Are you looking for strategies to improve students reading comprehension skills? If so, keep reading.
1. Get the student to look for the keywords and main ideas when reading.
2. After reading a selection, have the student have to verbally summarize what they have read.
3. Get the student to read high interest signs, advertisements, notices, etc., from newspapers, magazines, movie promotions, etc., placing emphasis on comprehension skills.
4. Teach the student to find the main points in content to enable their comprehension.
5. Refrain from placing the student in awkward reading skills (e.g., reading aloud in a group, reading with time limits, etc.).
6. Get the student to read independently each day to practice reading skills.
7. Spotlight essential information the student should pay close attention to when reading.
8. Minimize the amount of information on a page if it is visually distracting for the student.
9. Make sure the student is practicing comprehension skills that are causally related to high interest reading learning activities (e.g., adventure, romance, mystery, sports, etc.).
10. Make sure the student is reading content on their capacity and ability level. If not, modify or adjust reading content to the student’s capacity and ability level.
11. Make sure the student learns the meanings of all commonly used prefixes and suffixes.
12. Make sure the student learns dictionary skills to find the meaning of words.
13. Cut out images from magazines and newspapers and have the student match captions to them. This learning experience could be varied by having one student write the caption while another student determines if it is appropriate.
14. Create a list of main points from the student’s reading content, written on the student’s reading level.
15. Get the student to take notes while reading to enable comprehension.
16. Minimize the amount of content the student reads at one time (e.g., lessen reading content to individual sentences or one paragraph, etc.). As the student shows success, slowly increase the amount of content to be read at one time.
17. Get the student to supply missing words in sentences given by classmates and/or the teacher to enable comprehension skills.
18. Get the student to list new or complicated words in categories such as people, food, animals, things that are hot, etc.
19. Teach the student meanings of abbreviations to assist in comprehending content read.
20. Include frequent written tasks on topics that are of interest to the student to reinforce the correlation between writing and reading capacity and ability.
21. Consider using AI to teach reading comprehension.
22. Consider using Alexa to teach reading skills.
23. Try using one of our many apps designed to teach literacy skills and help students with reading issues:
10 Apps That Teach Your Child to Read
7 Must-Have Apps to Make Learners Love Reading
7 Must-Have Phonics Apps and Tools
9 Reading Apps and Tools for the Elementary Classroom
The Tech Edvocate’s List of 24 Literacy Apps, Tools & Resources
