Teach reading comprehension strategies explicitly. Tell students what the strategy is and how the strategy will help them. Break each strategy into smaller steps if needed.
Model using reading strategies daily by thinking aloud while reading to students or when reading with students. For example, after you read the title of a book, you can discuss with your students predictions about what the story may be about. Also, if you encounter something in the text that you can personally relate to, share your personal anecdote aloud, then invite the students to share personal anecdotes to make connections with the text.
Guide students through each reading comprehension strategy as you introduce it. In particular, students may have difficulty comprehending a text when they encounter an unknown word. When you come across a difficult word while reading aloud, ask students to reread the passage to look for context clues that might help them understand its meaning. Students often can determine the the meaning of a word by looking in the text for examples or descriptions that refer to it.
Practice reading comprehension strategies daily. Use graphic organizers, Post-it notes and highlighters to organize thoughts while reading complex texts. Graphic organizers help students organize their thoughts on paper though the use of specialized charts and graphs. Various graphic organizers can be used for different purposes, depending on the skill being taught. For example, the KWL chart gives students a space to write about what they already know about a topic, another space to write about what they want to learn about a topic, and a final space to write about what they learned about a topic after listening to a lecture or conducting research.
Re-teach comprehension strategies as needed and continue modeling strategies throughout the school year. Allow students to model strategies for the class as they become more competent.