Help Early Readers Comprehend!

Help your students gain meaning from the text they are reading with these seven basic comprehension strategies that successful readers use consistently before, during, and after reading.

See a chart of these seven strategies.

The first two strategies should be used immediately prior to reading a specific text:

1. 1. Think about what you already know.
2. 2. Predict what the author will say.

The next two strategies are meant to be used during reading:

1. 3. Visualize in your mind what the author describes.
2. 4. Question…Does this make sense?

The last three strategies should be applied after the whole text has been read:

1. 5. Look for the most important ideas.
2. 6. Summarize or paraphrase what you have read.
3. 7. Make a personal connection.

It is important for teachers to reinforce these strategies repeatedly and to provide multiple opportunities for students to learn, practice, and assimilate them with hands-on and interactive reading comprehension activities.