# data[].attributes.body
Reading Comprehension is important because it's what you're understanding while reading. This is the main reason for reading!

# data[].attributes.headline
What is Reading Comprehension and Why is it Important? Click Below for more information.

# data[].attributes.subject
What is Reading Comprehension and Why is it Important? Click Below for more information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Click these links to jump ahead to each section:

Raising a reader

Take a look at this article, 10 Things You Can Do to Raise a Reader for a quick overview.

To discover simple ways help your child build literacy skills at home, click on your child's grade level in the links on the left.

What is reading?

It's not an easy thing, learning to read. Our brains are naturally wired to speak, but they are not naturally wired to read and write. We need to be taught how to read. Most children learn to read at about age 5 or 6 and continue developing more sophisticated language and comprehension skills throughout their schooling.

Reading is making meaning from print. It requires that we do these three things, all at the same time:

Identify the words in print - a process called decoding and word recognition

Construct an understanding from words in print - a process called comprehension

Coordinate identifying words and making meaning so that reading is automatic and accurate - an achievement called fluency

Reading in its fullest sense involves weaving together word recognition and comprehension in a fluent manner. These three processes are complex, and each is important. How complex? Let's find out ...

To develop word recognition, children need to learn:

How to break apart and manipulate the sounds in words - this is phonemic awareness.
Example:feet has three sounds: /f/, /e/, and /t/

Certain letters are used to represent certain sounds - this is the alphabetic principle.
Example:s and h make the /sh/ sound

How to apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to sound out words that are new to them - this is decoding.
Example: ssssspppoooon - spoon!

How to analyze words and spelling patterns in order to become more efficient at reading words - this is word study.
Example:Bookworm has two words I know: book and worm.

To expand the number of words they can identify automatically, called their sight vocabulary.
Example: Oh, I know that word -the!

To develop comprehension, children need to develop:

Background knowledge about many topics.
Example: "This book is about zoos - that's where lots of animals live."

Extensive oral and print vocabularies.
Example: "Look at my trucks - I have a tractor, and a fire engine, and a bulldozer."

Understanding how the English language works.
Example: "We say sheate her dinner, not she ated her dinner."

Understanding how print works.
Example: "Reading in English goes from left to right."

Knowledge of various kinds of texts.
Example: "I bet they live happily ever after."

Various purposes for reading.
Example: "I want to know what ladybugs eat."

Strategies for making meaning from text, and for problem solving when meaning breaks down.
Example: "This isn't making sense. Let me go back and reread it."

To develop fluency, children need to:

Develop a high level of accuracy in word recognition

Maintain a rate of reading brisk enough to support comprehension

Use phrasing and expression so that oral reading sounds like speech

Transform deliberate strategies for word recognition and comprehension into automatic skills

Reading motivation matters, too

If reading isn't pleasurable or fulfilling, children won't choose to read, and they won't get the practice they need to become fluent readers.

So reading also means developing and maintaining the motivation to read. To do that, children need to:

Appreciate the pleasures of reading.

View reading as a social act, to be shared with others.

See reading as an opportunity to explore their interests.

Read widely for a variety of purposes, from enjoyment to gathering information.

Become comfortable with a variety of different written forms and genres.

Here are some honest and smart tips from kids on reading motivation: What Parents Can Do: Reading Tips from Kids

How can I encourage reading when it's hard for my child?

Literacy expert Kegi Wells shares different strategies to help children become stronger and more engaged readers. From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.

So ... what is reading?

Learning to read is complex. Children don't learn one reading-related skill and then move on to the next in a step-by-step process. Instead, they must develop competency in four areas at the same time: word identification, comprehension, fluency, and motivation.

That's quite an achievement for a six year old!

In the sections below, you'll learn more about six key areas of reading.

Print awareness: understanding what print is and the parts of a book

Print awareness (also called "concepts of print") is a child's earliest introduction to literacy. Children with print awareness understand that print carries meaning and has different functions depending on the context in which it appears - for example, menus list food choices, a book tells a story, a sign can identify a favorite restaurant or warn of danger.

Most children become aware of print long before they enter school. They see print all around them, on signs and billboards, in alphabet books and story books, and in labels, magazines, and newspapers. Seeing print and observing adults' reactions to print helps children recognize its various forms.

The ability to understand how print works does not emerge magically and unaided. This understanding comes about through the active intervention of adults and other children who point out letters, words, and other features of the print that surrounds children.

When children are read to regularly, when they play with letters and engage in word games, and later, when they receive formal reading instruction, they begin to understand how the system of print functions; that is, print on a page is read from left to right and from top to bottom; that sentences start with capital letters and end with periods, and much, much more.

As they participate in interactive reading with adults, children also learn about the features of a book - such as author and illustrator names, book title, and page numbers. They also learn about book handling - including how to turn pages, how to find the top and bottom of a page, how to identify the front and back cover of a book.

As part of this learning, they begin to develop the very important concept of a "word" - that meaning is conveyed through words; that printed words are separated by spaces; and that some words in print look longer (because they have more letters) than other words.

Phonological and phonemic awareness: recognizing the sounds in spoken words

Phonological and phonemic awareness is about the sounds in spoken words and a child's understanding that spoken words are made up of sounds. While phonics focuses on teaching sound-spelling relationships and is associated with print, phonological awareness tasks are oral.

Phonological awareness

Phonological awareness is made up of a group of skills. Examples include being able to identify words that rhyme, counting the number of syllables in a name, recognizing alliteration, segmenting a sentence into words, and identifying the syllables in a word. The most sophisticated - and last to develop - is called phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Manipulating the sounds in words includes blending, stretching, or otherwise changing words. Children can demonstrate phonemic awareness in several ways, including:

Recognizing which words in a set of words begin with the same sound.
(" Bell, bike, and boy all have /b/ at the beginning.")

Identifying and saying the first or last sound in a word.
("The beginning sound of dog is /d/." "The ending sound of sit is /t/.")

Combining (blending) the separate sounds in a word to say the whole word.
("/m/, /a/, /p/ - map.")

Breaking (segmenting) a word into its separate sounds.
(" up - /u/, /p/.")

