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Comprehension is the ability to understand something. Check often to make sure your child is understanding what they are reading, just because they can read the words does not mean they are comprehending them. Ask questions.

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Comprehension is the ability to understand something. Check often to make sure your child is understanding what they are reading, just because they can read the words does not mean they are comprehending them. Ask questions.

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We use many of these activities in our classroom, including exit slips and partner talk. We can discuss the story with a friend and then ask each other questions to make sure we are engaged and understanding the meaning of what we read.

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by abepiusc 47,551 views

Quizzes. Tests. Projects. We're all familiar with the formal ways to assess student learning at the end of a unit, but what about at the end of a class?

When is it a good time to move on? When should we stay in this topic and review a bit slower? We can ask our students. "Does this make sense?" We may get a few brave students willing to say no, but mostly it will be silence which we will then take as boredom and likely move on. But, did they get it? Here are some ways to check for your students' comprehension of the lesson objectives:

Try These 10 Creative Ways to Check for Student Comprehension

1. Keep a Learning Journal

Throughout the year, have students keep a comprehension journal. At the end of a particularly challenging lesson or at the end of a unit, give them time at the end of a lesson to write down their understanding of the lesson of the day. Periodically collect these and review to see if students are understanding what you need them to before deciding what to do the next day. These journals can be used as often or as little as you like. Using a journal will help keep all of their information in one place and can serve as a way for them to go back and review what they've learned throughout the term. Students can also exchange journals with each other from time to time and give feedback to one another.

2. Exit Slip

A more simplified comprehension check is an exit slip. Before students leave, ask them to jot down a few things they learned in the lesson or to summarize the important points of the days' lesson. Encourage them also to list any questions they might have. You can then look over these exit slips to determine if and what you need to review or if you can move on.

3. Daily Warm ups - Bell Ringers

A way to get students working right a way is to have a review question from the previous day on the board, document camera, computer etc... ready for students to do as they come in. Consider a short fill in the blank, example, or other question that you might have on an exam for them to practice. Discuss it in class after everyone arrives to activate the information they learned yesterday and prepare them for the day's lesson. Not only will you have a bridge from the previous lesson, but you will be able to transition quickly into your teaching without trying to get all your students to settle down or focus.

4. Pair and Teach

Teaching someone else new information is a great way to review and solidify what you have learned. At the end of class or at the beginning of the next day, pair students together and have one student be "the teacher." They should review the lesson with their partner by explaining and summarizing all of the main points. The partner must think of at least two questions to ask their "teacher." Have students switch partners and then switch roles so each student gets to be the teacher and practice explaining.

If you don't have time in class, get students' parents or friends involved and tell your students that they must find someone not in the class to explain the day's lesson. Have this person sign their notebook to show that they did their homework.

5. Tell me How You Feel

Give students five cards with their names on the back of each card to keep in their notebooks. Each card should have a corresponding ranking (either a number or a smiley face) that indicates their comprehension/comfort level with this particular topic (e.g., a scale from 1 = totally confused to 5= easy; ready to move on). After any particular lesson, ask students to choose one card that describes how they feel about that particular lesson and leave it face down on your desk as they leave the room. No one will have to know which number they gave so students can feel comfortable enough to be honest about their comprehension level. The next day you can return the cards and use them again whenever you need to.

6. Guided Questioning

The simplest and most effective way is to randomly ask students questions to sum up or review at the end of class. Use popsicle sticks or something with students' names written on it so that you can be sure to get each and every student. Ask students for examples and be sure they can explain why the answered the way they did.

7. Let Students Write Notes on the Board

At the end of class or at the beginning of the following class, give each student a board marker and an opportunity to write something that they learned on the board. This can be a fact, rule, or an example. For instance, if we have been studying adjective clauses, Student X might write "A clause = Subject + Verb;" Student Y may write "You use 'who' for people and 'which' for things;" and Student Z may write "I know the student who wrote this sentence."

After all students have had a chance, you have a board full of information about what you learned and your students feel as though they have contributed greatly. This is a great time for student collaboration as they help each other write their facts on the board, and you can observe which students are struggling. After all of the facts have been written, as a class you can review and correct any misrepresented information.

Variation: For a faster approach, arrange the students in a circle and toss around a ball or soft object. When the ball comes to them, students must say their fact or example out loud.

8. Concept Mapping

Students learn best when they can associate new material to things they have already learned. Have students reflect on the new topic they've learned and ask them to group it or relate it to a previously studied topic or something else they know about English. For example, if they have been learning adjective clauses, they might say how similar adjective clauses look to WH questions because they both use who/where/when/which/whose. Give students create Venn diagrams or concept maps to link related topics or highlight differences between them.

9. Reflection at Home

Often students think they understand while they are in class in the presence of their teacher, but when they go home, they find they didn't understand everything while trying to do their homework. Have students reflect at home to get a more realistic idea of what they comprehended. They could do a learning journal or you can involve technology. Create anonymous surveys (using sites like surveymonkey.com or the class management site Edmodo) and ask students how they feel about their grasp of the topic.

10. Error Correction / Problem-solving

Pose a problem or editing task on the board or for homework. Instruct students that when they answer, they need to give a step-by-step analysis of what they were thinking when they chose the correct answer, similar to showing your work when doing a math problem. For example, I gave my students this fill in the blank question about adjective clauses: I like Mr. Smith _______________ works down the street. Their task was to choose the correct relative pronoun and punctuation to fill in the blank. An analysis I might expect from a student would look something like this " Mr. Smith is a person => who or that. Mr. Smith is a name => non-essential adjective clause. Non-essential clauses= who (NO that) and comma because it's extra information so it needs extra punctuation. Final answer= , who."
This works best if they can explain their solution orally by voice recording (using sites like Voice Thread and their cell phones, iPads, or taking a video on their computer) or talking with students one-on-one. However, if students don't have the technology to record themselves, encourage them to write it out in bullet form.

Even the best-planned lessons can become ineffective if the students don't comprehend the material.

Knowing where each of your students is struggling is the key to helping them be successful, even if you're teaching a large class. Try a few of these ways in your next lesson to see how the material has been received!

P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please help spread it by clicking one of those sharing buttons below. And if you are interested in more, you should follow our Facebook page where we share more about creative, non-boring ways to teach English.

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10 Creative Ways to Check for Student Comprehension

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by abepiusc 47,551 views When is it a good time to move on? When should we stay in this topic and review a bit slower? We can ask our students. "Does this make sense?" We may get a few brave students willing to say no, but mostly it will be silence which we will then take as boredom and likely move on.

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Understanding Comprehension and how to help

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Understanding Comprehension and how to help

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Perspectives on comprehension and how we can check both at school and at home to check our children's understanding of materials

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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:

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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.

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Free access to this useful article on comprehension implications

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Abstract

Reading comprehension is one of the most complex cognitive activities in which humans engage, making it difficult to teach, measure, and research. Despite decades of research in reading comprehension, international and national reading scores indicate stagnant growth for U.S. adolescents. In this article, we review the theoretical and empirical research in reading comprehension. We first explore different theoretical models for comprehension and then focus on components shown to be important across models that represent potential targets for instruction. In the last part of the article, we consider solutions for translating research to practice and policies for improving instruction. Improving reading scores will require a concerted and collaborative effort by researchers, educators, and policy makers with a focus on long-term solutions. An early and sustained focus on developing background knowledge, vocabulary, inference, and comprehension monitoring skills across development will be necessary to improve comprehension.

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To increase reading comprehension, educators will need to provide early and sustained instruction in knowledge, vocabulary, inference generation, and comprehension monitoring.

Key Points

Improving adolescent reading comprehension will require a concerted effort from researchers, educators, and policy makers to forgo short-term gains on measures that tap low-level comprehension for long-term solutions that take years to develop.

An early and sustained focus on developing background knowledge, vocabulary, inference, and comprehension monitoring skills is necessary to improve reading comprehension across grade levels.

