult words and ideas and talk
about problems and solutions.

During Reading
• Direct attention to difficult or subtle dimensions of the text
• Point out difficult words and ideas.
• Ask students to identify problems and solutions
• Encourage silent reading
• Encourage students to monitor their own comprehension while reading
• Insert author information in the story

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Comprehension Strategies

After Reading comprehension strategies can include having the readers

summarise the story, talk about what they liked and what they wished had
been different in the story, create graphic organisers and talk about the
characters in the story.

After Reading
• Ask students to retell or summarise the story
• Create graphic organisers (webs, cause and effect charts, outlines)
• Put pictures of story events in order
• Link background information
• Generate questions for other students
• Have students write their own reactions to stories and factual material

Two Broad types of Tests

Narrative materials and Expository materials.

Narratives include stories, usually fiction with characters, a plot, and a

sequence of events that happen during the story. Students need to know the
features of narrative stories. Expository materials include informational
materials eg. History, Geography and these are likely to replace more and
more narrative texts as a student moves up through the grades. As a result a
heavy emphasis is placed on reading to obtain information and is based on
presumed proficiency in reading. These content books are also generally
written above the grade level in which they are used. Content area teachers
often assume that students have adequate reading ability and they do not
teach reading skills. Teachers can help students read content books by
making the reading meaningful and connecting it to other material that the
students have covered. Teachers can also introduce difficult or technical
words before reading the text and alert students to monitor for comprehension
as they are reading.

Strategies for Developing Comprehension

• Using graded reading schemes where books increase in difficulty in
vocabulary, story content and skill development.

• Developing vocabulary, word meaning and language through reading

will also develop comprehension.

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The K-W-L strategy

The K-W-L strategy represents three questions in three steps of a lesson.

K-What I Know: Students think of and state all they know on a subject. A
group of students can pool their knowledge. In this initial stage, students
participate in brainstorming. The goal is to spark interest in the subject
based on prior knowledge and experiences. Students may find the
brainstorming process difficult at first; if so, model the process several times.
The ultimate goal is to move students to independence in this task. They
should be able to reflect upon prior knowledge before reading a text without
the intervention of the teacher.

W-What I want to find out:

This stage builds on the first. What is it that catches the students' interest and
curiosity from the brainstorming in the K stage? Each student thinks of and
writes on a sheet of paper what he/she wants to or expects to learn from the
reading. The goal should be to turn these into questions for individuals as
well as the group. Finally, the questions should be converted into
purposes for reading (at least the purpose should be to answer the
questions). Students can then compare their answers to this question.

L-What I learned: Students read the lesson silently and write what they
have learned from the reading. Answers to this question can be shared by
the group.

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KWL Strategy

What I know What I want to find What I have

out learned

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Visual Organisers

For global thinkers, visual organisers are a brain compatible way of improving
reading comprehension. Story maps and character maps help them to get the
big picture.

Story Map
The more closely a story fits an expected, familiar structure, the easier it is for
readers to grasp and remember the most important ideas. Before discussing
the elements of a story, chart them on a story map. Add spokes to the
various shapes and invite students to contribute details about each element.

Character Maps
Character maps are another way to visually organise important information
about a story. Use a separate character map for each major character. Add
spokes and have students contribute the details during a class discussion.
Once you have modelled the use of both charts, students might enjoy working
with partners to complete charts for stories they read.

Map a Story
Drawing a map that captures events in a story is a useful way of summarising
information. Some stories lend themselves to this strategy more than others.
Students require several demonstrations of the process before being asked to
complete the task independently.

• Map events in the story.

• Maps should show important parts of the setting and trace the
movement of the main characters.
• Students can retell the story from their map.

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Comprehension Strategies

Mapping
When the student has found the information he has been looking for, he
needs to organise it so that you can use it.

Sue’s class was writing plays. Sue’s group decided to set theirs in the Middle
Ages. They needed background information that they could refer to easily.
Using the passage below, they drew a map.

