In the last few years, an alarm has sounded throughout the nation’s middle and high schools: too many students cannot read well. It isn’t that they don’t know their ABCs or how to read words. It’s that they cannot understand or explain what they’re reading. Johnny can read, but he doesn’t understand.
First graders are learning to think actively as they read. They use their experiences and knowledge of the world, vocabulary, a growing understanding how language works, and reading strategies to make sense of what they’re reading.
Kindergartners are just beginning their journey as readers, yet they are actively absorbing language and experiences to make sense of the world around them. Encourage your child to think and talk about shared oral stories and books that are read aloud. You can also help by exposing your child to lots of interesting words — vocabulary is key to comprehension.
Second graders are learning to think actively as they read. They use their experiences and knowledge of the world, vocabulary, a growing understanding how language works, and reading strategies to make sense of what they’re reading.
New research indicates that the processing of texts on screens is faster and shallower than on paper. Students don’t comprehend digital text as well as they do paper text — but they can learn how to get the most out of these texts, with the right supports.
ELL experts Cynthia Lundgren and Kristina Robertson discussing effective reading comprehension strategies for teaching English language learner students.
Without a strong background in basic skills like decoding and vocabulary-building, reading comprehension is impossible. This article offers research-based strategies for building on these and other skills to increase student understanding of what is read.
Concept sorts ask students to think about what they know as they compare and contrast it to new information. They are a lively, interactive way to introduce and review vocabulary and concepts across disciplines.
What is Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) and how does it work? Find out more about CORI and how it helps children’s comprehension and motivation through science inquiry.
CORI is an approach to reading instruction that helps children learn about scientific subjects while exploring non-fiction books. Read about the steps involved in using this approach to instruction.
As you teach content areas to ELLs of diverse backgrounds, you may find that they struggle to grasp the content, and that they approach the content from very different perspectives. Drawing on your students’ background knowledge and experiences, can be an effective way to bridge those gaps and to make the content more accessible. This article offers a number of suggestions to classroom teachers as they find ways to tap into the background knowledge that students bring with them.
Semantic maps (or graphic organizers) help students, especially struggling students and those with disabilities, to identify, understand, and recall the meaning of words they read in the text.
In one school day, an elementary school teacher will instruct children in reading, math, science, social studies, and more. Children should be reading and writing across all these disciplines, using specific techniques and knowledge to help them navigate different types of texts.
This study describes a second-grade science curriculum designed to individualize student instruction so that students, regardless of initial science and literacy skills, gain science knowledge and reading skills. The instruction incorporates flexible, homogeneous, literacy skills-based grouping, use of leveled science text, and explicit use of discussion and comprehension strategies.
Learning critical thinking skills can only take a student so far. Critical thinking depends on knowing relevant content very well and thinking about it, repeatedly. Here are five strategies, consistent with the research, to help bring critical thinking into the everyday classroom.
This article explains how to create and use a daybook in the literacy classroom. Readers learn what a daybook is, how the daybook in one fourth and fifth grade classroom is structured, and how students in this classroom use that daybook during reading instruction to engage, record important information, and discuss a text.