Despite decades of reading comprehension research, a limited amount of time is spent using evidence-based methods in classrooms.

Education leaders will need to strengthen teacher preparation programs and professional development to ensure teachers are prepared to use evidence-based practices to meet the literacy needs of their students.

Introduction

According to national and international tests of literacy, such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and National Assessment of Educational Progress (National Assessment of Education Progress [NAEP]), students in the United States are unable to do relatively easy literacy tasks such as locate relevant information to determine the main idea of a text or make simple inferences ( Kastberg, Chan, & Murray, 2016; National Center for Education Statistics, 2017). According to the most recent PISA, U.S. adolescents rank 15th in literacy skills. Results showed that 19% of the 15-year-olds tested scored below a Level 2 (of 6) indicating they had difficulty with tasks such as locating explicitly stated information, recognizing main ideas, and making low-level inferences in a familiar topic. Only 10% of U.S. students achieved a Level 5 indicating that they could organize several pieces of deeply embedded information, and engage in reflective, evaluative, and interpretative tasks in unfamiliar topics. Similarly, the NAEP scores showed that 64% of eighth grade students read at or below a basic level. Unfortunately, these scores have remained relatively flat for many years and have led many educators, researchers, and policy makers to question how well students are being prepared for a job market that increasingly requires self-learning, analytical skills, and transferable knowledge (e.g., Goldman & Pellegrino, 2015).

In this article, we briefly review the theoretical and empirical research in comprehension and consider the reasons for stagnant scores in reading comprehension in the United States. In the first part of the article, we explore different theoretical models for comprehension and then focus on malleable factors that have been shown to be important to comprehension. We conclude with possible solutions for translating research to practice and policies for improving reading comprehension instruction.

The Complexity of Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is one of the most complex behaviors in which humans engage. Reading theorists have grappled with how to comprehensively and meaningfully portray reading comprehension and many different theoretical models have been proposed in recent decades ( McNamara & Magliano, 2009; Perfetti & Stafura, 2014). These models range from broad theoretical models depicting the relationships and interactions among comprehension subcomponents to models of specific comprehension processes. We review different frameworks and models that have significantly impacted theory development, reading comprehension research, and instruction.

One framework, the Simple View of Reading (SVR), posits that reading comprehension is the product of word decoding and linguistic comprehension ( Gough & Tunmer, 1986). Across many languages, research has shown that reading comprehension can be explained by individual differences in these two components, though the relative relationship of the components changes over time ( Catts, 2018). Early in development, decoding is more closely associated with reading comprehension than linguistic competence, but once decoding is mastered, linguistic comprehension becomes a better predictor of reading comprehension (e.g., Catts, Adlof, & Weismer, 2005). The SVR has been useful to researchers and practitioners by providing a framework for understanding different profiles of struggling readers including students who struggle primarily due to word-level problems (i.e., dyslexic), comprehension issues (i.e., poor comprehender), or both (i.e., garden variety poor reader). As useful as the model has been, it does not explicate the subcomponents of language or cognitive processes that underlie reading comprehension ( Catts, 2018).

Reading comprehension requires the coordination of multiple linguistic and cognitive processes including, but not limited to, word reading ability, working memory, inference generation, comprehension monitoring, vocabulary, and prior knowledge ( Perfetti, Landi, & Oakhill, 2005). The multifaceted nature of reading comprehension is reflected in component models that consider subcomponents of comprehension. Component models such as the direct and inferential mediation model (DIME; Ahmed et al., 2016; Cromley, Snyder-Hogan, & Luciw-Dubas, 2010; Oslund, Clemens, Simmons, & Simmons, 2018; Oslund, Clemens, Simmons, Smith, & Simmons, 2016) have been fairly consistent in their findings. These models indicate that vocabulary, both directly and indirectly, is consistently the strongest predictor of reading comprehension for younger adolescents. Furthermore, these models also demonstrated that, although not as strong as vocabulary, inference-making and background knowledge also had strong direct and indirect effects on comprehension. As students get older, inference-making plays a stronger direct role in comprehension than vocabulary ( Cromley et al., 2010, replicated by Ahmed et al., 2016). Across studies, vocabulary, inference-making, and background knowledge all influence, both directly and indirectly, reading comprehension from adolescent to young adult readers.

Whereas models such as the SVR and DIME have attempted to identify underlying components to reading comprehension, other theorists have examined the process of reading comprehension. Most theories of comprehension align with Kintsch's (1988) construction integration (CI) model. During the construction phase, information from the text and the readers' related knowledge automatically activate. In the subsequent integration phase, activation spreads throughout the memory network, settling on concepts with greater activation and more links to other concepts while suppressing weakly linked concepts. This process occurs iteratively as the reader processes ideas in a text. In this way, readers integrate information from the text with their background knowledge to form an overall mental representation.

Similarly, the RAND reading model, another influential reading framework for research and practice, defined reading comprehension as the process of "extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language" ( RAND Reading Study Group, 2002, p. 11). Specifically, reading comprehension is the interaction between reader, text, and task characteristics within a sociocultural context. This model highlights the context-dependent nature of comprehension. A person may achieve a clear understanding of a text when the text is easy and the task simple (e.g., answering multiple choice questions), but the same reader may struggle when encountering complex text on an unfamiliar topic.

Effective Reading Comprehension Instruction

Many linguistic abilities, cognitive processes, and knowledge sources undergird comprehension ability complicating which comprehension components instruction should target ( Perfetti & Adlof, 2012). To identify which components are worth measuring, some components serve as "pressure points" that, if changed, would significantly impact students' comprehension ability. Such components should be integral to reading comprehension, vary across individuals, and represent malleable instructional targets ( Perfetti & Adlof, 2012). With this in mind, we briefly review four components of reading comprehension (i.e., inference, knowledge, vocabulary, comprehension monitoring) that play prominent roles across theories of reading comprehension, are integral for understanding text, and represent potentially malleable targets for instruction. This review focuses on higher order comprehension skills but acknowledges the foundational role that efficient word recognition plays in reading comprehension (see Perfetti & Stafura, 2014).

Inference Generation

Inference generation, the ability to integrate information within or across texts using background knowledge to fill in information not explicitly stated, is an essential component of language comprehension ( Kendeou, McMaster, & Christ, 2016; Kintsch, 1988). Inference generation is a general skill important for communication and learning at all stages of development. When prompted, even preschool age children can generate causal inferences about events ( van den Broek, Lorch, & Thurlow, 1996). Inference ability has been shown to be a unique predictor of reading comprehension across developmental stages ( Barth, Barnes, Francis, Vaughn, & York, 2015). Comparing good and poor comprehenders (matched on decoding and vocabulary) shows differences on inferential tasks at the word, sentence, and passage level ( Cain & Oakhill, 1999). Compared to skilled comprehenders, poor comprehenders demonstrate difficulties with generating topic-related inferences, integrating words into context, resolving contextual references, and answering inference questions in a logical manner ( Long, Oppy, & Seely, 1994; Perfetti & Stafura, 2014).

Not only does inference ability predict reading comprehension, it is also malleable through instruction. In a meta-analysis of inference intervention studies, teaching inferences improved general comprehension as well as inferential and literal comprehension skills ( Elleman, 2017). Most interventions included fewer than 10 hr of instruction, implying that teaching inference strategies is useful, and extended practice as a context-independent skill may not be necessary ( Willingham, 2017). Effective inference instructional techniques include teaching students to use their background knowledge and integrate it with the information in the text, self-generated elaborations, graphic organizers that connect concepts to one another, and text clues (e.g., Elbro & Buch-Iversen, 2013; Kendeou et al., 2016).