Society was very different in the Middle Ages. Most people were peasants
who farmed the land. Each family would have strips of land on which to grow
their crops. The land was rented from the Lord’s estate. Peasant farmers
used a three year cycle to plant their crops. One year a strip of land would
grow wheat, the next year oats and the third year nothing so that the soil
could rest.
The lords who owned the land were either powerful clergy or members of the
nobility. The clergy prayed for everybody and the nobility were professional
soldiers who defended everyone if there was a war. Women were important
in the villages. They looked after the children, grew vegetables, kept poultry,
made butter and cheese and spin wool.

Word webs

Word webs-A word web is a type of graphic organiser, a strategy for helping
build vocabulary and making information easier to understand and learn. A
word web for ice-cream might follow something like the following:
‘What is it?’ ‘What is it like?’ ‘What are some examples?’

What is it? What is it like?

Food Cold

Creamy
ICE-CREAM Delicious
Hard/soft

Chocolate Vanilla Strawberry Banana

What are some examples?

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Comprehension Strategies

Sketching My Way Through the Text (Hoyt 2002)

Forming mental images when we are reading is vital to

comprehension. Sketching supports learning by giving students
another way of understanding and interpreting textual information.
To ensure that students understand the role that sketching can
play in promoting reading comprehension, it should be introduced
through teacher modelling.

1. When reading a passage from a text, stop frequently to

‘think aloud’ about the information.
2. Make a quick sketch on the board showing what has been
learned. Use stick figures, draw arrows and use labels.
3. If the text is linear, showing the passage of time, draw
arrows and have the sketches run horizontally. This works
well for a historical account or a description of a life cycle.
4. If the text shows a cycle such as evaporation and
precipitation, then the drawings should form a circle
connected by arrows.
5. If the text is about an animal and has sections about
habitat, eating habits and family groupings, the sketches
could take the form of a graphic organiser such as a web.
6. When the student becomes familiar with the strategy,
invite them to share the responsibility for the sketches.
7. Gradually hand over responsibility to the students for
sketching their way through a text. Read short sections of
the text aloud. Ask the students to form their own mental
pictures and then to draw sketches. Discuss and make
comparisons. Stress that there is no single correct image,
but most details should overlap.

Oral reading is particularly effective for reinforcing images. The

teacher or a student reads a segment aloud. Others listen and
then draw a sketch.

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Comprehension Strategies

Constructing Meaning while Reading

Story Structure

The Three Star Map (Hoyt 1999) provides a simple framework for introducing
students to the idea of story structure (beginning, middle and end).
Students may choose to draw, instead of writing, when completing the map.

Story Scaffold helps students to understand how the events in a story are
linked to form a causal chain.

The story frame provides more detailed information about story structure
(character, setting, problem, action, out-come).

• Introduce these by having students draw pictures to represent the

various elements on the frame
• Use a familiar story initially. Support students by engaging them in
discussion before they begin to work independently.
• Story frames can also be used to help students as they write story
reviews.

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Comprehension Strategies

Three Star Map

Name of Student Date

What happened first?

What was the story mostly about?

What happened in the end?

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Story Scaffold

Name of Student Date

Title of story Author

The Story begins when

The problem is

The next thing that happens

Then

After that

In the end

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Comprehension Strategies

My Story Frame

Name of Student Characters

Date
Title of Story
I think this story is:
• Fair
• Good
• Excellent

Setting Problem

Action Outcome

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Comprehension Strategies

Story Detectives

• Using the predictions handout, use it to prepare a list of predictions

for the story. You will be asking students to respond to your
predictions based on what they learn from the title, chapter titles, and
/or pictures.
Some of your predictions should be accurate, others highly
improbable, and others somewhere in between.
• Divide the class into small groups.
• Have students read the title of the story and based on the title, predict
what events might occur. Or have them browse through the story
and make predictions based on the chapter titles.
• Give each student/group a copy of the predictions you have
completed. Help them to respond to each prediction by checking YES
they think the event will happen, NO they don’t think it will happen, or
MAYBE they think it may possibly happen. Tell the students to be
prepared to give reasons for their choices.
• Get feedback from all of the group and collate responses using an
overhead transparency or wall chart.
• Keep the predictions on display as the story is read. Check regularly to
see how accurate the predictions were.

