How to Improve Reading Comprehension and Retention
Children who struggles with reading comprehension and retaining important information read in text may have trouble in many school subjects as reading comprehension is required for most academic skills. Reading with your child daily and completing simple comprehension activities often lead to an increase in comprehension and retention skills, as well as greater confidence when reading. Reading retention is an important skill that your child will use throughout her life.
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Instructions
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Select a book that is at your child's level. Work with your child to choose a book that he can read on his own. Your child should be able to read at least 90 percent of the words in a story without assistance in order to understand the story. If your child selects a story that is too hard, consider reading the story out loud to your child or having him pick a different title.
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Preview stories before you read. Before your child starts reading, look through the book to gather background knowledge. If you are reading a story book, take a picture walk and talk to your child about what she thinks is happening on each page. For chapter books and non-fiction texts, look at the chapter titles and subheadings with your child to get an overview of the text before she begins to read.
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Read books together. Ask your child to read the story out loud to you or read the story to your child. As you read, discuss events in the story or facts from the text. Encourage your child to predict what might happen next and ask him to summarize what has already happened. Relate the experiences in the story to instances in your child's life to help your child make a connection to the text.
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Discuss stories after you have finished reading. Once you have finished a story, ask your child to recall the story events. Talk about your favorite and least favorite parts of the story and your reasoning. For non-fiction books, have a conversation about the facts that you each found most interesting and what new information your child has learned.
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Reread familiar stories to help with fluency. Let your child reread familiar stories out loud or on her own. Rereading helps her improve her fluency skills, making comprehension easier, as she does not have to struggle with decoding the words and comprehending the story.
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Work with your child's teacher to determine if your child needs assistance in other areas too improve his fluency. Some children have difficulty with vocabulary or fluency or may be struggling with a learning disability that interferes with their comprehension and retention skills.
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References
- Photo Credit some more reading image by Paul Moore from Fotolia.com
