How to improve my child comprehension

How To Improve Reading Comprehension For Kids

When students have trouble reading, it can affect their performance in many subjects. Poor reading skills and comprehension can lead to frustration, low self-confidence, and poor grades.

But difficulty with reading and with comprehension is something that can be improved with regular practise. By learning to read effectively, your child can build skills that will help improve his or her reading skills and comprehension.

What Is Reading Comprehension?

Reading comprehension is the ability to read a sentence and understand its meaning. It is the ability to look at written words and process the meaning or ideas behind them.

Reading comprehension isn’t just understanding a single word or its meaning—it is the ability to recognize words, sentences, and paragraphs and make sense of the overall meaning.

Many Students Dislike Reading

41% of parents say that their children do not enjoy reading. That’s a lot of kids! And when kids don’t like reading, they are less likely to put the time in to improve. This leads to a cycle of poor reading skills, lowered comprehension, more frustration—and even less love for reading.

So how can we help our children become better readers?

These 12 reading strategies for struggling readers that boost comprehension and reading motivation are the place to start! Check them out below:

12 Strategies To Help Struggling Readers Improve Reading Comprehension

Find books they’ll like

Sometimes, low reading comprehension comes down to the fact that a student just isn’t interested in what he or she is reading. In fact, 73% of students say they would read more if they could find books they liked. The secret to becoming a better reader is practise—something that is much easier when your child actually likes what he or she is reading.

Read aloud

Hearing the words out loud helps many students gain a better understanding of what they are reading than they are able to get while reading in their head. Encourage your child to read aloud if he or she is struggling with a certain part of a book or a particular word.

Skim the headings of the text

Quickly skimming the headings of a book gives students a high-level overview of what they are reading. Your child can use the headings to quickly understand what the reading is about and the main points before he or she actually starts reading.

Re-read sections that are confusing

Revisiting the parts that were confusing for your child (or or that might simply need a quick refresher) can help your child gain a more complete picture of what he or she is learning. This also helps ensure your child is able to understand upcoming material in the text.

Use a ruler or finger to follow along

If your child has trouble keeping his or her place while reading, use a ruler or finger to make following along easier. This trick can also help students who have dyslexia and struggle with separating lines of text and sentences while reading.

Write down words you don’t know

As your child makes his or her way through the reading material, have him or her write down unfamiliar words. Encourage your child to look these words up in a dictionary to learn what they mean. Then, find ways to use them in a sentence that your child makes up him or herself.

Discuss what your child has just read

When your child has finished reading, talk about what he or she just read together. Ask your child what he or she learned and his or her thoughts. For longer reading materials, like novels for book reports, make discussion questions you and your child can talk about together after each reading session.

Recap and summarize the main points

When talking about the material with your child, ask him or her to recap and summarize the main points. Explaining what your child learned in his or her own words helps ensure your child understands what was read. It also helps relate the material to what he or she already knows.

Write down questions about what you don’t understand

Have your child make notes about what he or she doesn’t understand while reading. When your child has a question, encourage him or her to pause and reflect on what he or she has read. If your child still has unanswered questions, have him or her take these to the teacher for extra help.

Use different formats

Some students just aren’t natural readers—they learn better when they see, hear, or write things. If your student struggles with reading, find a format that works better and incorporate that into reading sessions. This could include writing down the main points as he or she reads or visualizing the material by drawing what your child is reading (for older students, this could be a mind map).

Identify reading problems

If your child is struggling with reading on an ongoing basis, watch for red flags that he or she may have a reading difficulty. Dyslexia is relatively common, with up to 5 students in a classroom suffering from some form of this reading difficulty. If your child seems to struggle with reading without any improvement, it’s important to identify whether he or she has a reading problem so you can take steps to solve it.

Get a reading tutor

Improving your child’s reading skills and comprehension is something that you can do at home each day. For students who need an extra boost, a reading tutor can help improve these skills even more.