Changing a sound to make a new word

("Change the /t/ for /m/ - top becomes mop")

Children who cannot hear and work with the phonemes of spoken words will have a difficult time learning how to relate these phonemes to letters when they see them in written words.

What is phonological awareness?

This video was produced by Understood.

Phonics and decoding: connecting the sounds of speech with letters

The goal of phonics instruction is to help children learn the alphabetic principle - the idea that letters represent the sounds of spoken language - and that there is an organized, logical, and predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.

Learning that there are predictable relationships between sounds and letters allows children to apply these relationships to both familiar and unfamiliar words, and to begin to read with fluency.

Children are taught, for example, that the letter n represents the sound /n/, and that it is the first letter in words such as nose, nice and new. When children understand sound-letter correspondence, they are able to sound out and read (decode) new words.

Learning how the 26 letters in our written alphabet are used to represent the roughly 44 sounds in our spoken language allows children to unlock the code of our written language!

Phonics instruction should be:

Systematic: the letter-sound relationship is taught in an organized and logical sequence.

Explicit: there are precise, detailed directions for teaching letter-sound relationships.

Every day: provides frequent opportunities for children to apply what they are learning about letters and sounds to the reading of words, sentences, and stories.

Fluency: reading with accuracy and expression

When kids can read fluently, it's easier for them to understand what they're reading. And they read aloud easily and with expression - this makes reading a lot more enjoyable!

Less fluent readers read more slowly and word by word. They must focus their attention on figuring out the words, leaving them little attention for understanding the meaning of text. Comprehension and motivation to read can suffer. Of course, beginning readers aren't fluent yet, but by the end of first grade, kids should be reading books at their grade level with ease and expression.

Fluency develops gradually over time and through practice. At the earliest stage of reading development, students' oral reading is slow and labored because students are just learning to "break the code" - to attach sounds to letters and to blend letter sounds into recognizable words.

When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they are speaking.

Because fluent readers do not have to concentrate on decoding the words, they can focus their attention on what the text means. They can make connections among the ideas in the text and their background knowledge. In other words, fluent readers recognize words and comprehend at the same time.

Vocabulary: knowing what each word means

Vocabulary plays a key role in the reading process and is critical to reading comprehension. Children learn the meanings of most words indirectly, through everyday experiences with oral and written language. Other words are learned through carefully designed instruction.

Vocabulary refers to the words we must understand to communicate effectively. We can identify four types of vocabulary:

Listening vocabulary: the words we need to know to understand what we hear.

Speaking vocabulary: the words we use when we speak.

Reading vocabulary: the words we need to know to understand what we read.

Writing vocabulary: the words we use in writing.

Beginning readers must use the words they hear orally to make sense of the words they see in print. Kids who hear more words spoken at home learn more words and enter school with better vocabularies. This larger vocabulary pays off exponentially as a child progresses through school.

Consider, for example, what happens when a beginning reader comes to the word dig in a book. As she begins to figure out the sounds represented by the letters d, i, g, the reader recognizes that the sounds make up a very familiar word that she has heard and said many times. It is harder for a beginning reader to figure out words that are not already part of their speaking (oral) vocabulary.

As children learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary.

While most vocabulary is learned indirectly, some vocabulary must be taught directly by: (1) providing kids with instruction in specific words that are important to understanding a particular text; and (2) teaching kids more general word-learning strategies that they can apply to a variety of words, such as analyzing parts of words (e.g., root words).

Understanding vocabulary: why it's critical to your child's reading

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte. Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper.

Comprehension: understanding what you read

Comprehension is the reason for reading. If readers can read the words but do not understand or connect to what they are reading, they are not really reading. Good readers are both purposeful and active, and have the skills to absorb what they read, analyze it, make sense of it, and make it their own.

Strong readers think actively as they read. They use their experiences and knowledge of the world, vocabulary, language structure, and reading strategies to make sense of the text and know how to get the most out of it. They know when they have problems with understanding and what thinking strategies to use to resolve these problems when they pop up.

Teachers can play a critical role in helping students develop their comprehension skills. Reading research has shown that comprehension instruction can help students do a better job of understanding and remembering what they read. Good instruction can also help students communicate with others, verbally and in writing, about what they've read.

What good readers do

Draw on prior knowledge. Good readers draw on prior knowledge and experience to help them understand what they are reading.

Draw inferences. In addition to understanding the literal points that the author is making, good readers are able to "read between the lines" and draw inferences about a wide range of hidden meanings, such as why events are unfolding as they do, why characters behave in a certain way, what the characters are thinking, and what might happen next.

Self-monitor. During reading, good readers learn to monitor their understanding, adjust their reading speed to fit the difficulty of the text, and address any comprehension problems they have. After reading, they check their understanding of what they have read. Students who are good at monitoring their comprehension know when they understand what they're reading and when they don't.

Form mental images. Good readers often form mental pictures, or images, as they read. Readers (especially younger readers) who picture the story during reading understand and remember what they read better than readers who do not create a picture in their mind.

Summarize and retell. Summarizing requires students to determine what is important in the text and then put it into their own words by retelling, verbally or in writing. Instruction in summarizing can help students become more purposeful as they read and more skillful in comprehending. Summarizing can help students to:

Identify main ideas orally or in writing.

Connect the main or central ideas orally or in writing.

Learn to weed out unnecessary information.

Remember what they have read.

Can your child tell you what happened in the story?

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte. Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper.

More resources on reading

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Take a look at this article, 10 Things You Can Do to Raise a Reader for a quick overview. To discover simple ways help your child build literacy skills at home, click on your child's grade level in the links on the left. It's not an easy thing, learning to read.

# data[].attributes.headline
Should I Correct My Child When They Read To Me?

# data[].attributes.subject
Should I Correct My Child When They Read To Me?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Writing SOS To learn from the experts on how to help your child with writing see our Q&A video series Writing SOS. Our Reading SOS experts answer your questions about the sounds of speech (phonemic awareness), phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, reading and motivation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A learning disability (LD) is a disorder that affects a child's ability to interpret what they see and hear or to link information from different parts of the brain. This section provides a wealth of information about learning disabilities, the most common of which is dyslexia - difficulty with language and reading.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Las discapacidades del aprendizaje afectan la manera en la que una persona aprende a leer, escribir, hablar y hacer cálculos. Son causadas por diferencias en el cerebro, con mayor frecuencia en la forma en la que funciona, pero a veces también en su estructura. Estas diferencias afectan la forma en la que el cerebro procesa la información.

