Comprehension should always be the chief concern when teaching reading. What good is reading if the child has no understanding of what is read? In this article I will outline key reading comprehension strategies and show how they should be used.
Before reading you should allow children to make predictions about what they think the book will be about based on either the title or the picture on the front cover of the book. Children can also make predictions about what they think will happen based on what they read on the back cover of a book. Discuss with them their predictions and ask them to justify why their predictions are reasonable based on what they have read. Create a prediction chart that shows titles such as: WHAT WE PREDICT/WHAT HAPPENED IN THE STORY. List everything students predict will happen under the “WHAT WE PREDICT” column. Once the story has been read you can write what actually happened in the story in the “WHAT HAPPENED IN THE STORY” column. Students should be allowed to adjust predictions so the “WHAT WE PREDICT” column can be changed as the story is read. Older readers must be taught that while they are reading...