For more tips on how to help your child become a better reader, read our blog post on how to encourage good reading habits in kids.

If your child still needs help, the reading tutors at Oxford Learning can help! Find your nearest location and learn how we can help.

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100 Ways to Help you Child Improve Their Reading Comprehension Skills

Reading comprehension involves a child’s ability to understand the context and meaning of text. Young readers quickly learn to summarize or retell story plots and identify the main characters—basic elements of comprehension. Inferencing, the ability to make predictions on what will happen based on clues within the text, is a fundamental aspect of comprehension that is integral to reading proficiency.

As text becomes more abstract, readers must find the unwritten meanings that help them develop a greater understanding of the story. Unsure how to help a struggling reader? Here are 100 ways to help your child improve reading comprehension, love the adventure of reading and enjoy exploring new books! Some of these tips may be an adventure for parents, too!

Ask questions when you read. The key comprehension questions are who, what, when, where, why and how. Your child should be able to answer these basic questions about the story or book.
Cook a recipe. Cooking and following a recipe could help with basic comprehension skills. Measuring also helps your child with math!
Narrate the story. Don’t just read aloud, narrate the story for your child. Inflect emotion and excitement to help them understand elements of the plot and motivations of the characters.
Listen to the book. Listening to a book while following along in the text could help a child to better grasp plot elements or infer meaning.
Start a family reading club. Everyone in the family should read the same book. After everyone finishes the story, talk about the plot and characters in depth together.
Use reading worksheets. Online worksheets are available on numerous websites to help parents work on reading comprehension with their child. Some worksheets include questions to gauge understanding.
Make a reading comprehension bookmark. A bookmark can serve as a visual reminder to help children think about plot elements and help identify those key “wh” questions.
Use graphic organizers. A graphic organizer can help focus on plot, characters or other aspects of the story. This is yet another visual way to help with comprehension.
Watch the movie together. After reading the book, watch the movie. Then discuss how the book differs from the big screen adaptation.
Play reading games. Download games or apps that focus on reading skills. Or create your own games at home.
Use a reading app. Readability provides struggling readers with an AI virtual tutor that helps guide reading lessons and tests comprehension. The tutor recognizes your child’s voice and provides guidance on pronunciation. After the story is completed, the tutor will ask questions related to the story.
Let children choose their books. Kids may be more excited about reading when they get to choose their own books.
Take a reading field trip. Visit a site featured in your child’s favorite book. Maybe it’s a museum, the zoo or somewhere else. This is yet another way for a child to immerse into the action of the story.
Make a story comprehension ball. Grab a beach ball and write comprehension prompts on each of the colorful sections. Toss the ball to your child and have them answer the prompt that faces up when they catch the ball. You can also buy a ball!
Write a storybook. Have your child write their own fiction story. By creating a plot and characters, they also have to think beyond the basics.
Draw pictures. Have your child illustrate a scene from the story. This may help them visualize the action of the story.
Create a shoebox diorama. This is a small three-dimensional recreation of a scene from the story. Like an illustration, this could help a child visualize and better understand a scene.
Meet with the teacher. When parents are concerned about comprehension, one of the first steps to address the issue may be a meeting with a child’s teacher. Don’t hesitate to reach out.
Hire a private tutor. If money isn’t an issue, a private tutor could work one-on-one with a child to help focus on comprehension struggles.
Read, read, read. Encourage children to read regularly to help work on proficiency and comprehension.
Start a book club during the summer. If the local library doesn’t offer a summer reading program, start your own. Encourage children to track reading minutes and offer prizes for milestones and program completion. This encourages regular reading during the summer and could help them to not fall behind…in comprehension and proficiency.
Offer reading rewards. For kids who dislike reading, a rewards program may be beneficial to get them to crack a book and work on comprehension. Set rewards that will motivate your child.
Set reading goals related to comprehension. Reading rewards should be tied to reading goals. These goals could be related to comprehension, page numbers or reading minutes.
Understand your child’s reading level. Parents should always know what reading level is best for their child, so that books are never too easy or too difficult. Ask your child’s teacher to better understand individual reading levels.
Choose books that are leveled appropriately. Don’t select books that are too far outside a child’s reading level. Working on comprehension requires text that a child can easily understand.
Read aloud to a child. Hearing a book read aloud could help a child understand the plot or the character’s actions. This also can be a child’s gateway to more difficult books.
Create a reading den. Make reading fun by creating a reading nook or den. Grab pillows, covers or your child’s favorite stuffed animals.