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Comprehension Strategies

Predictions

Name:………………………………..
For: …………………………………………. (Story title)

Prediction Yes No Maybe

------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------

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Comprehension Strategies

Walk Through Strategy (Mc Kenna 2002)

This pre-reading strategy works particularly well with informational text.

The teacher discusses the organisation of the selection page by page as the
students follow in their own copies. In this way they are provided with an
outline of the selection.

1. Hold up a copy of the text as you discuss it. The students will
then be able to look back and forth from your copy to theirs so
that they can tell exactly what you are describing.
2. Examine and discuss the title and make predictions.

3. Examine and discuss the subheadings.

4. Analyse visual aids (pictures, graphs, maps)

5. Read and discuss the first paragraph

6. Read and discuss the last paragraph

7. Read and discuss post reading questions

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Comprehension Strategies

Word Predictions

1. Before the reading, examine the title and take a walk through the
pictures of the book being read.
2. Ask the students to generate a list of words they think might be found
in the reading to follow.
3. Have them list all the words.
4. As the selection is being read, stop at key points to monitor whether
or not their predicted words have appeared. This encourages the
students not only to verify which words have been seen but also to
keep modifying and adjusting their thinking to meet the needs of a
changing story line (Hoyt, 1998).

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Comprehension Strategies

Word Predictions

Name of Student Title of Story Date

Before reading:
Preview the text quickly by looking at the title and pictures. Close your book
and work with a partner or a team to list all the words you think you will find in
the reading passage. With each word tell why you think it will appear.

Our Words Appeared During Reading

During Reading:
Watch for your words to see if they appear in the text.

After Reading:
Go back to your list of words. Put a √ next to the words that actually
appeared. Talk about why the others might not have appeared in the reading
selection.

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 Comprehension Strategies

Word Sorts

• Before reading, select words and phrases from a story. Do not

show the students the title or the illustrations.
• Write the words or phrases on cards so that they can be easily moved
about.
• Ask the students to put the words in order and to use these to
compose a story orally.
• Explain that they can elaborate on the ideas suggested by the words
on the cards.
• Invite them to think of a title and to draw illustrations to accompany
their story.
• Allow time for the students to tell their stories.
• Read the author’s story aloud.
• During reading, stop at key points. Get the students to select the
words and phrases that have been used up to that point.
• Ask them to compare their version of the story with the original.
• After reading, have partners scramble the words and phrases and
arrange them in an order that supports the retelling of the original
story.

Crossroads haunted ‘Help. help I’ve seen a

ghost’

‘I bet you won’t go the

crossroads by yourself’. Sat on a stone

Dark night Cross-roads

Horrible one eyed woman with
a black cat
Mick At midnight the clock
struck twelve

Tom wanted to play a trick

White figure on Mick
Bag of flour al over his
face and clothes

Locked all the doors ‘You fool! That was me you

and windows Laughed so much he fell saw sitting on the stone’
off the stone

Shot-gun
Tom

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Comprehension Strategies

Text Shuffle can be used to extend student’s understanding of the

sequence of events in stories.

• As the name suggests, a story is separated into parts and jumbled.

• Students then read the parts and put them in the correct order.
• When the exercise is completed invite students to justify their choices.

Questions I Can Ask As I Read Stories

Skilled Readers are active readers. When they are reading a story that they
need to remember, they stop every so often to ask themselves questions.
They do this to make sure that they have understood the story really well.

Examine the list of questions below:

The next time you are reading a story, use it as a guide to help you to become
a more active reader.

