Focus on Comprehension
The following information on comprehension strategies is from Strategies That Work, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis:
Making Connections
Readers pay more attention when they relate to the text. Readers may naturally bring their prior knowledge and experience to reading, but they comprehend better when they think about the connections they make between the text, their lives, and the larger world.
Asking Questions
Questioning is the strategy that keeps readers engaged. When readers ask questions before, during, and after reading, they clarify understanding and forge ahead to seek answers and make meaning.
Visualizing
Active readers create visual images in their minds based on the words they read in the text. The pictures they create enhance their understanding and change as new information is obtained.
Drawing Inferences
Inferring is at the intersection of taking what is known (prior knowledge), gathering clues from the text, and thinking ahead to make a judgment, discern a theme, or speculate about what is to come.
Determining Important Ideas
Thoughtful readers grasp essential ideas and important information when reading. Readers must differentiate between less important ideas and key ideas that are central to the meaning of the text.
Synthesizing Information
Synthesizing involves combining new information with existing knowledge to form an original idea or interpretation. Reviewing, sorting and sifting important information can lead to new insights that change the way readers think.
Repairing Understanding
If confusion disrupts meaning, readers need to stop and clarify their understanding. Readers may use a variety of strategies to "fix up" comprehension when meaning goes awry.
One of the best things you can do to assist your children with reading is to engage them in talking about the books they read. Talking stimulates language development and helps children improve their comprehension.
As you get ready to share a book with your child, you might ask your child to talk about the cover, the title, and a few of the pictures in the book. Having this conversation before you read will help your child to build te expectation that stories make sense. At this time you can also help your child connect personal experiences to the reading. If there is a picture of a park, for example, this would be the time to talk with your child about a time you spent in the park together.
During reading, you can stop now and then to ask some "thinking" questions:
Just choose a few questions to discuss. This should feel more like a conversation than a test. Reading and discussing books is a wonderful way to enjoy each other's imagination, thoughts, and wonderings! Have fun!