The ability to read is one of the most powerful tools teachers and parents can provide students. Literacy is strongly correlated with future economic and professional success, reading comprehension is essential.
Illiteracy, on the other hand, demands a high price. Adults with low reading levels live in poverty and 70% of people receiving social assistance have extremely low literacy. In addition, 72% of the children of parents with low literacy levels will have low literacy levels, and are more likely to perform poorly in school and fail in school.
Early and elementary education offers a key opportunity to break this cycle of financial hardship. And while the mechanics of reading and writing are essential components, reading comprehension allows students to go beyond decoding and come to the understanding and enjoyment of this great and necessary skill.
Reading comprehension
The simplest way to explain reading comprehension is to put the reader in the position of someone who is "deciphering" letters and words rather than understanding them. When using the knowledge base in phonetic sounds, it is possible that the text can be read but that what has just been read may not be understood.
Recognizing words or letters does not make sense of a sentence if it does not have one. Reading comprehension includes three distinct components: processing text (probing syllables to decode words), understanding what has been read, and making connections between the text and what is already known.
Knowledge of vocabulary vs. Text comprehension
Knowledge of vocabulary and understanding of the text are two vital elements of reading comprehension. Vocabulary knowledge refers to the understanding of individual words. If a reader does not understand the words he is reading, he will not understand the entire text.
Because knowledge of vocabulary is essential for reading comprehension, children must be exposed to a rich vocabulary and must always learn new words. Parents and teachers can help by defining potentially unfamiliar words that students will encounter in texts and teaching them to use contextual clues to understand the meaning of new words.
Text comprehension builds on vocabulary knowledge by allowing the reader to combine the meanings of individual words to understand the general text. If you've ever read a complicated legal document or a book with too technical vocabulary, you will be able to understand the relationship between knowledge of vocabulary and understanding of the text. Understanding the meaning of most words does not necessarily translate into understanding the entire text.
Understanding the text depends on the reader making connections with what they are reading, so mental work is very important.
Methods to assess reading comprehension
There are several ways to assess a student's reading comprehension skills. One method is to use a formal assessment, which can be through the understanding of a previously chosen text. Another method is to use informal evaluations. Ask students to tell you about what they are reading or to retell the story or event in their own words.
One idea in a classroom is to put students in groups and listen to what they have to say about the books they are reading. Observe areas of confusion and students not participating. Ask students for a written response to the text, such as keeping a journal, identifying their favorite scene, or listing the top 3-5 facts they learned from the text.
Signs that a student cannot understand what they are reading
One indicator that a student is having difficulty with reading comprehension is difficulty reading aloud. If a student struggles to recognize or pronounce words when reading orally, they are likely to encounter the same difficulties when reading silently.
Weak vocabulary is another indicator of poor reading comprehension. This is because students who struggle with understanding the text may have difficulty learning and incorporating new vocabulary.
Finally, poor spelling and weak writing can be a sign that a student cannot understand what they are reading. Difficulty spelling may indicate trouble remembering letter sounds, which means the student is likely to have trouble processing the text as well.