Read stories aloud, and ask questions about the story. It works best if you ask several questions along the way and end with followup questions. This encourages pupils to listen to the story and process the information they are given.
Work with inference. Show the pupils a picture, and have them infer (guess) what happened in the picture. For example, you could show a picture of a frowning boy standing beside a broken window and a baseball lying on the ground.
Establish phonics and phonemic awareness. Before pupils can comprehend what they are reading for themselves, they must learn the steps to reading. Teach and review letters, blends and words.
Focus on comprehending one word at a time. Have the pupils read a word and draw a picture of that word. This is not the time to focus on art skills but rather if the pupil is making the connection between the word and the object drawn.
Expand to sentence comprehension. Have the pupil read a sentence and act it out for you. If the pupil is unsure what the sentence said, have him or her go back and read it again. Allow the pupil to read it as many times as necessary until the child understands what he or she is reading.
Assign a short paragraph to each pupil and have him or her explain to you what the pupil read. Again, allow them to read the paragraph as many times as necessary.
Reread everything. When children first begin reading, they are so busy trying to decode the words that they have trouble comprehending what they've read. By reading the same material repeatedly, not only does the pupil's vocabulary improve, but you'll also notice a difference in flow, smoothness, and overall comprehension, not to mention the child's self-esteem.