Las discapacidades del aprendizaje a menudo se descubren una vez que el niño asiste a la escuela y tiene dificultades de aprendizaje que no mejoran con el tiempo. Una persona puede tener más de una discapacidad del aprendizaje. Las discapacidades del aprendizaje pueden durar toda la vida de una persona, pero esta todavía puede tener éxito con el apoyo educativo adecuado.

Una discapacidad del aprendizaje no indica la inteligencia de una persona. Las discapacidades del aprendizaje son diferentes a los problemas de aprendizaje debidos a discapacidades intelectuales y de desarrollo y a los problemas de habilidades emocionales, visuales, auditivas o motoras.

Distintos grupos pueden definir la "discapacidad del aprendizaje" de diferentes maneras y, a menudo, según el enfoque de la organización. Puede leer más en el Departamento de Educación de EE. UU. , que brinda estatutos, reglamentos y políticas sobre la Ley de Educación para Individuos con Discapacidades; la Asociación Americana de Discapacidades del Aprendizaje y https://www.understood.org/es-mx , que es mantenido por el National Center for Learning Disabilities (Centro Nacional para las Discapacidades del Aprendizaje).

Tipos de discapacidades del aprendizaje

Algunas de las discapacidades del aprendizaje más comunes son las siguientes:

Debido a que existen muchos tipos diferentes de discapacidades del aprendizaje, y a que algunas personas pueden tener más de una, es difícil estimar cuántas personas podrían tener discapacidades del aprendizaje.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sobre las discapacidades del aprendizaje

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Las discapacidades del aprendizaje afectan la manera en la que una persona aprende a leer, escribir, hablar y hacer cálculos. Son causadas por diferencias en el cerebro, con mayor frecuencia en la forma en la que funciona, pero a veces también en su estructura.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Audiobooks are a wonderful way to expose your child to complex language, expressive reading, and fantastic stories. Listening to audiobooks also gives kids the valuable and enjoyable experience of using their own imaginations to visualize the people and places they're hearing about.

# data[].attributes.headline
Where Can I Find Books At My Child's Reading Level?

# data[].attributes.subject
Where Can I Find Books At My Child's Reading Level?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use our Book Finder tool to create your own customized list of fiction and nonfiction books. Search through more than 5,000 books on Reading Rockets - by author, illustrator, age, reading level, genre, format, and topic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Los audiolibros son una maravillosa manera de exponer a su hijo al lenguaje complejo, la lectura expresiva y a fantásticas historias. El hecho de escuchar libros audio también les brinda a los niños una valiosa y agradable experiencia con el uso de su propia imaginación para visualizar a las personas y los lugares de los que están escuchando. Aquí encontrará algunos consejos sobre qué buscar al seleccionar audiolibros y para escucharlos.

Los audiolibros son una maravillosa manera de exponer a su niño al lenguaje complejo, la lectura expresiva y fantásticas historias. El hecho escuchar audiolibros también les brinda a los niños la valiosa y agradable experiencia de usar su propia imaginación para visualizar a las personas y lugares de los que están escuchando. Si bien son populares entre muchas familias que los usan durante viajes largos en coche, audiolibros son una excelente manera de experimentar historias en cualquier momento y en cualquier lugar.

Qué buscar

Historias conocidas. Para el niño, el escuchar un audiolibro es una experiencia muy diferente a la de escuchar la lectura en voz alta de un libro. Al darle a conocer el audiolibro a su hijo, busque algunos sobre historias que el niño haya escuchado o que le hayan leído con anterioridad. El estar familiarizado con la historia le ayudará a su hijo a disfrutar de escucharlo de un lector diferente y convertirse en un oyente dispuesto.

Formato fácil de usar. Considere cuál formato funcionará mejor para usted y su hijo. Los audiolibros están disponibles en CDs y suelen encontrarse en su biblioteca pública local con una copia del libro de ilustraciones o para lector temprano. Algunas bibliotecas también tienen Playaways que son libros pre-cargados en MP3 player disponibles para pedir prestados. La biblioteca también puede ofrecer audiolibros en formato de archivos digitales mediante un servicio OverDrive que puede pedir prestado y descargar en su dispositivo personal. Hay también muchos servicios digitales en línea tales como Audible y Tales2Go donde puede suscribirse a un extenso catálogo de contenido de audio.

Títulos de calidad. Al elegir títulos de audiolibros, busque sugerencias de su bibliotecario y consulte las recomendaciones de los expertos, tales como las de Notable Children's Recordings from the American Library Association o Reading Rockets' Favorite Audio Books (audiolibros favoritos de Reading Rockets). También obtenga la opinión de los niños sobre la selección lo que le ayudará a conseguir que se interesen antes que comiencen a escuchar.

Buena producción. En la medida de lo posible, escuche un extracto del audiolibro antes de empezarlo. Si la voz del narrador le crespa los nervios o si encuentra que la música de fondo o que los efectos de sonido son una distracción, le ahorrará tiempo y dolor a todos los oyentes de su familia.

Lo que debe hacer

Escuchen audiolibros juntos. Los audiolibros son una maravillosa experiencia de lectura compartida y una historia compartida les brinda a todos los miembros de la familia algo de qué hablar. Además, usted puede ayudar a potenciar las habilidades de reflexión de su niño haciendo preguntas sobre lo que ha escuchado o tomar turnos con su hijo para volver a relatar partes favoritas de la historia.

Ofrezca alguna información o una vista previa de la historia para ayudar a que su niño se concentre a escuchar y para que pueda seguir lo que está sucediendo en la historia con más facilidad. Si tiene un chico que pronto será lector y un lector adelantado, el entregarles a los niños una copia del libro para seguir la audición les ayudará a establecer la conexión entre las palabras escritas y las habladas.