Stop the clock. Understand that the clock doesn’t always rule reading. Sometimes it’s ok to not watch the clock.
Make a book craft. After reading the book, have your child make a craft related to the story. Your child can create a puppet based on the character of a book.
Let children read to a furry friend. Our pets don’t judge mistakes. Let your child read aloud to the family pet. This is a great way to help them practice reading fluency.
Make a book interest list. Not sure what books interest your child? Have them make a list of favorite sports, hobbies, ideas and more. Then find books related to the interest list.
Review reading scores from school-based standardized tests. If you’re unsure if your child is reading at grade level, ask to review standardized test scores. These are usually sent home, but sometimes schools forget. Just ask your child’s teacher to review.
Talk to a pediatrician if reading struggles are pronounced. If your child is really struggling to sound out words and comprehend text, schedule an appointment with your child’s pediatrician to seek guidance.
Ask for referrals. If your child’s doctor is concerned, they may recommend that your child see a specialist; ask for referrals so you know whom to consult. You may also need to check your insurance plan to find in-network specialists.
Ask the school for intervention or further testing. Reach out to the school to inquire about testing for reading struggles.
Never shame a struggling reader.
But praise progress and effort. Always offer praise for progress and effort. Positive words may go a long way to a child that is struggling.
Investigate different types of reading programs. Not every app or program works for every child. Do your research.
Find out what reading environment works best for your child. Do they like to read alone? On the couch? Talk to your child about where they love to read, and try to make accommodations.
Encourage reading breaks. Don’t push a child to read to the brink of exhaustion. Even when your child is completely lost in a book, encourage them to rest their eyes and take a reading break.
Don’t make reading a chore. All parents can nag, but try not to make reading assignments into a dreaded task. This is sometimes how those reading minutes can backfire (depending on the child). Some kids see reading minutes as “I need to get through this.” They never enjoy the story or the book because they resent being forced to do reading for those mandated 20 minutes. Encourage fun reading, and let kids read at their pace.
Set reasonable expectations. Don’t make reading goals unattainable.
Understand that all reading is practice. Comic books count!
Don’t compare a struggling reader to a peer or sibling.
Talk to a child. Ask them to summarize their day. Ask them what happened in school. Ask them anything. Getting them to articulate their own experiences may help them articulate what they read, too. You might even focus on “wh” questions
Read books to celebrate or commemorate history. For Fourth of July, read about the Revolutionary War and our Constitution. During Black History Month, encourage children to read about historical figures in the Civil Rights movement.
Incorporate comprehension into daily activities. Talk about your day, an activity you’re doing and the steps you take to complete the activity. Incorporate those ‘wh’ questions.
Use comprehension strategies across subjects. Focusing on comprehension is vital for the understanding of all subjects. Make sure your child understands history and science by asking comprehension questions related to assignments and reading.
Enjoy a reading snack related to the book.
Set the clock for fun reading races. If your child needs to work on proficiency, set a timer and encourage them to read a paragraph without making any mistakes.
Parents need to read, too. Kids should see parents reading and enjoying a book. Kids learn by example.
Encourage kids to write book reports. When kids finish the book, have them write up an old-fashioned book report detailing what they liked about the story and talking about the characters.
Inquire about school resources in the classroom. Do you know what type of reading resources your child’s school offers? Ask! You may be able to use programs or resources at home.
Mirror the teacher’s strategies. Inquire about what reading strategies your child’s teacher uses in the classroom. Use these same strategies at home.
Encourage children to chunk the text to help ease comprehension struggles. Have children chunk text by reading a paragraph at a time…or a chapter. Then ask them questions about what they’ve read.
Reenact a fun scene from the book. Is this a dinner party? An amazing adventure. Reenact it with kids and home to help them immerse in the story.
Make sure kids know they aren’t alone in their struggles. Explain to them that many students struggle with reading. In fact, about 10 million struggle with reading.
Don’t let children avoid reading. While understanding a story may be a challenge, don’t let kids avoid reading. Sit with them, help them and encourage them…but don’t let them give up.
Have kids write a brief autobiography. Encourage them to retell an adventure; write down these adventures and use your child’s personal story to help them with aspects of comprehension. How did they feel? What did they learn? Make sure the adventure was a real one!
Use books as rewards for reading. The best reward for reading? More books!
Take your child to get a library card. Make a big event out of going to the library for their very first card…explain that this is their ticket to read any book they want!
Check your library’s web site for special events related to reading clubs or other activities that could increase your child’s enjoyment of books and reading.
Ask the librarian for book recommendations to help with comprehension. Librarians are great resources.