Background Knowledge

A reader's background knowledge is necessary in building a coherent representation of a text. Well-connected memory storage facilitates quicker retrieval and use of relevant information ( Kintsch & Rawson, 2005). Prior content knowledge supports relevant comprehension and learning ( Barnes, Dennis, & Haefele-Kalvaitis, 1996). Readers with more prior knowledge consistently outperform readers with less, indicating that increased background knowledge in an area may help less skilled readers compensate for a general comprehension deficit ( Schneider, Körkel, & Weinert, 1989). Prior knowledge of a domain predicts text recall for students across development and supports the ability to make inferences ( Recht & Leslie, 1988) and learn new words ( Kaefer, Neuman, & Pinkham, 2015).

Although educators acknowledge the important role of knowledge in comprehension, very little time in early elementary school is focused on informational text ( Duke, 2000). According to survey research reported in the National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education, elementary teachers spend over 80 min on language arts instruction a day compared to an average of 21 min in science and 18 min in social studies ( Banilower et al., 2013). This is compounded for less skilled readers who have knowledge deficits ( Compton, Miller, Gilbert, & Steacy, 2013), difficulties understanding expository text ( Saenz & Fuchs, 2002), and are often pulled from content area classes for additional reading instruction ( Banilower et al., 2013).

To alleviate these issues, well-designed programs can integrate domain knowledge acquisition and comprehension instruction. A recent meta-analysis of integrated science and reading programs found a moderate effect for both science and reading outcomes ( Talbert, Parrish, & Elleman, 2016). Programs focusing on social studies content have also shown success at promoting knowledge acquisition and reading comprehension (e.g., Guthrie & Klauda, 2014; Vaughn et al., 2013).

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is a robust predictor of reading comprehension across development. Children acquire vocabulary at an astounding rate, on average 2 to 8 root words per day ( Biemiller & Slonim, 2001). Once children start independently reading, vocabulary acquisition becomes dependent on exposure to print, not oral language or instruction. Compared to written language, oral language experiences do not provide enough unknown words to foster substantial vocabulary growth ( Hayes & Ahrens, 1988). Explicit instruction has also been ruled out as a significant factor in vocabulary acquisition because children are instructed on only a fraction of the words it would take to accrue the 40,000 words estimated to be known by the average high school student ( Stahl & Nagy, 2006). Most words are learned implicitly through repeated exposures in multiple contexts over time ( Landauer & Dumais, 1997).

Unfortunately, large individual differences in vocabulary size exist in early readers and persist through elementary school ( Biemiller & Slonim, 2001). By the end of second grade, disadvantaged students can lag 2 years behind their average peers and 4 years behind those in the upper quartile on vocabulary knowledge. An intense focus on early and continued vocabulary learning makes sense to ameliorate these differences, but it is unclear if enough vocabulary can be explicitly taught to impact students' general comprehension. Two reviews examining the impact of vocabulary instruction on comprehension found gains on comprehension measures that contained the taught words, but not for general comprehension measures ( Elleman, Lindo, Morphy, & Compton, 2009; Wright & Cervetti, 2017). Considering only researcher designed comprehension measures, while all readers benefited from vocabulary instruction, less skilled readers benefited more than typical readers, highlighting the importance of vocabulary for these students ( Elleman et al., 2009).

Interactive approaches to word learning appear more effective than ones that rely on definitional types of instruction ( Wright & Cervetti, 2017). However, some studies show gains with very little instructional time spent per word (in some cases less than a minute per word), suggesting that at least some type of vocabulary instruction is better than none. Thus, if the instructional goal in a lesson is to improve comprehension, providing brief explanations of words before or during reading may be an efficient way to promote word learning and increase text comprehension. Other generative word learning strategies that go beyond learning individual words-such as learning to use context to derive word meanings ( Fukkink & deGlopper, 1998) and morphological analysis ( Goodwin & Ahn, 2013)-also improve word learning. In addition, leveraging knowledge networks may be another way to more efficiently teach vocabulary and knowledge simultaneously ( Neuman & Wright, 2014).

Comprehension Monitoring and Strategy Instruction

Comprehension monitoring is a metacognitive skill that refers to readers' ability to reflect on their understanding of a written text (Language and Reading Research Consortium & Yeomans-Maldonado, 2017). Strategic monitoring of text understanding matters ( Oakhill, Hartt, & Samols, 2005). The ability to monitor comprehension correlates with reading comprehension and increases over development (Language and Reading Research Consortium & Yeomans-Maldonado, 2017). Young readers and less skilled readers demonstrate weaknesses in detecting inconsistencies within a text ( Oakhill et al., 2005). Readers must be able to monitor and use fix-up strategies when comprehension breaks down.

The intent of comprehension strategy instruction is to teach students to actively monitor their comprehension and employ an appropriate strategy to make sense of the text. Comprehension strategy instruction improves comprehension for typically developing (e.g., National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000) and struggling readers (e.g., Gersten, Fuchs, Williams, & Baker, 2001). Comprehension strategy instruction is beneficial when multiple strategies are taught, strategies are explicitly modeled, and students gradually assume more responsibility in using strategies independently ( Pearson & Dole, 1987).

Implications for Policy

Having covered some contemporary theories and research in reading comprehension, we consider why reading scores for U.S. adolescents have stagnated. We then discuss policy implications and suggest recommendations to improve reading comprehension.

Curriculum and Instruction

Comprehension strategy instruction is one of the most highly recommended instructional methods for improving comprehension (e.g., NICHD, 2000). Critics, however, contend that an overemphasis on strategy instruction at the expense of knowledge building has led to the stagnation of scores ( Willingham, 2006). Also, strategy instruction may result in a shallow representation of a text and interfere with deeper processing of the content ( Compton, Miller, Elleman, & Steacy, 2014). Often, the focus of instruction becomes the strategy itself (e.g., learning how to make main idea statements in different texts), instead of flexibly using the strategy to build a coherent representation of the texts being read. Early reviews of strategy instruction revealed that no matter which strategies were combined in a program, effects were the same ( Rosenshine & Meister, 1994), suggesting that the strategies themselves might not be the causal mechanism for increasing comprehension, but instead a third variable such as increased engagement and comprehension monitoring might be responsible ( Wilkinson & Son, 2011). As noted, knowledge is a key factor in comprehension, and young students get little content exposure in the elementary grades. Some critics cite the pressures from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, which they believe unintentionally narrowed the curriculum and made school seek short-term gains focusing on skills and strategies to increase standardized test scores ( Jones & Workman, 2016).

Knowledge and vocabulary acquisition take time to develop. Given this, an early and sustained focus on knowledge and vocabulary acquisition is necessary across all grade levels. The Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts (CCSS/ELA), adopted by most U.S. states, reflect this focus on knowledge acquisition by recommending an increase in informational text at all grade levels with an increasing emphasis on informational text as students get older ( Cervetti & Hiebert, 2015). Yet, standards do not guide curricular decisions about content. Domain knowledge must be thoughtfully presented as concepts build on one another over time. Similarly, vocabulary instruction must be broad and include systematic instruction in academic vocabulary and word learning strategies. Rich instruction in knowledge acquisition and vocabulary development must start as early as possible and continue throughout children's school career.

Although it would be easy to blame strategy instruction as the reason for stagnant scores, strategy instruction does effectively increase comprehension. Also, students with poor comprehension are passive in applying their knowledge and demonstrate difficulties making inferences, even when they have the necessary background knowledge to do so ( Barnes et al., 1996). So, increasing background knowledge and vocabulary is only part of the answer to improving reading comprehension. Students also need to become strategic readers who can independently learn from text. What is unclear from research is how to do this most effectively. We know very little about when to teach certain strategies in development. As readers develop, they require more specialized strategies for engaging in text. Content such as history, science, and mathematics require different types of text analysis skills ( Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008). It is unclear when it is most beneficial to start teaching advanced disciplinary strategies.

Another question to resolve is how much time to spend on strategies. As noted, just a few hours of inference instruction can be effective ( Elleman, 2017), suggesting extended practice may be unnecessary ( Willingham, 2017). Research should examine which strategies are most generally effective, which specific strategies at what ages, and how long instruction should last. Awaiting more information, practitioners should teach inference generation and comprehension monitoring across development, while simultaneously teaching vocabulary and domain knowledge.

