Allowing kids to choose their own reading material is one strategy that helps cultivate good comprehension skills. When allowed to select books they are interested in, children will find their reading to be more enjoyable, engaging and informative. They will thus be inclined to apply more thorough comprehension strategies to their reading, especially when you help them develop these strategies specifically in relation to their chosen text. Provide a large selection of books of multiple genres and styles including fiction, nonfiction and poetry. For younger children, provide picture books that feature narrative dialogue.
Reading books out loud to kids helps them improve their reading fluency. Reading aloud is also a good way to introduce kids to more advanced books and comprehension strategies that they may not be able to engage with on their own. When reading books out loud, emphasize the sentence structure, narrative voice, as well as any new vocabulary words. This will help kids to read more fluently on their own, which increases their enjoyment of the text and also improves basic comprehension skills. Stop after each chapter or section to answer any questions about the text. Also, provide children with questions for consideration that emphasize interpretive thought.
Discuss the reading material with kids to cultivate good comprehension strategies. Provide interpretative prompts to guide the discussion while allowing children the freedom to explore their own thoughts and interpretations of the text. Through discussion, kids are able to learn from the various perspectives of their peers. Furthermore, articulating their interpretations helps children be more thorough and confident in their reading comprehension strategies. Discussion is also a good time to relate the reading material to other works and real-life events. This helps kids comprehend the more advanced textual features such as literary reference and metaphor.
Written responses give kids the chance to explore their interpretations through their own writing. Additionally, writing prompts provide children with an outline of key information in the text on which to base their interpretations. This provides kids with new perspectives through which to understand the text. By exploring these perspectives in their own writing, children are able to apply good comprehension strategies while at the same time developing their essay-writing skills, both of which are invaluable in the child's education.