Grade K • Language Arts • Comprehension

Grade K Language Arts

Comprehension

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to (1) decode what they read; (2) make connections between what they read and what they already know; and (3) think deeply about what they have read. Note that in beginner-level text, there is often not enough "meat" for comprehension strategies beyond the most basic questions. Thus, the following tips and strategies can be used with a story that is being read to a child.

Comprehension Tips

Talk about books before, during, and after reading.

Before: discuss the title, author, illustrator, title page, and dedication page. Ask your child what the story might be about.
During: discuss what is happening in the story and ask what might happen next.
After: discuss favorite and exciting parts and meanings of new words. Discuss what the author or illustrator did to make the book interesting to read.

Comprehension Strategies

Five Finger Retell Video

Five Finger Retell

Someone Wanted But So Then

Predicting

Proficient readers make ongoing predictions about text as they read and then confirm or disconfirm their predictions as they continue to make meaning throughout the reading process.

Ask your child...

What did you preview in the story or text?
What do you predict will happen in the story or what will happen next?
After you read, what did you find out?

Questioning

Proficient readers ask questions of themselves, the authors, and the texts as they read. Proficient readers use their questions to clarify and to focus their meaning.

Read-Cover-Remember-Retell

This strategy assists your child in reading more carefully and taking responsibility for focusing on remembering information in the text. Read-Cover-Remember-Retell approach stops readers frequently, to encourage them to think about the meaning of what they are reading.

Grade K • Language Arts • Comprehension