For Other Professionals
Reading Comprehension
One reading researcher describes reading comprehension as the "essence of reading." Find out more about how to improve all students' reading comprehension, from young preschoolers to students who are struggling and children with learning disabilities. Included are tips from the experts written for parents and teachers.
Featured partner:
National Education Association
Featured video
Our shows on PBS
Professional development webcasts
- Establishing an Effective Reading Program
- Reading to Learn: ELL in Grades 4-6
- Make Reading Count: Effective Strategies for Teaching Comprehension
- Comprehension: Helping English Language Learners Grasp the Full Picture
- Assessment of ELLs
- From Babbling To Books
- Differentiated Reading Instruction
Interactive tools
From our strategy library
- Anticipation Guide
- Concept Maps
- Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA)
- Inquiry Chart
- Jigsaw
- Reciprocal Teaching
- Question the Author
- Visual Imagery
- See all comprehension strategies
In our blogs
Sound It Out
- How much is too much strategy instruction?
- Problems with pre-reading
- Text sets: One theme, several books
- Infographics for young kids
- How important is it to match a reader to a text?
- More...
Page by Page
Top articles
Basics
- How to Increase Higher Order Thinking
- Knowledge in the Classroom
- How We Neglect Knowledge and Why
- What Is Reading? Decoding and the Jabberwocky’s Song
- What Works in Comprehension Instruction
For parents
For teachers
- Higher Order Thinking
- Building World Knowledge: Motivating Children to Read and Enjoy Informational Text
- Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) Q&A
- Teaching Metalinguistic Awareness and Reading Comprehension with Riddles
- Instruction of Metacognitive Strategies Enhances Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Achievement of Third-Grade Students
Comprehension strategies
- Reciprocal Teaching for the Primary Grades: "We Can Do It, Too!"
- Compare, Contrast, Comprehend: Using Compare-Contrast Text Structures with ELLs in K-3 Classrooms
- Teaching Metalinguistic Awareness and Reading Comprehension with Riddles
- Instruction of Metacognitive Strategies Enhances Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Achievement of Third-Grade Students
- Repeated Interactive Read-Alouds in Preschool and Kindergarten
Download and print
- Mission Critical: Reading Together to Build Critical Thinking Skills
- Use a PEER When You Read Aloud
- Reading for Meaning with Your Child
- Use Summer Fun to Build Background Knowledge
- Reading Aloud to Build Comprehension
- More...
FAQs
Reading 101
Research
- The Effectiveness of a Program to Accelerate Vocabulary Development in Kindergarten
- Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade
- Comprehension Instruction: What Makes Sense Now, What Might Make Sense Soon
- What Classroom Observations Reveal About Reading Comprehension Instruction