1. To make predictions
• What is this story going to be about?
• What is going to happen next? What makes me think so?
• Is my prediction still good?

2. To pick out the important information

• Who are the important characters in the story?
• Where does the story take place?
• What is the problem in the story? What makes me think so?
• What actions are taken to sort out the problem?
• What happened in the end?

3. To solve problems when I don’t understand

• Read on?
• Look back or reread? Why?
• Ask for help?

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PALS: Partner Assisted Learning

Pals offers opportunity for students to support each other’s learning while
developing reading competence.

Students work in pairs.

• One student reads aloud for about five minutes while the
other listens.
• The partner identifies and corrects errors-Stop you missed
that word. Can you figure it out? Good, read the sentence
again (If after a few seconds the reader is unable to
pronounce the word, the partner supplies it)
• The partner then formulates and asks questions beginning
with who, what, why, where, how for a further 5 minutes.
• If the reader is unable to answer the question, the partner
gives the answer.
• Students switch roles and repeat the activities.
• Students are reminded how to formulate questions by
supplying them with a bookmark.

PALS
Asking Questions
Who?

What?

When?

Where?

Why?

How?

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Comprehension Strategies

Monitoring Comprehension

Struggling readers benefit when attention is explicitly drawn to the importance

of Monitoring and Regulating Comprehension through exercises such as
Read-Cover-Remember-Retell.

Read-Cover-Remember-Retell

This strategy slows down the reading process and reminds students to focus
on remembering the content of the passage.

• Students work in pairs

• They agree to read a portion of the text-an amount that can be covered
by one of their hands
• They stop reading, cover the text and try to remember what has been
read
• They then tell each other what has been remembered.
• If they have difficulty remembering they are allowed to glance back at
the text
• In this way they engage in comprehension monitoring

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Comprehension Strategies

Identifying Important Ideas

The Key Word Strategy helps students to select important ideas to write a
summary of a text. The task is quite demanding. When this strategy is first
introduced, the teacher will need to guide student learning by engaging them
in interactive dialogue. The responsibility for completing the task should be
shared by teacher and students. Then as students gradually become more
competent, they should be encouraged to take over most of the responsibility
for the work.

Key Word Strategy

• Read a story with the students
• Reread it, pausing at key junctures, and ask the students to select a
few words that seem especially important to the story
• Remind them to be selective. You want the most important words.
• Make a list of the words
• Ask the students to arrange these in a way that supports the retelling of
the story in their heads.
• Then have the students use the words on the list to write their
summaries.

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Comprehension Strategies

Key Word Strategy

Name of Student
Title of Book/Topic
Author
Date

Key Words List

My Summary

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To identify the Main Idea

Teaching Sequence

1. Identify purpose (eg. To find the main idea of a text)

Q. What am I trying to do?

A. Oh yes, find the important information or main idea

2. Apply background knowledge

Q. How do we usually find the main idea?

3. Plan a strategy

Plan: Read text

Underline and list key words with a partner
Discuss differences
Discuss what we think is the main idea

4. Rehearse the Plan

Talk with a partner what you plan to do

5. Try the strategy

Text: Spiders
There are many varieties of spiders in Australia. Spiders belong to the group
called anthropods. They have two body parts (a cephalo thorax and
abdomen). They also have eight legs which end in claws. The legs are
attached to the cephalo thorax. Spiders have fangs which are used to seize
prey. Some spiders are poisonous.

List of key words:

Many
Spiders
Australia
Two body parts
Eight legs
Some
Poisonous

6. Solve the problem

Many types of spiders live in Australia. They have two body parts and eight
legs. Some are poisonous.

7. Evaluate
Compare summaries with others in the group.

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Comprehension Strategies

Brainstorming and categorising

Procedure: Before children begin to read a piece of text ask:

What do you already know about this topic?

Record all responses on cards.
After initial brainstorm session work with children to categorise or classify
information into some sort of logical structure.

This information could be used as a skeleton outline to be completed after

reading.

