by Michele Van Pelt

Created on: March 07, 2010   Last Updated: April 09, 2010

Text comprehension is one of the cornerstones of reading.  If students have the ability to read the words but do not have the ability to comprehend what they are reading, then reading is nothing more than a recitation of words.  To be an effective reader, students must not only be able to read the words but comprehend them also.  According to the National Reading Panel, there are eight comprehension strategies and five methods for teaching these strategies that will ensure students’ reading success.

Monitoring comprehension is the first comprehension strategy.  Students who learn to monitor their reading are able to analyze for themselves what they understand and do not understand when reading a text.  They have the ability to identify the areas that they are having difficulty understanding, what part of the areas are specifically giving them trouble, and then restate what the difficulty is in their own words.  The students can then look back through the text or look ahead in the text to find clues and answers to what they do not understand allowing for full text comprehension.

Students may use graphic or semantic organizers to improve their comprehension.  By organizing the main thoughts into a graphic organizer, the students can focus on the main concepts being expressed by the author and how they relate to each other.  These organizers also help students visually represent the main points as well as provide a tool for the student to use when writing a summarization of the text.  Graphic organizers can also be utilized in helping the students learn the vocabulary associated with the text.  By being able to write down the vocabulary words, the definition and perhaps an example of what that word means, the students can then re-read the text with a greater understanding.  Also, the vocabulary words are then organized in one place for the students to review without having to search through the text for each definition.

A third strategy for improving reading comprehension is that of answering questions.  This is also a good way for teachers to monitor and guide the students’ comprehension.  By having to answers questions, the students are given a purpose for reading.  The questions also help the students focus on what is/are the important concepts of the text as well as to encourage the students to be active thinkers while reading.  Students can also monitor their own comprehension

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