Reading Comprehension Strategies

10 Ways to Increase Comprehension

By Melissa Kelly
Secondary Education Expert
Reading comprehension is a skill that is learned over time. It requires the reader to be
able to read fluently, stay focused, and think critically about the book or text in
question. Unfortunately, many students struggle comprehending texts. Some cannot
discern the main ideas from the details while others have a hard time understanding
what the book is even talking about. Therefore, helping students increase their reading
comprehension is a key to their educational success or failure. Following are 10
effective tips and strategies that you can use to help.

1. Read Aloud
While some might think of a teaching reading aloud as something that only happens
in elementary classrooms, there is evidence that reading aloud also benefits middle
and high school students as well. For one thing, teachers can model good reading
behavior. In addition, they can help make challenging texts more understandable to
students.
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2. Stop and Ask Questions to Yourself As You Read

A good strategy to teach struggling readers is that instead of just rushing through a
passage or chapter, they should stop and ask themselves questions. These can either
be questions about what has just happened or what they think might happen in the
future. Doing this can help them focus on the main ideas and increase the student's
engagement with the material.

3. Talk With Someone Else About What Is Being Read

Having students stop periodically and discuss what has just been read can reveal any
issues with understanding and can reinforce what is being taught.
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4. Look at the Headings and Other Information Before You Begin

An excellent strategy that soon becomes second nature is to have struggling students
read through all the headings and subheadings in any chapter that they have been
assigned. They can also look at the pictures and any graphs or charts. This
information can help them gain an overview of what they will be learning as they read
the chapter.

5. Keep Paper Handy for Notes and Questions

Students should read a chapter with paper and pen in hand. They can then take notes,
write down questions they think of, and create a vocabulary list of all the highlighted
words in the chapter along with any unfamiliar terms that they need to define.
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6. Learn to Cluster Words

Clustering is a skill that increases reading comprehension by having students learn to
read groups of words that form phrases or fit together semantically into one cluster.
Instead of students focusing on individual words, they look at words in a small group
and gain greater meaning from it.

7. Use Graphic Organizers As You Read

Some students find that graphic organizers like webs and concept maps can
greatly enhance reading comprehension. These allow students to identify areas of
focus and main ideas in a reading. By filling in this information, students can deepen
their understanding of the author's meaning.

8. Practice PQ4R
This consists of four steps: Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, and Review.
Preview has students scan the material to get an overview. Question means that
students should ask themselves questions as they read. The four R's have students
read the material, reflect on what has just been read, recite the major points to
yourself to help learn better, and then finally go back over the material and see if you
can answer the questions you previously asked.

9. Stop and Summarize

As students read, have them periodically stop their reading and summarize what they
have just read. This will aid in their understanding of the material being covered.

10. Write Questions About the Material

After students have read a passage, have them go back and write questions that could
be included in a quiz or test on the material. This will require them to look at the
information in a different manner.
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