Another explanation for the lack of growth in adolescent reading comprehension is that students are being exposed to less complex text than in the past ( Adams, 2011). A 2-year gap separates the complexity of 12th grade high school student texts and texts for college freshman. What distinguishes students on some standardized tests is the ability to understand more difficult passages ( ACT, 2006; Kulesz, Francis, Barnes, & Fletcher, 2016). Variability in text difficulty impacts reading comprehension ( McNamara, Graesser, & Louwerse, 2012). Certain linguistic text features make a text more difficult, such as use of rarer words and longer sentences ( Williamson, Fitzgerald, & Stenner, 2013). Other factors-such as referential cohesion (i.e., the overlap of concepts across a text), deep cohesion (i.e., words that connect the relationship between ideas in the text), and text type (e.g., narrative, expository)-also affect comprehension ( McNamara et al., 2012). Consequently, the CCSS dedicates an entire standard to text complexity, to ensure students are exposed to increasingly difficult text across grades and are, therefore, ready to understand texts when they enter college or the workforce ( Hiebert & Mesmer, 2013).

However, some questions about text complexity remain unresolved. Some researchers are concerned about the potential negative impact of increasing text difficulty at younger ages or with less skilled readers ( Hiebert & Mesmer, 2013). Most states allow different types of text complexity measurement systems to ensure students are exposed to increasingly complex texts over time. We know little about the impact of increasing text complexity on comprehension, nor do we know the impact of using different measurement systems. Although some methods help to identify increases in text complexity features like sentence length and word frequency, they do little to help teachers identify sets of texts that are topically relevant and cohesive. Text complexity measurement systems that help teachers choose challenging texts and provide information about conceptual overlap among texts would be useful to ensure students are exposed to complex text that supports efficient and effective knowledge and vocabulary acquisition (see Compton et al., 2014).

Assessment

This review focuses on comprehension theory and instruction, but measurement is crucial in comprehension research and practice. The complexity of comprehension makes it difficult to capture. Indeed, comprehension tests are not highly correlated with one another, differentially measure underlying skills, and cannot reliably identify children with comprehension difficulties across different tests ( Cutting & Scarborough, 2006; Keenan & Meenan, 2014). Therefore, research and educational decision making must use multiple tests and interpret their scores based on the specific test's characteristics.

To better understand the contextualized nature of comprehension and provide more information on existing comprehension measures, researchers have started modeling the complex interactions between readers, text, and tasks on different comprehension measures using the RAND framework ( Kulesz et al., 2016; Miller et al., 2014). For instance, in a study examining reader, text, and test characteristics ( Kulesz et al., 2016) adolescent readers with better vocabulary and background knowledge outperformed others on a standardized reading comprehension measure. Also, the types of questions asked on the test (e.g., literal and inferential) did not predict item difficulty, but the type of text did matter (expository passages were more difficult than narrative passages), underscoring the need to consider the contextual dependencies at play when measuring comprehension.

Most researchers and practitioners would agree that most standardized reading comprehension measures fall short of fully capturing the process of comprehension ( Fuchs et al., 2018). In addition to analyzing current measures, researchers and education leaders should design measures that go beyond the low-level skills tapped by multiple choice questions and closed-ended items to measures that provide information about students' deeper processing of text. As part of the Reading for Understanding (RFU) initiative funded by the Institutes of Education Sciences (IES), one research team has designed a measure intended to capture deeper comprehension than current multiple choice tests ( Sabatini, O'Reilly, Halderman, & Bruce, 2014). The Global Integrated Scenario-based Assessments (GISA) require students to integrate information across multiple materials to complete a literacy-based task (e.g., designing a website) and defend a position based on what they learn. ESSA (2015) requires that states use assessments that measure higher order thinking.

Besides globally measuring deep learning, few diagnostic tests pinpoint specific difficulties children encounter in comprehension ( Francis et al., 2006). These tests are necessary, so teachers can identify areas of needed support, provide appropriate interventions, and monitor students' progress ( Kendeou et al., 2016). Developing and testing these types of measures across grades and types of learners is necessary to move comprehension instruction forward.

Translating Comprehension Research to Practice

The inadequate translation of research to practice may also contribute to stagnant adolescent reading scores. Despite decades of experimental research in reading comprehension ( Scammacca et al., 2016), little classroom time is used to teach evidence-based comprehension practices ( Swanson et al., 2016). Current policies advocate evidence-based instructional policies. ESSA emphasizes evidence-based instructional methods, as first proposed by the NCLB. However, these methods are not making their way into practitioners' hands. One federal agency, IES, has taken an active role in the promotion of evidence-based practices through the evaluation of programs (e.g., What Works Clearinghouse) and the dissemination of findings (e.g., practitioner-friendly practice guides containing practices and strategies vetted through science). IES has also supported important research initiatives in reading comprehension such as the Reading for Understanding initiatives in which interdisciplinary research teams examined different aspects of development in language and reading development. The research findings from these studies are just now being published, but the question remains on whether the findings will be successfully translated to regular classroom practice.

Translating research to practice is complex and will require a multipronged approach. One area of growing interest is the use of practice-embedded educational research ( Snow, 2015) in which researchers and practitioners partner to identify solutions for real problems in practice settings using rigorous research methods. Evidence-based programs for increasing vocabulary and comprehension (e.g., Word Generation and STARI) have been successfully developed and widely disseminated using this research framework ( Snow, 2015). These types of on-going partnerships between practitioners and researchers may help shrink the research-to-practice gap in literacy by producing effective interventions that practitioners want to use.

In addition to developing and disseminating effective research practices and programs, teacher preparation and professional development will need to be strengthened to improve reading comprehension instruction. One first step is for all states to require that teachers are knowledgeable about evidence-based literacy practices and have expertise in the content they plan to teach. Ensuring that all teachers meet these standards will require collaboration among policy makers, state and district leaders, teacher preparation programs, and accrediting agencies.

Concluding Remarks

Reading comprehension is complex and multifaceted, making it difficult to improve. Stagnant scores of adolescents are likely due to multiple reasons including the ones outlined in this article. Improving adolescent reading comprehension will require a concerted effort from researchers, educators, and policymakers to forgo short-term gains on measures that tap low-level comprehension for long-term solutions that take years to develop. An early and sustained focus on developing background knowledge, vocabulary, inference, and comprehension monitoring skills is necessary to improve reading comprehension across grade levels.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD
Amy M. Elleman https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6686-589X

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Reading Comprehension Research: Implications for Practice and Policy - Amy M. Elleman, Eric L. Oslund, 2019

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Abstract Reading comprehension is one of the most complex cognitive activities in which humans engage, making it difficult to teach, measure, and research. Despite decades of research in reading comprehension, international and national reading scores indicate stagnant growth for U.S. adolescents. In this article, we review the theoretical and empirical research in reading comprehension.

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Teach us about your subject. One way to really get children engaged is to let them be the experts. They can teach the class about a subject of their choosing. This allows children of all learning levels to pick a topic that is interesting to them, and that they understand. They can get as in-depth as they choose for their topic.

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Pick a story and read it with your child. Take turns reading pages, stop and ask questions to gauge your child's comprehension. Pretend like you do not understand what you just read and ask them to explain it to you. This is one of the simplest methods to help your check with their comprehension while also being an engaging, meaningful activity for the two of you. This can be a simple picture book, or a chapter book that you read nightly. Base the book on your child's reading level so that it is not only interesting for them, but challenging as well. As a bonus, you get extra quality time together!

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A helpful resource explaining fluency from one of our favorite sites, Reading Rockets

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A helpful resource explaining fluency from one of our favorite sites, Reading Rockets

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Fluency is the ability to read text quickly, and with expression.

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Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with expression.Fluent reading builds stamina for reading lengthy or complex texts. Reading fluency serves as a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

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These are wonderful activities that do not take a lot of time and effort, but can really help increase fluency at home.

