Encourage your elementary students to use a dictionary to look up definition and meanings of words they do not know. Teach the children the importance of how one unknown word can change the meaning of the sentence or paragraph by reading a sentence with a word that the children do not know and then reading the sentence again after you have given them the definition of the unknown word. Once they get into the habit of researching words, their reading comprehension levels will increase as their vocabulary knowledge increases.
Create flash cards with images and a small summary of the main events within the story. Have each student place the story back together in sequential order from beginning, middle and end. Stop the student occasionally to allow him to read the main event on the cards to ensure the story makes sense.
Break down the text into individual pages, chapters and paragraphs and ask questions about the text. Ask your students questions regarding character development, what characters they like or dislike and why. You can also ask questions about what they think will happen next or why they like the story. Each question will stimulate the mind to actively think about what happened in the reading and gather information to answer your question.