Reading Comprehension - Teach Your Child with Reading Story

Have you ever tried to discuss a story your child was reading, only to find that she did not know what was going on? We all know that reading is fundamental to a child's success. There are myriad programs and curricula for very young children (kindergarten through third grade) that ensure they learn to translate the symbols on the page or screen into something they recognize. But as children get older, and the stories become more complicated, it's apparent that decoding is not enough. They also need to learn how to comprehend.

We used to think that children would learn how to comprehend automatically if they simply read a lot. Parents would make rules: "You must read for one hour every day," and so on. But we were wrong. Comprehension, for those who aren't naturally talented in it, must be explicitly taught.

The good news is that it can be explicitly taught. In fact, there has been so much research on the subject that we know pretty well how to teach it. And it's straightforward, but you have to stick with it.

The trick is to teach your child to do certain things while reading that help him pay attention to the story and organize the information in his brain as he reads it. That is, give your child strategies for reading. A very good set of strategies is the following.

Select a short story or short book to read aloud to your child. Look at the title, the cover art, the back cover, and so on and guess what the story is about. It's important for you to "think out loud" through this process so your child sees and hears it. If all you have to go on is the title, then make a guess based on that. Can you tell who the main character is? Can you determine what the main character wants?

Predict. Before reading the first part (story) or chapter (book), make a prediction: who is going to be involved, what is she going to do, how is she going to do it, and why is she going to do it. If all you have is a title, you will probably miss your predictions by a mile! But that's ok. You are focusing your child's attention so he is reading for something.

Monitor. This one requires a bit of practice to get the hang of it, but it helps if your child is reading to see if her predictions were correct. Education specialists call it "metacognition," but the basic idea is to have your child deliberately remain aware of whether or not she is "getting it." At the moment she realizes she isn't, she should go back to the point she last understood and clarify what happened since.

Clarify. After reading the first part or chapter, ask your child "who, what, why, and how," about the primary event: "who" did it, "what" did he do, and so on. If your child can't answer any of the questions and they were given in the story, have him page through to find the answers. Sometimes, the answers (especially to "why" questions) only come later in the story.

Summarize. Have your child briefly summarize what happened in the part of the story you just read. Center the summary on the most important action. Ask, "Who did it? What did he or she do? Why did he or she do it? How did he or she do it?" If your child is a visual learner, have her use a graphic organizer to keep track of her summaries as she progresses through the story.

Continue to model this process for your child through the first two chapters or stories. Then, invite your child to help you complete the steps above (predict, monitor, clarify, and summarize). Finally, when you are comfortable your child understands the approach, have him read on his own, using these strategies. You can monitor his progress or comprehension level by checking the detail of his graphic organizers or summaries

This method is based on the "reciprocal teaching" method (Palinscar 1984). The teaching method and strategies employed have been shown to be remarkably effective at increasing the reading comprehension of students. But don't expect your child to read faster as a result of this. It's slow and difficult, especially in the beginning. The payoff, however, is increased comprehension skills, better grades, and the emotional growth that comes from reading good literature!