No dude en parar de escuchar. Si un libro no es atractivo, ¡intente con otro!

Tenga presente a sus jóvenes oyentes. Si bien los niños pueden escuchar a un nivel más adelantado del que pueden leer, algunas historias pueden ser demasiado complejas para que los pequeños oyentes las sigan y disfruten. Hay una abundancia de audiolibros y poesía para disfrutar y no necesita precipitarse hacia Harry Potter.

No deje que los audiolibro tomen el lugar de leerle en voz alta a su hijo o de contar historias. El tiempo que pasan juntos le ayudará a su niño a realizar un descubrimiento permanente de lo qué se trata el placer de la lectura.

Más información de nuestro socio, Understood.org:

You are welcome to print copies or republish materials for non-commercial use as long as credit is given to Colorín Colorado and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact [email protected]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Los audiolibros son una maravillosa manera de exponer a su hijo al lenguaje complejo, la lectura expresiva y a fantásticas historias. El hecho de escuchar libros audio también les brinda a los niños una valiosa y agradable experiencia con el uso de su propia imaginación para visualizar a las personas y los lugares de los que están escuchando.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you've been around classrooms and teachers, you've probably heard the term "fluency." Fluency is something worth knowing more about! Read on to find out what it is and how to develop it in your young learner.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Si ha estado en contacto con los maestros y en las aulas de clase, quizá haya escuchado el término “fluidez”. ¡Vale la pena saber más sobre la fluidez! Siga leyendo para saber de qué se trata y cómo ayudar a su pequeño estudiante a desarrollarla.Fluidez: ¿Qué es? ¿Por qué es importante?Si alguien ti…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Vocabulary refers to the words we must understand to communicate effectively. Educators often consider four types of vocabulary: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening vocabulary refers to the words we need to know to understand what we hear. Speaking vocabulary consists of the words we use when we speak. Reading vocabulary refers to the words we need to know to understand what we read. Writing vocabulary consists of the words we use in writing.

Vocabulary plays a fundamental role in the reading process, and contributes greatly to a reader's comprehension. A reader cannot understand a text without knowing what most of the words mean. Students learn the meanings of most words indirectly, through everyday experiences with oral and written language. Other words are learned through carefully designed instruction.

What the problem looks like

A kid's perspective: What this feels like to me

Children will usually express their frustration and difficulties in a general way, with statements like "I hate reading!" or "This is stupid!". But if they could, this is how kids might describe how their vocabulary difficulties affect their reading:

I heard my friend tell what happened in the movie but I didn't really understand what he said about it.

I feel like I just use the same words over and over again in my writing.

I don't like to read on my own because I don't understand lots of the words in the book.

A parent's perspective: What I see at home

Here are some clues for parents that a child may have difficulties as a result of his or her vocabulary:

She's unable to tell about her day in a way that makes sense.

She misuses common words.

He doesn't link words from a book to similar words from another book or from real life.

He's often not able to find the right word to describe something.

A teacher's perspective: What I see in the classroom

Here are some clues for teachers that a student may have difficulties as a result of his or her vocabulary:

She has questions about a lot of word meanings in a grade appropriate text.

He seems to have a weak vocabulary.

She is not able to make connections among words in various texts.

He's often not able to find the right word to describe something.

How to help

With the help of parents and teachers, kids can overcome vocabulary limitations that affect their reading. Below are some tips and specific things to do.

What kids can do to help themselves

Find books to read on your own. The more you read, the more new words you'll see, and the more you'll learn about the words.

Look ahead in textbooks to learn new vocabulary and concepts before your teacher goes over the section in class.

Keep a list of key vocabulary and transition words.

Practice telling stories using the words first, then, and finally.

What parents can do to help at home

Engage your child in conversations every day. If possible, include new and interesting words in your conversation.

Read to your child each day. When the book contains a new or interesting word, pause and define the word for your child. After you're done reading, engage your child in a conversation about the book.

Help build word knowledge by classifying and grouping objects or pictures while naming them.

Help build your child's understanding of language by playing verbal games and telling jokes and stories.

Encourage your child to read on his own. The more children read, the more words they encounter and learn.

What teachers can do to help at school

Help build language skills in class by playing oral and written word exercises and games.

Teach students about the important, useful, and difficult vocabulary words before students read the text. This will help them remember the words and improve comprehension.

Offer students many opportunities to encounter target vocabulary words beyond the context in which they are taught.

Have students use taught vocabulary words often and in various ways both orally and in writing so they are better able to remember the words and their meanings.

Teach vocabulary via explicit instruction and also through independent readings.

Help students learn to use context clues to determine the meanings of words. Teach them that some context clues are more helpful than others and provide examples of helpful and less helpful clues.

Read to your class each day. When the book contains a new or interesting word, pause and define the word for your students. After you're done reading, engage your students in a conversation about the book.

Engage your students in conversations every day. If possible, include new and interesting words in your conversation.

Explicitly teach the meanings of common prefixes, roots, and suffixes.

Draw students' attention to common roots in a variety of words (for example, the similar roots and meanings of the words vision, visual, visible, invisible) and lead a discussion of the meanings of the words and how they tend to be used.

More information

Find out more about vocabulary issues with these resources:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vocabulary refers to the words we must understand to communicate effectively. Educators often consider four types of vocabulary: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening vocabulary refers to the words we need to know to understand what we hear. Speaking vocabulary consists of the words we use when we speak.

# data[].attributes.body
ELA Standard: ELA.6.R.2.2 Analyze the central idea(s), implied or explicit, and its development throughout a text.

# data[].attributes.body
ELA Standard: ELA.6.R.1.2 Analyze the development of stated or implied theme(s) throughout a literary text.

# data[].attributes.body
ELA Standard: ELA.6.R.3.1 Explain how figurative language contributes to tone and meaning in text(s).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

One big part of comprehension is having a sufficient vocabulary, or knowing the meanings of enough words. Readers who have strong comprehension are able to draw conclusions about what they read - what is important, what is a fact, what caused an event to happen, which characters are funny. Thus comprehension involves combining reading with thinking and reasoning.