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The goal for your second grade reader is to read the same way he talks, smoothly and with expression that reflects what is happening in the story.

Your child's teacher will give "timed reading passages" where kids read a story and are timed for one minute to record how many words they can read in that time. At the beginning of second grade, most kids can read 50-60 words a minute. By the end of the year, they will build up to reading 90 words a minute.

Try these fluency activities at home

Choose the right books

Help your child choose books that he can comfortably read about 90 percent of the words in a few sample pages. If your child wants to choose books that are more challenging, that's okay too, but you may need to help with sounding out multisyllable words or words that are irregular.

Listen every day

Once you've found a collection of books that your child can read, listen to your child read every day. Be patient - new readers often read slowly! Offer help when your child gets stuck, and always give lots of praise and encouragement.

Should I be concerned if my child reads slowly?

Literacy expert Kegi Wells explains that what's most important is if your child understands what she's reading. Kegi offers simple ways to check for understanding and how to model expressive reading. (From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.)

Reread favorite books

Building fluency takes a lot of practice! Keep a collection of books that your child can read quickly and easily. Encourage your child to reread favorite books over and over again. With each reading, you may notice your child reading a bit easier, a bit faster, and with a bit more confidence and expression.

Read to your child every day

Model your own fluent reading as you read and reread books with your child. Even though your second grader may be able to read on her own, continue to find time each day to read books to her that are just beyond her reading level. She will enjoy listening to more advanced stories, and she will hear a great example of fluent reading - how you change your expression throughout a story and read with ease. Your child will hear how you raise your voice at the end of question sentence or how you change your voice for different characters.

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

Literacy expert Kegi Wells explains different strategies to help children to become stronger and more engaged readers, including modeling what fluent, expressive reading sounds like. (From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.)

Family poetry jam

Start with playful, rhyming poetry about topics that are familiar to your child like animals, food, and bedtime. Nursery rhymes and Mother Goose collections are early favorites. Read the poetry aloud slowly. Emphasize the sound of the words and the rhymes. Read dramatically to emphasize the breaks and phrasing of the poem. Have fun with the colorful language and word play. Reread the poem several times. Once a poem is familiar to your child, take turns reading! First you read one line or one stanza, and have your child read the next. See if you can do that while maintaining the rhythm of the poem. Learn more in this article, Poems at Home (in English and Spanish).

Reader's theater

You don't need a script or costumes or props. Just choose a favorite picture book that your child is familiar with, and one that has lots of dialogue. Take turns reading the passages aloud, using dramatic voices and gestures appropriate to the story. This activity can get pretty silly right away, but it's a great way to practice expression in reading aloud.

Record it

Another fun way to practice reading and build fluency is to have your child create her own audio books. This can be done simply with a tape recorder or audio recording feature or app on your phone. Your child might need a few "takes" to get his reading just right. Sharing your audio recordings with family and friends is a great motivator!

Paired or "buddy" reading

Take turns reading aloud. You go first, as your reading provides a model of what good fluent reading sounds like. Then, ask your child to re-read the same page you just read. You'll notice that your child's reading will start to sound more and more like yours. Do this for several pages. Once your child is comfortable enough, and familiar enough with the book, take turns reading page for page.

Echo game

Choose a book at your child's reading level and read a sentence aloud using appropriate expression and pauses. Then, have your child mimic you, reading the same sentence and using the same expression and pauses. Repeat the game every few paragraphs as you read through the book.

Choral reading

Choose a book at your child's reading level and read a page or passage together in unison. You may have to slow your reading down a little to keep pace, but don't slow down too much. Encourage your child to copy your pace and expression.

Practice, practice, practice!

Repetition is the key to fluency. Encourage your child to reread a favorite (short) book until she can read it smoothly and easily. This will boost her confidence along with her fluency. You might also ask her to read the book to younger siblings or other family members and friends.

Mastering reading accuracy

Reading tutor Linda Farrell listens closely as Xavier reads aloud from one of his favorite books ( Dog Man) to help him focus on reading every word accurately. Strong readers have the habit of reading virtually every word accurately. (From our Looking at Reading Interventions video series.)

How to coach your child to read fluently

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.

Help your young child read fluently

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.

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Fluency: Activities for Your Second Grader

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The goal for your second grade reader is to read the same way he talks, smoothly and with expression that reflects what is happening in the story. Your child's teacher will give "timed reading passages" where kids read a story and are timed for one minute to record how many words they can read in that time.

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Here are some fantastic fluency activities we do at school, I have listed a favorite or two below

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Here are some fantastic fluency activities we do at school, I have listed a favorite or two below

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Sight word games, rereading and anchor charts are must haves! Anchor charts are visual displays for the children to refer to when they get stuck. The quick visual really helps aid the child without the need to ask the teacher each time they need help.

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Learning to read starts kids on a lifelong learning journey, but literacy is more than just understanding the words on a page. Reading fluency involves comprehension, speed, accuracy, and prosody (reading with expression). There are many ways to help kids develop reading fluency, both in and out of the classroom. Here are some of our favorite reading fluency activities.

1. Start with a reading fluency anchor chart

Introduce the basics of reading fluency with an anchor chart you can hang in the classroom. It's a good reference for kids throughout the year. Here are more fluency anchor charts to try.

Learn more: Oral Reading Fluency/Teaching With a Mountain View

2. Model fluency with read-alouds

Reading aloud to kids is important for so many reasons, but one of the best is that it teaches kids what fluency sounds like. Adults can model expression, phrasing, pace, and so much more when they read to kids. Try some of our favorite read-alouds, or check out this list of the best read-alouds on YouTube as part of your reading center activities.

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3. Hang reading fluency posters

Post these in your classroom reading center to remind kids what reading fluency really means. They're simple but effective. Get your free set of reading fluency posters here.

4. Try sentence trees

Sentence trees are terrific reading activities that build fluency in younger students. They allow kids to focus on each word, improving accuracy and speed along the way.

Learn more: Sentence Trees/Fun in First

5. Put together poems and nursery rhymes

Kids often memorize nursery rhymes long before they learn to read. By breaking those rhymes apart into individual words and putting them back together again, kids see how words build into sentences and stories in a natural flow.

Learn more: Fluency To Improve Comprehension/Mrs. Winter's Bliss

6. Use line tracking and word pointers

For some kids, focus is a challenge. Their eyes wander around the page, and they have trouble developing the speed needed for fluency. Use another piece of paper to help them focus on the line they're reading, or try pointing to the words one by one.

Learn more: Reading With Fluency/Katelyn's Learning Studio

7. Read and reread ... and reread

Fluency involves lots and lots of reading and rereading. When kids read a passage over and over again, they build up their speed and accuracy automatically. One fun way to work on expression is to try rereading with different voices.

Learn more: Improve Reading Comprehension/Teach123

8. Add a timer to rereading

Combine repeated reading with a timer. Students read a passage for 1 minute, working to increase the number of words they read correctly each time. This is a nice tool for working on speed and accuracy.

Learn more: Build Reading Fluency/1st Grade Pandamania

9. Track student progress

While you don't want to overemphasize numbers, tracking a student's fluency is helpful to both you and them. Parents can help with this one at home too.

Learn more: Reading With Fluency/Katelyn's Learning Studio

10. Work on those sight words

One of reasons elementary readers focus so much on sight words is that they help to build reading fluency. Find a roundup of all our favorite sight word activities here.

11. Look to punctuation for expression cues

Punctuation makes passages easier to read, but it also gives a reader cues on proper expression. Help your kids recognize what each punctuation mark sounds like when reading fluently.

Learn more: Teaching Expression in Fluency/The Owl Teacher

12. Answer the fluency phone

These are such a fun tool for helping kids really hear themselves read! They're great for busy classrooms and reading centers. Kids talk softly into the phone, and the sound is amplified in their ear. You can buy fluency phones or make them yourself from PVC pipe.