Have your child create a hero list of famous people and find books about them for your child.
Make sure any reading program you consider to help with comprehension has a free trial. Don’t risk paying for an app that doesn’t meet the needs of your child.
Don’t stop reading during school breaks. The summer slide happens when children fail to keep reading or don’t engage in any meaningful educational activities (even doing math workbooks helps!).
Check in with your child during reading to make sure they aren’t struggling.
Visit thrift stores to find inexpensive books. Some may offer kids’ books for a mere quarter! Check out thrift stores near you!
Utilize free ‘little libraries’ around the community when money’s too tight. Remember, take a book, give a book. Or, at the very least, remember to return the book you took from this free resource.
Find books related to your child’s favorite shows.
Explore free reading resources on PBSKids.org.
Play comprehension hopscotch. Write comprehension prompts on the squares!
Embrace virtual books for children who love technology. Download ebooks to your favorite ereader!
Give your child some reading holidays. On break, give them a brief reading reprieve for a few days.
Celebrate National Poetry Month in April by reading poetry or introducing your child to your favorite poets.
On April 12, make sure your child celebrates D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read Day!)
For children who have difficulty with comprehension because of dyslexia or another learning disability, the month of October is Learning Disabilities and Dyslexia Awareness Month. You can find resources about learning disabilities or choose to be an advocate to educate others this month.
During the month of October, parents can make reading fun by adopting a Halloween theme for at-home reading activities. Candy rewards, scary stories and even fun Halloween snacks can all be included.
In November, help your child choose books on thankfulness, the first Thanksgiving or Native Americans. Remember, encourage your child to pick the books they want.
December is the month of many holidays. Read about Christmas, Hanukah, or Kwanzaa. Talk to kids about these holidays to gauge their holiday comprehension. You may even read about holiday traditions across the globe. In Dutch traditions, St. Nicholas would leave candy or toys in children’s shoes!
For February, embrace stories of love or Valentine’s Day history to work on comprehension. Fairy tales with happily-ever-after endings are a perfect choice for this month.
Let your child read a comic strip (geared for kids) and talk about it together! Comic strips are a quick read, and may be an easy way to go over basic comprehension.
Create comprehension quizzes for children to test their knowledge of the book.
Understand that nightly reading minutes don’t always mean 20 minutes each night. If kids read for an hour, this counts toward the 100 weekly minutes. Don’t overthink reading minutes and turn reading into a chore.
Does your child enjoy building models? Reading and following the instructions may help them with comprehension. Talk about each step and ask questions related to the process as they build.
Remove distractions. When a child is reading, make sure that any noisy distractions are removed. Turn off the radio and the television!
Encourage your child to read aloud. Note their inflection during the story and see if they can pick up on emotions of characters.
To analyze characters, have children create a chart comparing and contrasting main characters in a story. How are they alike? How are they different?
Ask kids to make predictions. Reading aloud to kids? After each chapter, ask your child what they think might happen next.
Check out different reading landmarks in your area. These can be places featured in books, independent bookstores, or libraries.
Take the reading outdoors. Read out in nature to change the scenery! Encourage beach reading during vacation…just don’t forget the sunscreen!
Talk to your child if you find that they are getting discouraged. Make sure to always provide positive reinforcement during reading.
Know when you need a parent break. Parents can get frustrated if we feel a child isn’t listening or doing what they need to do. Sometimes, though, their struggle is just overwhelming them. If you feel that you’re losing your cool, step back. Take a parent break.
Step into character by role playing parts of the book. You can use puppets, too.
If your child is hungry, overly tired or sick, reading could be more of a struggle. If a child can’t focus because they are tired, need to eat or just feel bad, they might not pick up much from what they read. Use common sense before pushing those nightly reading sessions.
Understand that an illness or a bad night with little sleep also could affect a child’s scores on a reading test. If scores were below expectations—and not the norm for your child—don’t assume reading has become a major problem. Reach out to your child’s teacher, and inquire if the child should be retested. If your child’s teacher is concerned, they will let you know.
Host a family reading night each week. Everyone can hang out in the living room with their favorite book. This is a great way to unplug…and unwind. It also creates a reading habit for kids.
Don’t book shame a child. If they love a silly book, let them read it.
Find poems that were turned into songs! Listen to the song and talk about meaning. How does the music set the tone for the story/poem?
Don’t ban books without researching. As kids get older, parents may want to police their reading material. Before you put the stop on a book, before challenging a child who wants to read it, research the book and the author. Don’t judge a book by its cover…or its reputation. Some of the greatest novels have been challenged, banned and burned.

