One of the most important parts of successful reading comprehension is the ability to sequence the events that occur in a story. Promote success with reading comprehension by presenting students with a story sequencing activity. Photocopy images from different parts of a book, particularly from the beginning, middle and end. Alternatively, you can print out sentences that describe events that happen in different parts of a story. Mix up the pictures or the sentences and encourage students to arrange them in the order in which they occur in the story.
Improve fluency in reading by engaging students in echo reading. Read aloud a portion of a text, making sure to use intonation and expression as you read. After you read a section of the text, ask students to repeat, or "echo" what you have read. Encourage them to try to use the same expression and intonation that you used while reading the portion of the text. As students practice reading in this manner, they build their confidence in reading, making them more skilled readers. Additionally, it provides an opportunity for you to explain unknown vocabulary and provide clarification of ideas, which in turn improves reading comprehension.
Use this activity to encourage identification of vocabulary and high frequency words. Photocopy a page from a book that contains words that you wish to reinforce. Distribute the copies to your students, along with colored pencils. After reading a sentence or a section of the page, or the entire page, ask students to look through the paper and have them circle specific words, providing them with practice reading specific words.
This activity promotes the idea that reading not only takes place in books, but can be found in the world around us. Provide students with pointers of some sort: fly swatter, a ruler, a yardstick or a wooden dowel, for example. Encourage them to walk around the room and use their pointers to point to the text around the room and practice reading what is written in different areas. For example, students may point to and read the words on a calendar, on different signs, on an attendance chart and so forth.