Reading Comprehension

Comprehension is the main component of studying reading. Teaching reading comprehension strategies for pupils at all levels is complex. Teachers must have a strong understanding of the text and its contest and must have a good knowledge of the methods. The National Reading Panel has carried out the study of reading comprehension and picked out three major topics in the investigation on the development of reading comprehension skills.

Reading comprehension is a complex cognitive process. It cannot be analyzed without a definite description of the vocabulary development and vocabulary instruction role in the understanding of the text. Besides, comprehension is an active process and thus, it requires a thoughtful interplay between the reader and the text. Also, the teachers’ preparation is aimed at developing reading comprehension strategies that is connected to pupils' achievements.

Research on comprehension methods and strategies has developed for a comparatively short time. At first, the investigators of this question paid special attention at teaching one strategy. Later on the studies proved the effectiveness of teaching some strategies at once. Still, it is not easy as requires teachers to be skillful and be able to respond to pupils' necessity for a help while they are reading.

Researchers have discovered how to successfully teach children to read. According to the findings of the National Reading Panel Report the analysis of the text requires five spheres of reading instruction to be used. They are: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Each sphere determines the skill, looks through the research data, describes certain strategies for teaching reading skills, and addresses frequently asked questions. The best methods of teaching comprehension strategies are systematic and include: direct explanation by the teacher, modeling by the teacher, guided practice by the teacher, application by the pupil with help of the teacher. Research has found several effective comprehension strategies. They are the following:

To teach children to point out hard-to-understand parts of text and then to look for solutions while rereading sections for clues.

To use graphic organizers - maps, charts, and diagrams – to make students focus on important points the author is trying to convey.

To answer questions that help pupils focus on important points in a text.

To make up questions.

To recognize story structure — plot, characters, and other content categories of the text.

To recognize story structure — pupils who can analyze a text in terms of its plot, characters, and other content categories are more likely to remember the story. They must also recognize text features in both fiction and nonfiction texts.

To summarize, this encourages students to focus on the most important elements in a text. Comprehension is the ability to create meaning in the mind. Still, not everyone knows that comprehension can be taught. Teachers can improve children's abilities to understand the text using concrete comprehension strategies. Reading comprehension is very important in the development of children's reading skills. Thus, it is important for their ability to get an education.