Example: What do you know about insects?

6 legs many sorts make cocoons cockcroaches have wings bite

bees 3 body parts they walk mosquitoes turns into grubs sting
they fly lay eggs have feelers ants

Now classify and group related information

Types of Body Parts Life Cycle Movement Other

Insects Features
6 legs
Bees feelers Lay eggs Fly Sting
Mosquitoes 3 body parts Turn into walk bite
Ants some have grubs
Butterflies wings cocoons
cockcroaches

Then ask: What do you want to find out?

Children discuss or write one or two things they wish to know eg.

What do insects eat?

How do they bite or sting?

Children read to find information

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Think Sheet
This strategy directs students to set a purpose for their reading when they are
trying to gain information from the text. Chapter titles, headings and
subheadings are used to predict what information will be in the passage.

Procedure:
• Use a specific chapter or section of a textbook
• List all the headings and subheadings or else topic sentence
• Students work with partners to think about what information might be
included in each section. Discuss and record predictions (in pencil)
• Students read text to assess accuracy of predictions
• Students substantiate or revise predictions from the text
• Meet with the original partner to revise information and record any
changes or additional information

Think Sheet – Spiders

What spiders look like:

-----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------- Information
What spiders eat: recorded by
Headings -----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------- students before
from text reading
Where spiders live:
-----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
What people think of spiders
-----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------

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Comprehension Strategies

Selecting a Reading Style

Skimming-Involves glancing through material to gain a general impression or

overview of the content. Headings, diagram and picture captions, sub
headings and key sentences in a paragraph (usually the first sentence of the
paragraph) can all help to get an overview or the main idea. The rest of the
passage adds detail but is not needed when you skim a text.

Procedure:
• Students work with a partner or in groups. All have a copy of the same
text. Texts with headings and subheadings are suitable starting points
as they give students a focus to begin. Highlight these.
• Read out loud the parts highlighted.

Scanning-involves glancing through material to locate a specific detail such

as name, date or place.

Procedure:
• Students work with a partner or in groups. All have a copy of the same
text and a list of questions which can be answered directly from the
text.
• Students read the question and identify the key word. Then they
quickly scan the text to locate the key word and answer the question
orally in groups.
• Students can work independently or in groups to complete the page.

Student Quiz
This activity is an effective way of assessing children’s understanding of the
content of the text.

Procedure:
• Students compile a set of questions based on the information they
have gained from reading the text
• The questions may be written on a card and placed in an envelope for
use by other readers.

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Comprehension Strategies

Skeleton Outline

Procedure:

• Identify vocabulary that is essential for understanding the concepts

and supporting detail of text.
• Arrange these words into a pattern that shows their relationship.
• Skeleton Outlines can be used before, during or after reading to
form an overview of a topic. They help readers to link new
information with existing knowledge in logical framework.
• Skeleton Outlines can be used as a basis for making notes. They
assist students to extract and organise important information.
• Discussion plays an important part in this strategy as students need
to substantiate, make judgements and deal with new information so
that meaning is made.

Pyramids
This strategy can be used to record and organise important information
according to main headings, sub headings and supporting details.

Procedure:
• Students read a chapter, section or short article.
• Students read aloud facts from the passage, teacher writes each fact
on a card.
• Teacher displays cards
• Students sort detailed cards into groups-form the base blocks of the
pyramid.
• Teacher asks for suitable headings for the baseline groups (sub
headings)
• Students are then asked to discuss all the information in the pyramid.
• Main idea of passage is derived by asking the question, ‘What is the
author saying about the subject?’ which is written into top block of
pyramid.

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Flow Charts

A flow chart is an excellent replacement for notes.

To construct a flow chart, students need to identify and extract important
information. The need to draw conclusions and make judgements about what
is important. In order to complete this activity students often need to return to
the text many times.
Procedure:
• Use arrows to link important steps or information
• Students may use pictures, words or a combination of both, in a flow
chart.

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