There are so many ways to help your child become a better reader. Many of these tips focus on out-of-the-box ways to encourage kids to pick up a book or to view reading and books positively.

By making reading a fun activity, kids may be more open to guidance to improve comprehension. When parents are concerned that their child struggles with comprehension, opening a dialogue with the teacher may be the first (and best) step to address their struggles.

Intervention, additional testing or perhaps even a medical referral to a specialist could also be needed to pinpoint the cause of a reading struggle. Sometimes, though, kids may simply fall behind and additional help at home may be all that is needed to help boost their proficiency.

5 simple ways to teach your child to understand texts

Schoolchildren about whom they say: “He is better at math” often read badly. Although the point, perhaps, is not at all in humanitarian abilities or the presence of dyslexia, but simply in the fact that you need to work well with the child. Edition Edutopia told in detail how best to do this.

Why reading problems need to be addressed right away

When you start talking about reading problems, the first thing that comes to mind is small children with poor phonetics who struggle to decipher letters and make them understand. And there are people - schoolchildren and students - who think they can read, but in reality they experience a lot of difficulties with understanding words, images, conclusions, reasoning.

If a child is good at deciphering a text, we usually assume that he is a good reader. But at the same time, the teacher may notice that the child freely "decodes" the text, but does not understand it. One way or another, both children who cannot decipher and children who do not understand what is deciphered are all children with reading problems. However, the latter are much less noticeable, and their problem escapes the attention of adults much more often. The child begins to fail tests and generally does not understand half of what is taught in the classroom.

That's when the real trouble comes, and most of the time it's already in middle and high school.

The sooner you start solving this problem, the better. But it is better to remember that a complete correction requires not just practice - for example, reading passages and asking questions on them - but using an integrated approach that includes several important things.

The following comprehension skills and strategies can be used for the entire class. Teachers can help students choose reading material that matches their current vocabulary and abilities so that in the classroom, children read the text and work at levels accessible to each of them.

