Build background knowledge. The teacher should not make the assumption that the child has the background knowledge necessary for the reading. If a child reads a passage but does not have the necessary background knowledge to process the material, she will not have comprehended what is read. Therefore, it is important for the teacher to build the background before reading a text. Ask the child what she knows about the reading's topic. Request the child to ask questions about the topic. Performing these two actions before reading will help the child process the information in the text.
Question the child. Researchers have found that asking students questions before, during and after reading allow the student to focus on the information from the reading. You can help a child comprehend a passage by asking good questions that cultivate wondering about the reading. Good questions start with words such as, "who," "what," "where," "when," "why," and "how come."
Determine the main ideas. Students may often lose sight of the true meaning of a reading passage because of the massive amount of information included. For a student to understand the meaning of a passage, she must comprehend the main ideas portrayed. Get the child thinking about the main ideas of the passage by asking themselves questions such as what the purpose of the reading was, what new information did they learn, what do they want to remember from the passage and what will they do with the information.
Synthesize the information. To extend a child's comprehension of a passage to more than just the author's intended meaning, the child needs to synthesize the text with herself. After the child has grasped the main ideas of a reading passage, you should encourage the student to express her reactions to the text. You can do this in many ways. One example is to give the child "what if" scenarios related to the text to let the child imagine herself having personally experience the situation in the passage.