Target the Problem: Comprehension

What the problem looks like

A kid's perspective: What this feels like to me

Children will usually express their frustration and difficulties in a general way, with statements like "I hate reading!" or "This is stupid!". But if they could, this is how kids might describe how comprehension difficulties in particular affect their reading:

It takes me so long to read something. It's hard to follow along with everything going on.

I didn't really get what that book was about.

Why did that character do that? I just don't get it!

I'm not sure what the most important parts of the book were.

I couldn't really create an image in my head of what was going on.

A parent's perspective: What I see at home

Here are some clues for parents that a child may have problems with comprehension:

She's not able to summarize a passage or a book.

He might be able to tell you what happened in a story, but can't explain why events went the way they did.

She can't explain what a character's thoughts or feelings might have been.

He doesn't link events in a book to similar events from another book or from real life.

A teacher's perspective: What I see in the classroom

Here are some clues for teachers that a student may have problems with comprehension:

He seems to focus on the "wrong" aspect of a passage; for example, he concentrates so much on the details that the main idea is lost.

She can tell the outcome of a story, but cannot explain why things turned out that way.

He does not go behind what is presented in a book to think about what might happen next or why characters took the action they did.

She brings up irrelevant information when trying to relate a passage to something in her own life.

He seems to have a weak vocabulary.

She cannot tell the clear, logical sequence of events in a story.

He does not pick out the key facts from informational text.

He cannot give you a "picture" of what's going on in a written passage; for example, what the characters look like or details of where the story takes place.

How to help

With the help of parents and teachers, kids can learn strategies to cope with comprehension problems that affect his or her reading. Below are some tips and specific things to do.

What kids can do to help themselves

Use outlines, maps, and notes when you read.

Make flash cards of key terms you might want to remember.

Read stories or passages in short sections and make sure you know what happened before you continue reading.

Ask yourself, "Does this make sense?" If it doesn't, reread the part that didn't make sense.

Read with a buddy. Stop every page or so and take turns summarizing what you've read.

Ask a parent or teacher to preview a book with you before you read it on your own.

As you read, try to form mental pictures or images that match the story.

What parents can do to help at home

Hold a conversation and discuss what your child has read. Ask your child probing questions about the book and connect the events to his or her own life. For example, say "I wonder why that girl did that?" or "How do you think he felt? Why?" and "So, what lesson can we learn here?".

Help your child make connections between what he or she reads and similar experiences he has felt, saw in a movie, or read in another book.

Help your child monitor his or her understanding. Teach her to continually ask herself whether she understands what she's reading.

Help your child go back to the text to support his or her answers.

Discuss the meanings of unknown words, both those he reads and those he hears.

Read material in short sections, making sure your child understands each step of the way.

Discuss what your child has learned from reading informational text such as a science or social studies book.

What teachers can do to help at school

As students read, ask them open-ended questions such as "Why did things happen that way?" or "What is the author trying to do here?" and "Why is this somewhat confusing?".

Teach students the structure of different types of reading material. For instance, narrative texts usually have a problem, a highpoint of action, and a resolution to the problem. Informational texts may describe, compare and contrast, or present a sequence of events.

Discuss the meaning of words as you go through the text. Target a few words for deeper teaching, really probing what those words mean and how they can be used.

Teach note-taking skills and summarizing strategies.

Use graphic organizers that help students break information down and keep tack of what they read.

Encourage students to use and revisit targeted vocabulary words.

Teach students to monitor their own understanding. Show them how, for example, to ask themselves "What's unclear here?" or "What information am I missing?" and "What else should the author be telling me?".

Teach children how to make predictions and how to summarize.

More information

Find out more about comprehension issues with these resources from Reading Rockets, The Access Center, and LD OnLine:

Other recommended links:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.body
Section 1: Find information on why reading comprehension is important

Section 2-4: At home strategies/activities you can use to help improve on specific elements of reading comprehension.

# data[].attributes.headline
- Practice Dialogic Reading: At least twice a week, for more than 10 minutes at a time.

# data[].attributes.subject
- Practice Dialogic Reading: At least twice a week, for more than 10 minutes at a time.

# data[].attributes.body
-Find a reading of common interest or help in a homework assignment.
-While reading, ask your child engaging "who?", "what?", "when", "why?", " how?", questions.
Example:
>If reading about a girl starting at a new school, ask about how the girl may be feeling and how they may have felt when entering school for the first time in order to make comparisons.
> If reading an article post from social media, ask why the article may have been posted or why they chose to read it.

-Understanding what a text passage is mainly about will help identify the main idea of a reading.

# data[].attributes.body
The woman in the video is giving an explanation of how she would use dialogic reading with a group of students. This can be modified to one on one time with your child by directing the questions to your child. Giving them a little bit of time to think before they answer will be important, this is what she calls wait time( time for processing).

# data[].attributes.headline
Asking Questions to Check for Understanding

# data[].attributes.subject
Asking Questions to Check for Understanding

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Can Your Child Tell What Happened In the Story?

# data[].attributes.headline
Practice sharing the "deeper meaning" of everyday  materials: At least three times a week, for at least ten minutes at a time. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Practice sharing the "deeper meaning" of everyday  materials: At least three times a week, for at least ten minutes at a time. 

# data[].attributes.body
Theme explains a message or moral behind a reading passage. What most people don't realize is that themes can be found in everyday life if you look for them.

-One strategy you can practice is allowing your child to watch their favorite movie or listen to their favorite song. Most songs and films have a deeper significance to them.

> Find a song or listen to a song your child enjoys listening to at the moment and find the lyrics online. If your child isn't enjoying anything in particular, Disney songs are available to listen from. Examples: "Part of Your World" by Jodi Benson- The theme focuses on facing your fears, doing more than what's expected, and trusting in yourself.

>Find a movie your child enjoys watching and watch it with them. Ask them the importance of certain scenarios. Again, Disney films are easy ones to pick from. Example: The movie Mulan focuses on the theme of courage, discovering yourself, and working through tough decisions.

# data[].attributes.body
Here is an example of a Pixar short that carries the theme of facing your fears and never giving up.

