Comprehension
Why This is Important
Comprehension is the ability to understand and critically think about a text. It is the purpose of skilled reading.
Goals for Strong Readers
- Retell the most important points and key details of a text.
- Make inferences and connections about the text.
- Understand the author’s purpose and structure of a text.
- Gain new content knowledge and apply learned concepts.
Quick Activity
Fiction is a made-up story. Have your child read a made-up story. As your child to retell the story and talk about how it would be different with an alternate ending.
Non-fiction is real information with facts such as news articles, biographies, and how-to books. Have your child read a non-fiction text, then tell you three important facts from the text. Then, have your child list three new things learned from the text.
More Activities and Games
Have your child pick a book and review the title, text features (headings, bold print, captions, graphics, table of contents), illustrations, cover, and preview. Ask your child to write down his or her prediction about what will happen in the book. After your child reads the story, compare what happened with your child’s prediction.
Have your child read a non-fiction text and then write a letter to the author, sharing what was learned. Non-fiction is real information with facts such as news articles, biographies, and how-to books. Or, have your child read a fiction story and write a letter to a character in the story, sharing thoughts or questions.
- Have your child write test questions about the text
- Take the test (parents)
- Grade the test (children)
- Discuss the results
Printables
