Students are more likely to comprehend what they read when it is something of interest to them, writes Rachel Cicurel of Oprah.com, so teachers may want to give struggling students a little leeway in choosing their texts. Although students eventually have to start understanding texts they don't necessarily love, helping them improve their reading skills using texts they enjoy will make them less likely to dislike reading and more likely to put forth the effort. Have students choose a book on a subject they like -- or choose one for them on a subject of interest -- and then stop them every few pages to ask questions about the material. You might ask them what happened or to describe a certain character.
Most students are taught not to write in their books, but for those who really want to interact with the text, getting a book messy might be the best thing. Teach students to annotate by showing them how you would annotate a piece of text. For example, you might show them how you write questions you would like to research in the margins of an article or argue with things you do not agree with alongside the text of a candidate's speech. Next, give your students a text, and ask them to make at least one annotation per page. Provide them with a list of good ways to annotate -- such as asking questions or defining a word. Have students compare annotations and then discuss the text.
According to C.R. Adler of Reading Rockets, students who can monitor their own reading comprehension can "fix" reading comprehension issues on their own. To teach students to monitor their comprehension, help them to gain awareness of what they do not understand. Then help them learn how to come to an understanding on their own. For example, teach students to go back and find the exact word or sentence that is causing the misunderstanding. Then, they can look up confusing words in the dictionary or break the sentence down into smaller phrases and clauses to try to decipher its meaning. If none of this works, students will at least be able to explain what they are confused about to the teacher.
Students who have difficulty understanding what they read may benefit by thinking of reading as a process. That process can be broken up into three stages: pre-reading, during reading, and after reading. During each of these phases, teach students to prepare themselves to understand what is being said. For example, during pre-reading, encourage students to use clues, such as the title, pictures and the text layout, to ready themselves for understanding what will come. These facts give them an idea of what the piece will be about and its genre. During reading, show students how to pause, ask questions, annotate and re-read. After reading, teach students to check for understanding by summarizing the author's work or being able to identify his main point.