Things to ask:
Ask your child what they are seeing the little bird do.
Ask why the bird keeps going out into the ocean waves.
Ask what the bird is trying to accomplish and how does the bird do it.
Ask how they think the bird felt in the beginning and how that changed as the film went on.
Ask how they think they could relate this back to their life and help them understand that this is the theme.

A step further: Ask, "Why is the film titled Piper?"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Disney-Pixar "PIPER" - Cute Motivational short movie.

# data[].attributes.headline
Practice comparing different and similar ideas in everyday life: Multiple times a week 

# data[].attributes.subject
Practice comparing different and similar ideas in everyday life: Multiple times a week 

# data[].attributes.body
Figurative language can increase reading comprehension because it is making comparisons so ideas can be visualized a lot easier. Figurative language includes: similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, idioms, and etc. If you scroll down you can find more information.

A well-known piece of figurative language is the simile from the movie Forest Gump, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. "

How to practice:
>Find something relatable to the student such as a video game and compare it to something else that may not be as valuable to your child such as reading. You could give the example of, "reading is a video game, you face challenges, but the goal is to make it to the next level". It takes one thing your child loves and one that isn't as appreciated and compares the two.

# data[].attributes.headline
Figurative Language Explained and Examples

# data[].attributes.subject
Figurative Language Explained and Examples

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Metaphor, Simile, Personification, Hyperbole | Figurative Language Lesson

# data[].attributes.body
Encourage your child to read by providing some positive reinforcement.

In the "Goal" section of the worksheet, the student can decide what they would like to earn or a parent may suggest something they can earn such as extra screen time, an ice cream night, or something creative like a "get out chores" one weekend coupon card.

You can decide how many raindrops they need to color in before being awarded and you can decide how many minutes of reading time ( I recommend about 15 minutes or more).

# data[].attributes.body
Sometimes children need an extra motivational factor in order to read a book. Suggest playing an audiobook, while doing an activity such as playing video games. Instead of the audio of the game playing, mute it, and have your child listen to an audiobook. A suggestion would be to chime in and ask questions, the more questions they answer correctly the longer they get to play.

# data[].attributes.body
Have your child check off when they completed specific tasks, to track how often they are reading. Encourage them to beat their previous score at the bottom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Here, you'll dive deeper into word learning strategies, indirect vocabulary instruction, choosing words to teach, academic vocabulary, and more.

Teaching specific words

Imagine that your third-grade class is reading the novel Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, the classic story of friendship between a young girl named Fern, Wilbur the pig, and a spider named Charlotte. When Fern's father, Mr. Arable, wants to kill Wilbur because he is a runt, Fern insists this is unfair. "This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of," she says. Understanding the concept of injustice is important to understanding the story. So, before students begin reading the novel, talk about the word and what it means to them:

Engage students in a discussion of the concept of injustice; and/or

Read a sentence from the book that contains the word injustice and ask students to use context and their prior knowledge to try to figure out what it means

To solidify their understanding of the word, we might ask students to use the word injustice in their own sentences.

Academic word lists

When choosing which words to explicitly teach, include words from academic word lists. These words, typically conceptual words, cross academic disciplines. For example, this list of academic words (Coxhead, 2000) will occur in texts in language arts and in content areas. This presents a logical opportunity for explicit vocabulary instruction.

A full, rich understanding of these words supports reading comprehension across content areas and across grades. Words found on the list from Coxhead include 570 word families. For example, the word visual is listed, along with its family: visualize, visualization, visually, etc. Explicit instruction in academic language is especially important for struggling readers and English language learners.

Reference: Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213-238.

Another useful source for these kinds of words is Biemiller's Words Worth Teaching: Closing the Vocabulary Gap, discussed further below.

Word learning strategies

Of course, it is not possible to provide specific instruction for all the words that students do not know. Students also need to be able to determine the meaning of words that are new to them but not taught directly to them. They need to develop effective word-learning strategies. Word-learning strategies include:

How to use dictionaries and other reference aids to learn word meanings and to deepen knowledge of word meanings

How to use information about meaningful word parts (morphology) to figure out the meanings of words in text

How to use context clues

Using word parts (morphology)

Morphology is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language. The smallest unit of meaning includes not only individual words (e.g., rabbit, go, tall) but also word parts that convey meaning. For instance, the word rabbits has two morphemes, the base word rabbit, and the final - s that conveys more than one rabbit.

Meaningful word parts include affixes (prefixes and suffixes), base words, and word roots.

Affixes are word parts that are "fixed to" either the beginnings of words (prefixes) or the ending of words (suffixes). The word disrespectful has two affixes, a prefix ( dis-) and a suffix (-ful).

Suffixes are divided into two categories:

Inflectional suffixes minimally change the meaning of the base word. Examples of inflectional suffixes are -ing, -ed, and -s/es. The meaning difference between walk and walked is minimal. Walk and walked are similar enough that young students can easily comprehend the difference. Inflectional endings are easily taught to younger students.

Derivational suffixes change the meaning of the base or root word. Examples of derivational suffixes are -tion, -ous, -ite, and -or. The meaning difference between govern and governor is significant. The part of speech changes from a verb ("to govern") to a noun ("one who governs").

Explicitly teaching the definitions and parts of speech for affixes dramatically enhances a student's vocabulary. For example, teaching that dis- can mean "not" or "opposite of" makes it easier to remember the meanings of disrespect, disinterest, and even disgust.

Base words are words that are not derived from other words. They are the word from which many other words are formed. For example, many words can be formed from the base word migrate: migration, migrant, immigration, immigrant, migrating, and migratory.

Word roots are the words from other languages that are the origin of many English words. About 60% of all English words have Latin or Greek origins.

Knowing some common prefixes and suffixes (affixes), base words, and root words can help students learn the meanings of many new words. For example, if students learn just the four most common prefixes in English ( un-, re-, in-, dis-), they will have important clues about the meaning of about two thirds of all English words that have prefixes. Prefixes are relatively easy to learn because they have clear meanings (for example, un- means "not" and re- means "again"); they are usually spelled the same way from word to word; and, of course, they always occur at the beginnings of words.