Learn more: Fluency To Improve Reading Comprehension/Mrs. Winter's Bliss

13. Read with partners

Whether kids are reading together or you pair an adult helper with a student, taking turns reading is a terrific way to get more fluent. When one reader is stronger, have them read the passage first and have the other reader echo it back.

Learn more: Ways To Improve Reading Fluency/The Measured Mom

14. Get a reading buddy

Shy kids will especially appreciate the chance to practice reading out loud to a stuffed animal pal. Encourage them to read as if their fuzzy friend can hear everything they're saying.

Learn more: Ways To Use Stuffed Animals in the Classroom/Stories by Storie

15. Give kids a reading fluency rubric

Use this free printable rubric when evaluating students' reading fluency, or send it home for parents. Kids can even use it to self-evaluate!

Learn more: Reading Fluency Is Not Just About Speed/Teacher Thrive

16. Use a fluency bookmark

A handy bookmark keeps fluency strategies front and center when kids read. We love this idea for kids who are ready for chapter books.

Learn more: Focusing on Fluency/Upper Elementary Snapshots

17. Introduce the concept of scooping phrases

Pointing to words is good for building speed and accuracy, but scooping phrases takes things to the next level. This practice is a great help for developing expression and comprehension.

Learn more: Reading Fluency Phrasing/This Reading Mama

18. Hold a school-wide fluency challenge

Make literacy and reading fluency something the whole school focuses on. Have PE teachers post sight words for kids to read out when they run past. Invite cafeteria workers to join you for story time. Track fluency and celebrate milestones with individual and whole-school rewards! Learn more about holding a school-wide fluency challenge here.

19. Set up buddy reading

Pair older students with younger students to practice and model reading fluency. Older students can read picture books, which have longer sentences and higher vocabulary that challenge older students but are still out of reach for younger students. The older students will get practice with fluency, and younger students will benefit from hearing picture books read aloud.

20. Use highlighter strips

Highlighter strips, bright tape-like strips that students can use to follow along as they read longer books, can help upper elementary students keep their place. And keeping their place helps them read fluently.

Buy it: Highlighter Strips at Amazon

21. Teach robot vs. non-robot reading

Help students understand the prosody or expression part of fluency with a lesson on robot reading vs. fluent reading. Have students practice (silly) robot reading and then fluent reading to hear (and feel) the difference.

Learn more: Arlene Neubarth/Pinterest

22. Put on a play

Readers theater, with a script or a favorite book, is one way to practice fluent reading. Choose a book with lots of dialogue and encourage students to really feel the story.

23. Use the BEST strategy for multisyllabic word reading

When students get to multisyllabic words, they may struggle to get past longer words like "momentarily" and "topography." Teach them a strategy to sound out longer words:

Break the word apart into syllables.

Examine each part.

Say each part.

Try the whole word.

24. Host a poetry jam

Poetry is a great way to practice fluent reading, and it can be used at any grade level. For younger kids, work with simple poems and rhymes. For older children, use poems from Shel Silverstein or Jack Pruletsky. Have each child choose a poem and practice reading it with flare, then host a poetry jam where students read the poems they've practiced.

Learn more: Poetry Cafe/School and the City

25. Record students' reading

Recording audiobooks for your classroom library is one way for students to see how fluent reading benefits everyone. Have students record reading a book on an audio recording app, and save it for other teachers to use with their students.

Learn more: Fluency Activities for Your First Grader/Reading Rockets

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25 Fantastic Reading Fluency Activities To Build Literacy in Young Readers

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Help kids improve their reading fluency with these fun activities and center ideas that cover a wide range of proven strategies.

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Another classroom activity to increase fluency

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Another classroom activity to increase fluency

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This speed game is a lot of fun to do in small groups. Since the kids are at the same levels, no child will feel left out as they might in a large group setting. You can target the speed words with what you are currently working on in your particular small groups.

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10 Fluency Games for Students - Enriching Young Minds & Hearts

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Kids want to have fun. All day, all night. Inside or outside. Clean or dirty. Loud or quiet. Life simply needs to be fun. That's where games come in! Here is a peek at some of the many engaging fluency games that students can play at school (and home) to help become fluent in each subject area.

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How can you increase vocabulary exposure at home?

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How can you increase vocabulary exposure at home?

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Engage daily in oral language

Read to your child

Have your child read on their own

These are some easy ways to exposure your children to vocabulary. Having daily conversations, and using bigger words when speaking to your child is a surefire way to increase their vocabulary. Children are capable to understanding a lot more than we tend to give them credit for.
Reading to your child is fundamental. Pick new books: adventures, chapter books, nonfiction, adding new genres yields learning new words and meanings.
Don't forget: audiobooks count too!
What is important is to make sure they are hearing language, and we are checking to make sure they are understanding these new terms.

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Direction Vocabulary Instruction in the classroom

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Direction Vocabulary Instruction in the classroom

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Direct instruction includes:

Providing students with instruction in specific words that are important to students’ content learning or understanding of a particular text

Teaching students more general word-learning strategies that they can apply to a variety of words, such as analyzing parts of words (e.g., root words)

When we sit down for small groups, we need to have a plan in place so we can discuss effectively new terms, increase understanding of texts and implement new strategies so that we are scaffolding children's learning.

Here are a few ideas:

Have a list of terms ready to go

Find the term in the text and help the children use context clues to figure it out

Apply it to what they already know

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We use Literacy Footprints in our classroom for Guided Reading. There are so many ideas and ways to use the provided texts, everything is laid out and ready to use each day.

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Literacy Footprints is a complete guided reading system developed by Jan Richardson and Michèle Dufresne. The lessons are based on Jan’s Next Step Forward in Guided Reading and Jan and Michèle’s coauthored Next Step Forward in Word Study and Phonics. Literacy Footprints features leveled readers, uni…

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Reading to young children: Does it really make a difference?

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Reading to young children: Does it really make a difference?

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I have included a research-based article on the effects of parents reading to children from a young age. Enjoy!

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To access the Library, GCU students and faculty must login. The username and password is the same as your GCU login.

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Vocabulary Game. This is something we play with each new Journey's story we do. I pass out the vocabulary cards to random students and have them read the definition and the rest of the class guesses at the word. We then discuss them and pause during our class reading of the story to talk about them again. We have a second read-through of the story during the week. At the end of the week, I "quiz" them by reading the definitions while they guess the words. I then ask for something to explain the words in their own way as well. The kids using start a conversation about at least 2 different words that really helps them learn the new word. It is a quick, fun activity they really enjoy!

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Here are some wonderful ideas to try at home to accelerate your child's phonics skills.
A quick, easy favorite of mine: to simply say a letter sound and have your child guess the letter. This is an engaging and effective way to have your child start connecting the letters they see with the sounds they hear.

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Letters and Sounds: Practical Ideas for Parents

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Provide your child with the opportunity to learn that written words are made up of letters that match the sounds in spoken words.

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A wonderful article on the important of phonemic awareness

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A wonderful article on the important of phonemic awareness

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This study examined the effects of language teaching strategies in Amhara region, Ethiopia on children's phonemic awareness reading performance. To this end, one hundred and two grade one children of two intact sections (n=50) and (n=52) were selected and participated as experimental and control groups, respectively. The research employed quasi-experimental pre- and post-test research design that aimed at examining the effects of reading strategies in children's phonemic awareness performance. Besides, the researchers collected data through non-participant observation and teacher self-reflection reports. To analyze children's phonemic awareness, paired samples t-test was computed using pre- and post-test scores of the children. To analyze the qualitative data, researchers employed narratives based on categories formed considering the basic themes of the research questions of this paper. Findings indicated that phonemic awareness reading strategies used in Amhara region could improve children's phonemic awareness performance. Furthermore, observation and teachers' reflections showed that there were positive results on the application of the strategies in improving children's phonemic awareness. Eventually, recommendations and implications for further research were suggested.

Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. C5 Plumbon, Banguntapan, Yogyakarta, 55198, Indonesia. e-mail: edulearn@uad.ac.id; Web site: http://journal.uad.ac.id/index.php/EduLearn

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ERIC - EJ1266355 - Effects of Reading Strategies on Grade One Children's Phonemic Awareness Performance, Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 2020-Aug

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This study examined the effects of language teaching strategies in Amhara region, Ethiopia on children's phonemic awareness reading performance. To this end, one hundred and two grade one children of two intact sections (n=50) and (n=52) were selected and participated as experimental and control groups, respectively.

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Here is a fun list of phonemic awareness games to try at home!

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Here is a fun list of phonemic awareness games to try at home!

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Clapping out syllables in words is a fun game to do with young learners. It is important that they are able to hear the different parts (syllables) that make up words.
Another fun game is to rhyme words. Children love to rhyme and it is an important step in learning to read. Try all of these activities at home and get your child on the path to reading!

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That's a complicated sounding term, but it's meaning is simple: the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the sounds in spoken language. Phonological awareness is really a group of skills that include a child's ability to:

Identify words that rhyme

Count the number of syllables in a name

Recognize alliteration (words with the same beginning sound)

Segment (break) a sentence into words

Identify the syllables in a word

The most sophisticated phonological awareness skill (and the last to develop) is called phonemic awareness - the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. When playing with the sounds in word, children learn to:

Blend individual sounds to make a word

Stretch out a word into its individual sounds

Swap in a different sound to the beginning, middle, or end of a word to make a new word

Strong phonemic awareness is one of the strongest predictors of later reading success. Children who struggle with reading, including kids with dyslexia, often have trouble with phonemic awareness, but with the right kind of instruction they can be successful. Learn some of the warning signs for dyslexia in this article, Clues to Dyslexia in Early Childhood.

Parents can make a big difference in helping their children become readers by practicing these pre-reading oral skills at home. Try some of the simple rhyming and word sound games described here.

Try these speech sound activities at home

Rhyme time

"I am thinking of an animal that rhymes with big. What's the animal?" Answer: pig. What else rhymes with big? ( dig, fig, wig)

Road trip rhymes

While you're out driving in the car, spot something out the window and ask your child, "what rhymes with tree or car or shop?" Then switch roles and have your child spot something and ask you for a rhyme. This can turn into a game of nonsense rhymes ("What rhymes with tree stump?") but that's great for practicing sounds, too!

Word families

Word families are sets of words that rhyme. Start to build your family by giving your child the first word, for example, cat. Then ask your child to name all the "kids" in the cat family, such as: bat, fat, sat, rat, pat, mat, hat, flat. This will help your child hear patterns in words.

Silly tongue twisters

Sing songs and say silly tongue twisters. These help your child become sensitive to the sounds in words.

Tongue ticklers

Alliteration or "tongue ticklers" - where the sound you're focusing on is repeated over and over again - can be a fun way to provide practice with a speech sound. Try these:

For M: Miss Mouse makes marvelous meatballs!

For S: Silly Sally sings songs about snakes and snails.

For F: Freddy finds fireflies with a flashlight.

Syllable shopping

While at the grocery store, have your child tell you the syllables in different food names. Have them hold up a finger for each word part. Eggplant = egg-plant, two syllables. Pineapple = pine-ap-ple, three syllables. Show your child the sign for each and ask her to say the word.

"I spy" first sounds

Practice beginning sounds with this simple "I spy" game at home, on a walk, or at the grocery store. Choose words with distinctive, easy-to-hear beginning sounds. For example, if you're in the bathroom you can say, "I spy something red that starts with the "s" ssss sound ( soap)."

Sound scavenger hunt

Choose a letter sound, then have your child find things around your house that start with the same sound. "Can you find something in our house that starts with the letter "p" pppppp sound? Picture, pencil, pear "

Which letter sounds do I teach first?

Reading expert Linda Farrell recommends that you begin with teaching the letter names, and then focus on the letter sounds that are closest to their letter names (such as /v/). And here's a great tip for teaching the trickier letter name-letter sound combinations - use arm motions. In this video, Linda demonstrates motions for /x/ and /y/. (From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.)

Sound games

Practice blending sounds into words. Ask "Can you guess what this word is? m - o - p." Hold each sound longer than normal.

First sounds

When you're reading together with your child, pick a word from the book and say it with emphasis on the first sound. Pick another word and compare them. "Zzz-zookeeper and rrr-rhinoceros. Can you hear what sound zzz-zookeeper starts with? Is it the same as rrr-rhinoceros?

Jump, skip, hop!

Create simple picture cards that you draw or cut out of magazines. Have your child, identify what's in the picture, and then break that word into its individual sounds. For example dog is d-o-g, three sounds (phonemes). Three sounds? You and your child do three jumping jacks, skips, or hops (followed by a high-five). You can also do this game outdoors without the cards, just call out simple words for your child.

Snail talk

Tell your child you're going to communicate in "snail talk" and they need to figure out what you're saying. Take a simple word and stretch it out very slowly (e.g., /fffffllllaaaag/), then ask your child to tell you the word. Switch roles and have your child stretch out a word for you.

"I spy" blending

Here's an easy phoneme blending game you can play while talking a walk. For blending, you can say, "I see a sign that says s-t-o-p" Then your child has to blend the sounds to guess your word - stop. (Remember to say only the sounds in the word - not the letters.) Keep the words short, moving from two to three to four sounds depending on your child's skill level.

Sound counting

Using LEGO bricks, beads, or pennies, say a word and have your child show you how many sounds the word makes. For example, top = t-o-p = three sounds, so your child would place three objects in a row. Then have them tap each object as they say the sound. Remember, your child is just showing you the sounds they hear. So the word bike would be = b-i-k (silent e) = only three sounds.

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Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: Activities for Your Kindergartener

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Phonological and phonemic awareness are important pre-reading skills, related to the ability to hear, identify, and play with the sounds in spoken language - including rhymes, syllables, and the smallest units of sound (phonemes). Children with strong phonological awareness skills are ready to become readers.

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One of our favorite things to do is break out the play doh! Kids love manipulating the dough. I call out letters and they have to make them using their dough. A very engaging activity for both visual and kinesthetic learners.

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Here are more easily differentiated phonics activities we do at school

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Here are more easily differentiated phonics activities we do at school

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Many of these activities can be differentiated, such as the digraph wheels. I make them for just beginning or ending word sounds as well as digraphs, that way children on various levels can use the tools. For the bingo game, some children research bingo cards with pictures and others have matching words underneath to hear and match the digraph because they are not quite ready for the word free version. There are so many variations you can make based on your class needs.

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Phonics is one of the five essential components of the science of reading, along with phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Phonics activities help young learners break words into their constituent sounds so they build their literacy skills, bit by bit. Here are some of our favorite ways to teach these key skills.

1. Sing a phonics song

Singing songs is such a fun and effective way to learn! Kids will love to watch and sing along, and might not even realize they're learning along the way.

Learn more: 15 Phonics Songs for Kids at We Are Teachers

2. Color in the beginning sounds

Most kids start learning phonics by mastering the beginning sounds of words. Have kids color in the words that start with the matching sound on these cute and free worksheets.

Learn more: Beginning Sounds Coloring Pages at The Measured Mom

3. Use Google Slides

Google Slides has tons of fun phonics activities kids can use in the classroom or at home.

Learn more: 18 Interactive Google Slides for Teaching Phonics and Sight Words at We Are Teachers

4. Hang phonics anchor charts

When it comes to phonics, there's a lot to learn. Post anchor charts around the room to help kids remember important rules like silent E, vowel blends, and hard and soft C and G.

Learn more: 20 Perfect Anchor Charts for Teaching Phonics and Blends at We Are Teachers

5. Build words with a chart of beginning sounds

Grab this free printable chart and print out copies for your students to use with their phonics activities. There's a version for rimes too.

