top of page

Reading Comprehension Strategies: Beyond Decoding to Understanding

Writer's picture: Designed to LearnDesigned to Learn

When we think about reading difficulties, especially in students with dyslexia, we often focus on decoding skills. However, reading comprehension presents its own unique challenges that deserve careful attention. Understanding these challenges and implementing effective strategies is crucial for both parents and educators supporting young readers.


Reading comprehension is a complex mental process that goes beyond simply reading words to understand their meaning. When readers truly comprehend text, they connect what they're reading to what they already know, create mental pictures, check their understanding, and make logical guesses about what isn't directly stated. This process draws on several essential skills: understanding language patterns and word meanings, using previous knowledge and experiences, remembering what was just read, maintaining focus, and thinking about their own understanding. Like a skilled conductor leading an orchestra, the mind coordinates all these elements to achieve the ultimate purpose of reading: understanding and learning from the written word.


Understanding the Comprehension Challenge



Many students with dyslexia struggle with comprehension, but not always for the same reasons. For some, the intense focus required for decoding leaves little cognitive energy for understanding the text, even when they appear to read fluently. Others may decode relatively well but still struggle specifically with comprehension. This diversity of challenges highlights why explicit comprehension instruction is essential.


Referring to Scarborough's Reading Rope, we see that comprehension involves multiple strands, including background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge. Each of these components needs direct instruction and practice.


The Foundation: Explicit Instruction

Contrary to what many might assume, comprehension skills don't develop automatically once a student can decode words. These skills must be explicitly taught, practiced, and reinforced. This process begins with heavy teacher involvement and gradually shifts toward student independence.


Building Blocks of Understanding



Before diving into any text, successful comprehension requires:

  • Pre-teaching key vocabulary

  • Activating and building background knowledge

  • Discussing real-world connections

  • Examining visual supports

  • Exploring text features


Think of this as preparing the mental soil where understanding will grow. The richer this preparation, the better the comprehension will take root.


Pro Tip: Check out our Free Growing Good Readers Download adapted from Scarborough's Reading Rope.

The Power of Think-Alouds

One of our most powerful tools for teaching comprehension is the think-aloud strategy. When teachers verbalize their thinking process while reading, they make invisible mental strategies visible to students. This modeling is especially crucial when discussing background knowledge, a key component highlighted in Natalie Wexler's The Knowledge Gap and supported by E.D. Hirsch's research through the Core Knowledge Foundation.


Structured Comprehension Techniques

Effective comprehension instruction follows a clear progression:


  1. Teacher-Led Discussion Begin with explicit guidance through the fundamental questions:

    • Who are the characters?

    • What is the problem?

    • When does the story take place?

    • Where does it happen?

    • Why is there a problem?

    • How is it resolved?


  2. Supported Practice Use visual aids and organizational tools:

    • Anchor charts for reference

    • Graphic organizers to structure thinking

    • Color-coded sticky notes to track elements

    • Visual representations of story elements


  3. Gradual Release Move toward student independence through:

    • Socratic questioning to encourage deeper thinking

    • Guided practice in metacognition

    • Collaborative discussions

    • Independent application of strategies


From Basic to Complex Comprehension

As students progress, comprehension skills naturally evolve from basic understanding to more sophisticated analysis. This progression might include:

  • Summarizing main ideas

  • Making inferences

  • Drawing conclusions

  • Synthesizing information from multiple sources

  • Analyzing author's purpose and craft


The Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) provides excellent examples of how students can move from understanding source texts to synthesizing information for their own writing, demonstrating the crucial link between reading comprehension and written expression.


Supporting Success: Practical Tips


For Parents and Teachers:

  1. Make it Visual

    • Use graphic organizers consistently

    • Create story maps

    • Implement color-coding systems


  2. Build Background Knowledge

    • Discuss topics before reading

    • Connect to real-world experiences

    • Use multimedia resources to build context


  3. Support Active Engagement

    • Encourage prediction

    • Ask probing questions

    • Connect text to personal experiences



Moving Forward

Like all skills related to reading, comprehension development is a journey, not a destination. Students need time, practice, and support to develop these crucial skills, especially those with dyslexia. The goal is to move from teacher-supported understanding to independent metacognition, where students actively monitor and direct their own comprehension.


As educators and parents, our role is to provide the scaffolding needed at each stage of this development, gradually releasing responsibility as students become more capable and confident in their comprehension abilities.


Share your thoughts Parents & Teachers: Where are you seeing your student(s) struggle with comprehension?


 

Looking for more specific strategies or resources? Visit our website for downloadable guides, visual aids, and additional support materials.

16 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Kommentare


Structured Literacy Trained Reading Expert in Kansas
Academic Language Therapy Association Certified Dyslexia Professional in Wichita, Kansas
Kansas Education Enrichment Program (KEEP) Registered Reading Instructor in the State of Kansas Reading Help
Dyslexia Tutor backed by the Academic Language Therapy Association
Orton-Gillingham Trained Multisensory Phonics Instructor in Kansas

© 2023 Designed to Learn

bottom of page