Learning suffixes can be more challenging than learning prefixes. This is because some suffixes have more abstract meanings than do prefixes. For example, learning that the suffix -ness means "the state or quality of" might not help students figure out the meaning of kindness. Other suffixes, however, are more helpful, for example, -less, which means "without" ( hopeless, thoughtless), and -ful, which means "full of" ( hopeful, thoughtful).

Latin and Greek word roots are found commonly in content-area school subjects, especially in the subjects of science and social studies. As a result, Latin and Greek word parts form a large proportion of the new vocabulary that students encounter in their content-area textbooks. We should teach the word roots as they occur in the texts students read. Furthermore, we should teach primarily those root words that students are likely to see often.
Here are some examples of how to use word parts in teaching vocabulary:

A second-grade teacher wants to teach her students how to use the base word play as a way to help them think about the meanings of new words they will encounter in reading. To begin, she has students brainstorm all the words or phrases they can think of that are related to play. The teacher records their suggestions: player, playful, playpen, ballplayer, and playing field. Then she has the class discuss the meaning of each of their proposed words and how it relates to play.

A third-grade teacher identifies the base word note. He then sets up a "word wall" and writes the word note at the top of the wall. As his students read, the teacher has them look for words that are related to note and add them to the wall. Throughout their reading, they gradually add to the wall the words notebook, notation, noteworthy, and notable.

Using dictionaries and other reference aids

Students still need to learn how to use dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses to help broaden and deepen their knowledge of words. The most helpful dictionaries include sentences providing clear examples of word meanings in context.

As his class reads a text, a second-grade teacher discovers that many of his students do not know the meaning of the word board, as in the sentence "The children were waiting to board the buses." The teacher demonstrates how to find board in the classroom dictionary, showing students that there are four different definitions for the word. He reads the definitions one at a time, and the class discusses whether each definition would fit the context of the sentence. The students easily eliminate the inappropriate definitions of board and settle on the definition "to get on a train, an airplane, a bus, or a ship."

The teacher next has students substitute the most likely definition for board in the original sentence to verify that it makes the most sense: "The children were waiting to get on the buses."

Learn more in this blog post from literacy expert Tim Shanahan: The Place for Dictionary Skills in Vocabulary Instruction.

Using context clues

Context clues are hints about the meaning of an unknown word that are provided in the words, phrases, and sentences that surround the word. Context clues include definitions, restatements, examples, or descriptions. Because students learn most word meanings indirectly or from context, it is important that they learn to use context clues effectively. NOTE: Do not use context clues as a substitute for decoding and word recognition.

Not all contexts are helpful, however. Some contexts give little information about a word's meaning. An example of an unhelpful context is the sentence "We heard the back door open and then recognized the buoyant footsteps of Uncle Larry." A number of possible meanings of buoyant could fit this context, including heavy, lively, noisy, familiar, dragging, plodding, and so on. Compare this unhelpful context with a much more helpful one: "The inner tube was so buoyant that it immediately popped back up to the surface of the lake." Instruction in using context clues as a word-learning strategy should include the idea that some contexts are more helpful than others.

Extended and active engagement with vocabulary

A first-grade teacher wants to help her students understand the concept of jobs, which is part of her social studies curriculum. Over a period of time, the teacher engages students in exercises in which they work repeatedly with the meaning of the concept of jobs. The students have many opportunities to see and actively use the word in various contexts that reinforce its meaning.

The teacher begins by asking the students what they already know about jobs and by having students give examples of jobs their family members may have. The class might have a discussion about the jobs of different people who work at the school.

The teacher then reads the class a simple book about jobs. The book introduces the idea that different jobs help people meet their needs, and that jobs either provide goods or services. The book does not use the words goods and services, rather it uses the verbs makes and helps. That is, it explains the concept of jobs using language that first graders are likely to understand.

The teacher then asks the students to make up sentences describing their parents' jobs by using the verbs makes and helps (e.g., "My mother is a doctor. She helps sick people get well.").

Next, the teacher asks students to brainstorm other jobs. Together, they decide whether the jobs are "making jobs" or "helping jobs." The job names are placed under the appropriate headings on a bulletin board. They might also suggest jobs that do not fit neatly into either category.

The teacher might then ask the students to share whether they think they would like to have a making or a helping job when they grow up.

The teacher next asks the students to talk with their parents about jobs. She asks them to try to bring to class two new examples of jobs - one making job and one helping job.

As the students come across different jobs throughout the year (for example, through reading books, on field trips, or through classroom guests), they can add the jobs to the appropriate categories on the bulletin board.

Repeated exposure to words

A second-grade class is reading a biography of George Washington Carver. The biography discusses Carver's important role as a scientist. The teacher wants to make sure that her students understand the meaning of the words science and scientist, both because the words are important to understanding the biography and because they are obviously very useful words to know in school and in everyday life.

At every opportunity, therefore, the teacher draws her students' attention to the words. She points out the words scientist and science in textbooks and reading selections, particularly in her science curriculum. She has students use the words in their own writing, especially during science instruction.

She also asks them to listen for and find in print the words as they are used outside of the classroom - in newspapers, in magazines, at museums, in television shows or movies, or on the Internet.

Then, as they read the biography, she discusses with students the ways George Washington Carver was a scientist and what science meant in his time.

How can I help my students learn words indirectly?

We can encourage indirect learning of vocabulary in two main ways. First, read aloud to our students, no matter what grade we teach. Students of all ages can learn words from hearing texts of various kinds read to them. Reading aloud works best when we discuss the selection before, during, and after we read. Talk with students about new vocabulary and concepts and help them relate the words to their prior knowledge and experiences.

The second way to promote indirect learning of vocabulary is to encourage students to read extensively on their own. Rather than allocating instructional time for independent reading in the classroom, however, encourage students to read more outside of school. Of course, our students can also read on their own during independent work time in the classroom - for example, while we teach another small group or after students have completed one activity and are waiting for a new activity to begin.

Teach words in categories - morphological and semantic families

Teaching words in categories helps develop a deep understanding of words. For example, teaching adverbs that end in -ly supports the understanding that these words are describing the action in text. Teach words that can be arranged by their semantic similarities and differences. Teach words that can be arranged by their relationship with one another. This is especially helpful in teaching the subtle differences between words.

