Reading comprehension is the level of understanding of a text/message. The understanding of the Rules for Reading Comprehension comes from the interaction between the words that are written, and how they trigger knowledge outside the text/message.
There are 6 essential skills for reading comprehension:
Here are six essential skills needed for reading comprehension, and tips on what can help us improve this skill.
Decoding is a vital step in the reading process. Decoding relies on an early language skill called Phonemic awareness. (This skill is part of an even broader skill called phonological awareness.)
Decoding also relies on connecting individual sounds to letters.
Fluency speeds up the rate at which they can read and understand the text.
Sounding out or decoding every word can take a lot of effort. Word recognition is the ability to recognize whole words instantly by sight, without sounding them out.
When kids can read quickly and without making too many errors, they are “fluent� readers.
Fluent readers read smoothly at a good pace. Reading fluency is essential for good reading comprehension.
To understand what you’re reading, you need to understand most of the words in the text. Having a strong vocabulary is a key component of reading comprehension. Students typically learn the meaning of words through everyday experience and also by reading.
Most readers relate what they’ve read to what they know. So kids need to have the background or prior knowledge about the world when they read. They also need to be able to “read between the lines� and pull out meaning even when it’s not literally spelled out.
Example: A child is reading a story about a poor family in the 1930s. Knowing the Great Depression can provide insight into what’s happening in the story.
The capacity or the efficiency to reason a given passage and then draw conclusion from the stated facts is highly instrumental in solving a reading comprehension question. This is mostly required in an inferential based passage. Being able to understand the underlying meaning and idea.
When kids read, attention allows them to take in information from the text. Working memory allows them to hold on to that information and use it to gain meaning and build knowledge from what they’re reading.