As part of an intervention, you can demonstrate reading comprehension techniques to troubled students by reading, and thinking, aloud. Meet with a student away from the regular class and read a section from a story, verbally identifying the important elements, such as facts important to understanding the story, decisions characters make or complications the characters face. For instance, if you are reading a detective story aloud, stop reading after you read a sentence where the characters find a track outside a house and ask the student a series of questions, such as “What does the track mean?” “Why is finding the track important?” or “How does finding the track change the plot of the story?”
Positive reinforcement, while you watch a student read aloud, provides a student with immediate correction on mistakes, while encouraging progress and reinforcing good reading skills. Meet with the student away from class and listen as he reads to you, paying special attention to his pronunciation and reading techniques. Use this process to identify any reading difficulties requiring special attention, such as reading words backwards, failing to identify certain words or having trouble focusing on the task. If you notice these issues, refer the student to the school diagnostician for special help to address these learning disabilities.
Some students require less direct intervention, benefiting more from the direct attention of a teacher as he practices reading techniques. Meet with the student away from class and give him time to read independently, making yourself available to answer questions and help guide his reading time. Once the student finishes reading a section, engage the student in a discussion about the reading, asking questions regarding the event occurring in the section and its significance to the story. Use this technique to give students a chance to use their comprehension skills individually, while providing guidance when requested.
By providing reading options directed at student interests, you can encourage independent reading as students use their reading comprehension skills with text they enjoy reading. For early readers, this technique allows you to encourage the development of comprehension skills by showing them how they can use them to enhance the reading experience in topics which interest them. For more developed readers, this technique encourages further development of comprehension skills, as students learn to enjoy reading when allowed to read topics of personal interest.