What to do if your child does not understand what he is reading

1. Recent studies show that reading comprehension difficulties may stem from poorly developed spoken language, which develops long before a child begins learning to read. It turns out that students who have problems with reading comprehension also often understand fewer words spoken in oral speech, that is, less than what they hear. They have poor conversational grammar. So, to deal effectively with reading comprehension problems, educators may need to adopt an approach that teaches vocabulary and comprehension first in spoken language and only then in written language.

2. Children who have poor reading comprehension often suffer from a small vocabulary, so it is useful for them to devote a lot of time to learning new words. One of the ways is a multisensory approach: for example, pictures, mind maps or mnemonics. Improving general language skills increases the likelihood that they will understand the words they encounter in written text. Since it is not possible to know and remember every word, the child should be taught different types of context clues and how to use them to determine the meaning of unknown words.

3. As soon as a child has enough vocabulary to understand every word in a text, he finds it difficult to keep his attention and follow all the details or, for example, access indirect information and the hidden meaning of the text .

In this case, the educator can teach the child several cognitive reading strategies that will help: annotation, SQ3R, and KWL diagram among them. They help:

to learn to discuss what they read or to activate the knowledge gained while reading the text;
develop and ask questions about what has been read;
draw parallels between two texts or between what the child saw and read;
make predictions about what will happen next in the text;
highlight keywords that will later help answer questions;
think aloud.

Each child can choose exactly the strategy that works best for him. Extracting deeper meaning from a text using strategic thinking can be useful not only for reading comprehension, but also for writing.

4. Have students engage in peer learning - it encourages the child to take the lead and think about their thought process while reading. Teachers can use peer learning during class discussion, with a text that is read aloud and then with a text that is read in groups. Students should divide into four types and then alternate among themselves.

Participant 1. The one who asks the question. He asks about parts of a lesson, discussion, or text that are unclear or confusing to help connect with previously learned material.
Participant 2. Someone who will record important things - for example, details from a text or important points of a discussion.
Participant 3. The one who will answer the questions asked by the first participant and will be responsible for ensuring that the answers to these questions are clear to everyone.
Participant 4. Someone who will make predictions about what will happen next based on what has been presented, discussed or read.

5. Schoolchildren must be taught text comprehension skills: they need to know what sequence is, what text structure and storyline are, how to draw a conclusion from what they read, what figurative language is and what types it has. Students should be able to use the skills first with the text they hear when the teacher reads aloud, and then with the text they read on their own and understand at their own level.

Photo: Shutterstock (Monkey Business Images)

How can I improve my ability to understand the text I read?

06.02.14

Strategies for autists, parents and teachers to overcome difficulties with reading

Source: autism after 16

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Many people can read, but after reading it is difficult for them to remember, about what they read. There may be several reasons for this. It is possible that a person puts so much effort into voicing words (out loud or to himself) that they lose their meaning. In other cases, the topic is so uninteresting that it is difficult to focus on the information in the text. Many children and adults with autism spectrum disorders have severe reading comprehension difficulties, even if they have no problems with reading as such. This can make it very difficult to study at school even for children without intellectual disabilities, especially in high school, when the requirements for reading and understanding large amounts of text increase significantly, and texts become more complex. The following are strategies for improving text comprehension that adults with autism spectrum disorders and parents and educators of children with ASD can use.

Metacognition - thinking about how we think - is the basis for improving understanding while reading. In other words, to improve text comprehension, we must consciously stop while reading and analyze our opinions, perceptions, and thoughts related to what we have read. For example:

Before reading

- Determine the purpose for the upcoming reading. Think in advance about what you should find in the text while reading.

Look at the title of the text and try to figure out what the text might be about.

Skim through the entire text without reading carefully, paying attention to headings and subheadings, bold words and illustrations. Think about what this text might be about.

- Try to remember what you already know about the topic, the author, or this story.