Multiple meanings

Words with multiple meanings are particularly challenging for students. Students may have a hard time understanding that words with the same spelling and/or pronunciation can have different meanings, depending on their context. Looking up words with multiple meanings in the dictionary can cause confusion for students. They see a number of different definitions listed, and they often have a difficult time deciding which definition fits the context. We will have to help students determine which definition they should choose.

Examples of words with multiple meanings
Words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently: Words that are spelled and pronounced the same, but have different meanings:
Idiomatic expressions

Idiomatic expressions also can be difficult for students, especially for students who are English language learners. Because idiomatic expressions do not mean what the individual words usually mean, we often will need to explain to students expressions such as "hard hearted," "a chip off the old block," "drawing a blank," or "get the picture."

How well do my students need to "know" vocabulary words?

Knowing the meaning of a specific word is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon. Rather, students know words to varying degrees. They may never have seen or heard a word before. They may have heard or seen it but have only a vague idea of what it means. Or they may be very familiar with the meaning of a word and be able to use it accurately in their own speech and writing. These three levels of word knowledge are called:

Unknown: The word is completely unfamiliar, and its meaning is unknown.

Acquainted: The word is somewhat familiar; the student has some idea of its basic meaning.

Established: The word is very familiar; the student can immediately recognize its meaning and use the word correctly.

As they read, students can usually get by with some words at the unknown or acquainted levels. If students are to understand the text fully, however, they need to have an established level of knowledge for most of the words that they read.

Are there different types of word learning?

Four different kinds of word learning have been identified:

1. Learning a new meaning for a known word
The student has the word in her oral or reading vocabulary, but she is learning a new meaning for it. For example, the student knows what a branch is and is learning in social studies about both branches of rivers and branches of government.

2. Learning the meaning for a new word representing a known concept
The student is familiar with the concept, but he does not know the particular word for that concept. For example, the student has had a lot of experience with baseballs and globes but does not know that they are examples of spheres.

3. Learning the meaning of a new word representing an unknown concept
The student is not familiar with either the concept or the word that represents that concept, and she must learn both. For example, the student may not be familiar with either the process or the wordphotosynthesis.

4. Clarifying and enriching the meaning of a known word
The student is learning finer, more subtle distinctions, or connotations, in the meaning and usage of words. For example, he is learning the differences between running, jogging, trotting, dashing, and sprinting.

Adapted from: Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read Kindergarten Through Grade 3, a publication of The Partnership for Reading.

Choosing words to teach

All students need direct teaching of vocabulary as part of a good English/language arts program. It is not possible for educators to directly teach the meaning of every single word that students will encounter in reading - there are too many of them! Therefore, an important consideration involves how to choose the words to use in direct instruction. One helpful source for words involves lists of words by grade level that are important for children to learn, such as Biemiller's Words Worth Teaching: Closing the Vocabulary Gap and Coxhead's Academic Word List.

Isabel Beck's distinctions among three types (or tiers) of vocabulary words also is very helpful to consider in making choices of specific vocabulary to teach:

Tier 1 words: These are very common words found across a wide range of texts. For a typical third grade class, Tier 1 vocabulary words might be words such as house, boy, jump, and yellow. Normally we would not want to target these kinds of words for vocabulary instruction, because most students would already know them. However, it is important to be aware that some students - such as English learners who are at early stages of learning English - might not know even these very common words. These children's needs would generally be best met in differentiated or individualized vocabulary instruction.

Tier 2 words: These are less common words that many children might not know but that still might be found across a wide range of texts. Examples of these kinds of words for typical third graders might be limped, crimson, flutter, and fortunate. These words are particularly useful to target in vocabulary instruction, because they will be new to many children and useful in understanding a range of texts.

Tier 3 words: These are unusual words, often content-specific vocabulary, which many children will not know but that do not necessarily have wide generalizability across texts. For typical third graders, examples of such words might include vocabulary from a science unit on the solar system such as orbit, asteroid, and comet. These words should also be taught, in connection with content learning or to help children understand a specific text (like a science text), but they would not be the primary emphasis of vocabulary instruction in an English/language arts program.

Vocabulary intervention

For some students, the usual vocabulary instruction provided as part of the classroom curriculum will not be sufficient. These children will need intervention in vocabulary. This type of intervention may be necessary, for example, for English language learners, children from poverty backgrounds, and some struggling readers. As Isabel Beck writes in Bringing Words to Life: "Struggling readers do not read well enough to make wide reading an option. To acquire word knowledge from reading requires adequate decoding skills, the ability to recognize that a word is unknown, and the competency of being able to extract meaningful information about the word from the context. Readers cannot be engaging with the latter two if they are struggling with decoding."

The solution, then, is to select words from the text being taught and explicitly preteach the meaning of key words. Enhance instruction by teaching words' semantic features, their morphological features, and the words' meaning in relationship with the context. For example, when teaching about the solar system, explicitly teach the scientific terms (e.g., orbit). In addition, teach the academic words required to understand the content. It also means teaching words like rotation, flare (as in solar flare), relative (as in relative size), and diameter.

References

Beck, I. L. & McKeown, M. G. (2007). Increasing young low-income children's oral vocabulary repertoires through rich and focused instruction. The Elementary School Journal, 107, 251-271.

Beck, I.L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York, NY: Guilford.

Biemiller, A. (2009). Words worth teaching: Closing the vocabulary gap. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hayes, D. P., & Ahrens, M. (1988). Vocabulary simplification for children: A special case of 'motherese'. Journal of Child Language, 15, 395-410

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Here, you'll dive deeper into word learning strategies, indirect vocabulary instruction, choosing words to teach, academic vocabulary, and more. In this section: Teaching specific words Academic word lists Word learning strategies Word parts (morphology) Dictionaries and other reference aids Context clues Active engagement with vocabulary Repeated exposure to words Learning words indirectly Teach words in categories Multiple meanings Idiomatic expressions How well do my students need to "know" vocabulary words?

# data[].attributes.body
Students have access to different skills on IXL.

Vocabulary IXL:
Choose appropriate grade-level