Though most preschool children do not yet know how to read, parents and teachers can develop techniques to help a child better comprehend what is being read to him. Before reading a story, discuss the title and study the book's cover art with the child. Have the child repeat the title, and ask him pointed questions about the image on the cover; ask the child to express, in his own words, what is happening in the image. After reading the story, ask the child to summarize what the story was about and how he felt about it. Asking the child about his emotional reaction about, for example, the puppy who got lost or the girl who got teased helps him not only to explore his feelings but also to identify with the characters. Opening discussion about the text is an effective way to gauge a child's understanding of what was read.
Early readers in elementary school can practice techniques to maximize comprehension and establish good habits that will benefit them throughout life. Reporting, restating and retelling are ways to assess and improve reading comprehension by asking the child to retell the story in her own words. This technique sparks cognitive processes that help the child think about the text rather than passively reading a cluster of words. Once a child is accustomed to restating the story in her own words, she will attempt to focus while she reads.
By middle school, most children will not be struggling as much with learning words and sentence structures and will be reading more technical texts. Introduce note-taking techniques as a means to help the student comprehend the material he is reading. Have the student keep a pencil or pen and notebook on the desk while he reads, and ask him to write down key phrases, page numbers of key information or statistics he found interesting or unusual. Students can also write down interesting quotes and page numbers to information on which clarification is needed. If a student is doing research for a particular project or paper, have him write down the page numbers where the information can be found. By high school, readers will be accustomed to taking notes and doing active reading. Help students organize their notes and perfect their note-taking methods, as this will serve as a valuable skill in college. Highlighting text in books is another way to quickly reference a particular passage or phrase, but should only be introduced as a method for books the student owns and can not resell.
Adults learn to anticipate and predict what will be in the text. By taking a few moments to consider what is likely to be next or how the story will unfold, an adult reader can more thoroughly engage the material. An adult should also look for the method of organization of the text and determine how the information she is about to read is organized; previewing written material is one technique to improve overall comprehension. When faced with an unfamiliar text or topic, spend a few minutes to become oriented with the material; if reading an academic book, read the introduction, scan the index and read the chapter headings. If there are photos, drawings, maps or graphs in the text, pause and read the captions under the images to help get oriented. Teachers can help students when introducing new topics or texts by providing an outline and introduction to the subject, text or author.