Building Comprehension

Skills at Home
An Information Guide for Parents of First Graders

What is Comprehension?
“Comprehension is the reason for reading. If readers can
read the words but do not understand what they are
reading, they are not really reading.”1

How Can I Help at Home?

Before Reading:
Common Signs of Struggling
 Preview the text – Look at pictures, make predictions about what
they story might be about
with Comprehension:
 Child cannot recall details from a story
 Use background knowledge to discuss elements of the story –
 Child struggles to retell what happened
Where are the characters? Do I know anything about settings like at the beginning, middle, and end of a
this? text
 Story sequence – What do you think will happen at the beginning,  Child seems to remember very little
middle, and end of the story? from a story they just read
 Child cannot make connections from
During Reading: the story to themselves
 Think aloud – What do I know about this topic? Do I understand
what I just read? What new information did I learn?
 Listen-Read-Discuss – Talk about what is happening in the story.
 Visual imagery – Construct mental images as you read the text. Websites & Resources
RAZ Kids
After Reading: https://www.raz-kids.com/
 Summarize – Summarize the main/important parts of the story.
 Story maps – Use a graphic organizer to determine characters, Reading Rockets
setting, plot, problem, and resolution or the sequence (beginning, http://www.readingrockets.org/reading-
middle, end) topics/reading-comprehension
 Make connections – Did anything in this story remind you of
something you have experienced or read about before? Fun Brain
https://www.adaptedmind.com/reading.php

More Ways to Help: Into the Book!

 Read with your child for 20 minutes every night https://reading.ecb.org/
 Ask questions/use prompts listed above
 Have a conversation about the stories you read Storyline Online
https://www.storylineonline.net/
 Ask your child to make connections with the story
 Act out the story
PBS Reading Games
 Visit resources listed
1 https://pbskids.org/games/reading/
Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., Osborn, J. (n.d.) Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for
Teaching Children to Read - Kindergarten Through Grade 3. Third Edition (pp 1- 48). Retrieved from:
http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/PRFbooklet.pdf