- Read widely and often. The more a student reads, the more familiar they will become with different texts and genres, and the better equipped they will be to understand what they are reading. Ensure your child reads at least 30 minutes daily.
- Choose books that are at the right level of difficulty. Students should be reading books that are challenging but not too difficult. You can assess the difficulty of a book by looking at its Lexile level, which is a measure of its readability.
- Use reading strategies. Explicitly teach students comprehension strategies, like:
- Questioning: Encourage your child to ask questions about the text, before, during, and after reading.
- Summarizing: Help your child summarize the main ideas of a text.
- Making inferences: Teach your child to make inferences about the text.
- Making connections: Encourage your child to make connections between the text and their own experiences.
- Visualizing: Help your child to visualize what is happening in the text.
- Use reading games and activities. Games and activities can help to make reading more fun and motivate students to practice. There are many different types of reading games and activities available, so you can find ones that appeal to your child's interests.
- Talk about what you are reading. Talk to your child about the books they are reading. Ask them questions about the plot, the characters, and the main ideas. This will help them to think more deeply about what they are reading and to develop their comprehension skills.
- Encourage reading for enjoyment. Reading should be enjoyable. Find books that your child is interested in and that they will be excited to read. Try books with different genres and topics.
These tips can help your 4th grader to develop solid reading comprehension skills, setting a foundation for success in higher grade levels.