When children visualize the events of a story, they often comprehend more of what the story is about. Teachers often instruct elementary school children how to use this method when reading. To do this, teach the children to make images in their heads about the story. This includes visualizing what the characters look like, the setting and the events that are happening in the book. According to the Reading Rockets, making mental images causes children to remember details in stories much better.
When teachers assign reading homework, they often include a list of questions for the students to answer. The students must often stop during the middle of a story, or after each chapter, to answer questions. This strategy helps children to comprehend more of what they read, because they are instructed not to continue reading until they can successfully answer the questions. This strategy encourages students to read more slowly and more thoroughly to avoid going back through the chapter to look for answers.
A Venn diagram is a strategy teachers use to improve reading comprehension in elementary school children. These diagrams are visual representations used by students to compare concepts. A student can use a Venn diagram to compare two characters in a book or two different books. Venn diagrams help students comprehend what they are reading by forcing them to find similarities, and differences, in the two concepts. Most Venn diagrams are completed by drawing two ovals on a piece of paper. To do this, draw one oval, and then overlap it with another oval. The students write the similarities in the part where the ovals overlap. In the other two sections that are not overlapping, the students write differences in the two concepts or books.
Teachers can help students improve reading comprehension skills by teaching them how to recognize parts of the story structure. You can give handouts that ask the students to answer questions about the story’s setting, characters, events, problems and resolutions. By doing this, the students will think harder about the events and details of the story that can cause them to retain more information about the story.