Learn more: Beginning Sounds Chart at This Reading Mama

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6. Learn digraphs with clip wheels

Combine fine motor skills practice with phonics work with these free beginning digraph wheels. Tip: Add small dots on the back to mark the right answers so kids can self-correct their work.

Learn more: Digraph Wheels at Playdough to Plato

7. Slap the letter sounds

Sounding out words letter by letter is a lot more fun when you slap each letter with a flyswatter! This is a great idea for active learners.

Learn more: Letter Sound Slap at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

8. Walk the word

This one will also keep active learners moving and happy! Write words in sidewalk chalk, then walk (or hop or skip) along them, sounding the word out along the way. Simple but fun!

Learn more: Gross Motor Phonics Game: Walk the Word at Coffee Cups and Crayons

9. Fill in the missing letters

This active game combines a scavenger hunt with phonics! Hide sticky notes around the room with various vowels. Then, write CVC words with the vowels missing. Have kids hunt for the missing sounds and fill them in. Fun!

Learn more: Missing Sounds Reading Activity at Busy Toddler

10. Just swap one letter

As students move from box to box, they change one letter to make the new word represented by the picture. They might need to change the first, middle, or last letter, so it's a real challenge!

Learn more: Just Swap One at This Reading Mama

11. Make magic spoons

Pick up a pack of plastic spoons at the dollar store, then use them to practice building words by combining beginning sounds with word endings.

Learn more: Activities To Teach Phonics and Math at Education to the Core

12. Toss and blend with plastic cups

Grab a stack of plastic cups and some Ping-Pong balls for this fun phonics game. Label the cups with different letter blends and set them out (tape them down if they tend to fall over). Kids toss a ball into a cup, then come up with a word that uses that letter blend to earn a point.

Learn more: Toss and Blend at Education.com

13. Flip the pages

Divide the pages of a small notebook into thirds, then write letters on each page. Flip them to form new words.

Learn more: Phoneme Substitution Activities at Tickled Pink in Primary

14. Mix and match cups to make words

If you've still got some cups left over, label them with more letters or letter blends, then use them to mix and match words. This is an especially fun way to work on CVC and sight words.

Learn more: CVC Cups at Inspired Elementary

15. Hack pool noodles into phonics tools

This has got to be one of our favorite phonics activities. Cut a pool noodle into pieces and label it with letters. Then stack and spin for learning fun!

Learn more: Pool Noodle Phonics at We Are Teachers

16. Spin and rhyme

Here's a different spin (pun intended!) on Pool Noodle Phonics. All you need is a cardboard tube, a wire pants hanger, scissors, and a marker to make this fun DIY rhyming activity.

Learn more: Spin and Rhyme at No Time for Flash Cards

17. Make some phonics cubes

Slide the free printable inserts into a set of photo cubes, then roll until you get the correct combination of letter and word ending.

Learn more: Phonics Cubes at This Reading Mama

18. Use paint stirrers to make word pull-outs

These clever phonics tools are easy to make using paint stirrer sticks and paper towel tubes. Simply slide the stick in and out to make new words!

Learn more: Word Family Pull-Out Activity at I Can Teach My Child

19. Play a flip-top phonics game

If you go through packages of wipes like most parents do, you'll appreciate this idea. Save the flip tops and use them for DIY phonics activities.

Learn more: Flip Top Phonics Games for Kids at No Time for Flash Cards

20. Use a pocket chart for phonics activities

Here's another reason teachers love pocket charts: They're great for phonics centers. Sort and match cards to practice beginning sounds, blends, short and long vowels, and so much more.

Learn more: Short A Activities and Resources at Miss Giraffe's Class

21. Compete at Blends and Digraphs Bingo

Every kid loves a good game of bingo! Snag these free printable bingo cards and use them to practice blends and digraphs.

Learn more: Blends and Digraph Bingo at The Measured Mom

22. Toss some phonics water balloons

This one almost seems too fun to count as learning! Tape up beginning sounds, then toss water balloons to complete the words.

Learn more: Water Balloon Phonics at Mess for Less

23. Race to the Top with blends and digraphs

Play this free printable game to practice consonant blends. Toss a chip onto the board and say that word out loud. Then move the counter for the correct blend up one space. First to the top wins!

Learn more: Blends and Digraphs Games at This Reading Mama

24. Try locks and keys to learn phonics

This self-correcting phonics activity is also a good way to practice fine motor skills ... and a lot of fun to boot! Label keys with beginning sounds and locks with word endings, then match them up and try the key to see if you're right.

Learn more: Unlock and Learn Game at We Are Teachers

25. Play Phonogram Connect 4

Draw a word card and find an open phonogram slot on the board. Your goal is to get four in a row!

Learn more: Phonogram Connect Four at Mrs. T's First Grade Class

26. Teach them the Soft C & G Chant

Simple little chants like this will help kids remember some of those confusing language rules. Pair it with other favorites like " I before E, except after C."

Learn more: Soft C and G at This Reading Mama

27. Mix, color, and spell

We can't get enough of games that reinforce CVC words with short vowels-it's such an important early literacy skill! Practice identifying and distinguishing between vowels by coloring in the middle sound from pictures of CVC words.

Learn more: Teaching CVC Words at Susan Jones Teaching

28. Write the Room: Digraphs

Use this fun little letter scavenger hunt to move around the room to search for pictures with digraphs. First, mark the ones you find with a dot marker and then use another sheet to write the digraphs.

Learn more: Beginning Digraphs Write the Room at ABC's of Literacy

29. Use disappearing ink for letter formation

One of the first keys to early reading success is letter identification and formation. Keep it fresh by using "disappearing ink" (aka water) so students have to trace letters multiple times to prevent them from disappearing too fast. With so few materials and such high engagement, what's not to love?

Learn more: 3 Simple Play-Based Phonics Activities at Research and Play

30. Do word sorts

Word sorts are great for comparing word patterns that make the same sound, like vowel teams. They can also help reinforce so many different phonics skills, making them the perfect activity that can be easy differentiated for learners of all stages.

Learn more: Using Word Sorts for Phonics Instruction at Mrs. Winter's Bliss

31. Roll and Read

Roll a die and read the word from the corresponding column. Play with a partner or do it solo by coloring in the words as you read them.

Learn more: Lesson 79 Roll and Read at UFLI. While you're there, check out the UFLI free lesson resources, which include decodable passages and games for almost every phonics skill!

32. Roll letter dice

A perfect DIY idea for old blocks! Use three blocks and write consonants on two of them and vowels on the other. Have some fun rolling and blending CVC words.

Learn more: DIY Phonics Games at Early Impact Learning

33. Sort syllable types

If you are teaching the different syllable types, this word sort helps students practice their knowledge of the six types and shows you what they know.

Learn more: Six-Way Syllable Sort at Florida Center for Reading Research. Also, check out the many other phonics resources available by grade level: Kindergarten and First Grade or Second and Third Grades.

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33 Fun Phonics Activities and Games for Early Readers

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Help kids learn to read with phonics activities that break words into their basic sounds, like phonemes, digraphs, diphthongs, and more.

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Phonemic Awareness Activities for the Classroom

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Phonemic Awareness Activities for the Classroom

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A favorite game from this list is Nonsense. This really invites the child to be engaged. They close their eyes and listen as I read a familiar story or sing a familiar song, but occasionally I change the words or sounds and they need to catch that change. This is a lot of fun for both the children and myself. I can swap sounds in words, completely change words or change the order of the words. Fun and full of learning.

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You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes, as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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Phonemic Activities for the Preschool or Elementary Classroom

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Activities that stimulate phonemic awareness in preschool and elementary school children are one sure way to get a child ready for reading! Here are eight of them from expert Marilyn Jager Adams.

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Name Syllables. We sit in a circle and say each child's name clapping out the syllables. Each child has a turn to do their own name (first middle and last if they would like) and as a class we clap through their first names. It is a lot of fun and I find the kids do it through the day and sometimes the next during any free moments. It really helps build awareness of the parts of words.