What do kids need to do to understand what they read? Being an active reading is key. What is an active reader? An active reader focuses on the text, questions it and takes mental notes. Teachers use a number of reading strategies to help kids become active readers. They are strategies you can also use at home. Let us break them down for you.
Sound it out
Look at all the parts of a word and sound out the parts.
Look for a base word
Identify the prefix or suffix and isolate the root word. Recognize the meaning of the root word. Recognize the meaning of the prefix or suffix. Combine the two to learn the new meaning.
Chunk it
Group words in a sentence into short meaningful phrases (usually three to five words). This process prevents word-by-word reading, which can cause lack of comprehension.
Try a different sound
As many singe and dual-sound vowel letters in English can represent more than one sound, try a different vowel sound.
Re-read
Go back to the beginning of the sentence and re-read it.
Use picture clues
Look at the picture that accompanies the text for clues about the text.
Use context clues
Look at the unfamiliar word and read the sentence before and after the word. Look for clues in the sentence that help work out the meaning of the unfamiliar word. Predict a meaning for the word. Reread the sentence with your predicted meaning of the word.
Use your background knowledge
When students build on existing information they already know, they’re better able to understand the text they are reading.
Use the text features
Identifying text features help students understand the information being presented, identify the main idea, key words and concepts. Discussing the text’s typical features, such as heading, graphics, main idea boxes and bolded words, helps students find and understand information.
Reading strategies cards
We’ve created these cards for you to print out and use with your child when practicing reading.
Stories
If you’re looking for reading comprehension stories, we have a large collection for kindergarten to grade 5.