While reading

- Reflect on what you have read after each paragraph or chapter.

Consider whether you agree with ideas, characters, or facts.

- If you do not understand the meaning of some sentences or paragraphs, write down what you do not understand.

- Write down unfamiliar words to find out their meaning after reading.

After reading

- Think about what you learned while reading.

— Write your own questions for the author.

Think about how what you read relates to your own life.

- Formulate a summary of what you have read.

- Review your notes and try to find answers to your questions through repeated reading, searching the Internet, or talking to another person.

Talk about what you read

Discussing what you read with another person provides another source of information instead of rereading the text. This is especially useful if you don't really enjoy reading. While talking about what you read, you will be able to ask questions that you have, this will allow you to learn more about the point of view of other people and will provide you with the opportunity to put into words what you have read, which will help you remember and understand the text better.

Practice reading as often as possible

The best way to improve reading comprehension is to read as much as possible. It doesn't matter what the person is reading. The more you read, the better your comprehension skills will be. Here the “Matthew effect” takes place, when “he who has will be given and will be multiplied, and what he has will be taken away from the one who does not have.” Students who enjoy reading read a lot and often, and their reading skills improve. Those who do not enjoy reading devote little time to it, as a result, their skills lag more and more behind their peers. That is why our first priority is to motivate children to read. If they enjoy reading comics, sports articles, or online magazines, then encourage them to do so as often as possible.

Take the children to the library as often as possible and let them look at any books they want. Do not try to force on children what you think they should read. We want them to read—as much as possible. And that's all. If they liked a book by a certain author, then find all the books by that author so they can pick something. If the children are interested in a topic, then find them reading material according to their interest.

Motivation for Reading

The first task for the unmotivated reader is to find reading material that is directly related to what interests him outside of reading. For example, if a child enjoys watching movies, they may enjoy reading movie reviews online or in movie magazines. You may think that this is not a "real" reading, but it is not at all the case. Many people believe that the only way to develop reading skills is with books. In fact, this is not necessary at all, especially in our age of the Internet.

Also, if children read often about things they are interested in, this will help them become better readers in general, especially if they practice reading comprehension skills in parallel. After the motivation to read begins to form, you can begin to practice reading less interesting materials. That said, if the strategies to improve comprehension have already been practiced on interesting texts, it will be easier to use them while reading on boring topics.

Strategies for improving reading comprehension

Start with the strategies that seem most attractive and try them one at a time. Don't try to master every single strategy, sometimes less is more. In other words, it's best to master a few strategies to perfection, rather than practicing all the strategies without exception, which can make it unclear what to use right now. Strategies to improve reading comprehension include:

- Conversational reading: Ask questions, argue, clarify, summarize, and predict as you read.

- Stickers: Use stickers to write words you don't understand, or write exclamation marks on them to mark sentences you like and question marks to mark phrases or paragraphs you don't understand.

- Pair reading: Reading aloud with another person one paragraph at a time. Discuss what you have read with each other after each paragraph.

- Thinking out loud: As you read aloud in pairs, voice out all your thoughts, questions, and misunderstandings that come to mind. For example, if a character or event reminded you of something, stop and talk about that personal association. This technique helps to remember what has been read in the future.

- Re-reading: Read the text again, trying to find answers to the questions that have arisen.

- Text connections: As you read, determine how this text relates to you, to other texts, and to the world in general. In connection with yourself, you need to think about how the read relates to you personally. In World Links, you can link text to what you already know. Finally, in text links, you can link what you've read to what you've read about before.

- The Three Bears Principle: When choosing a book from a library or bookstore, think about whether it is too simple or too complex. Too simple means that the reader will easily understand all the words or have already read this book many times. Too complex means that there are more than five unfamiliar words on one page or the meaning of the first page is not clear. If the book is just right, then this is a new book, where the reader may not know some of the words on the page, but in general understands what is at stake.

- Dividing the text into parts: Read only a few paragraphs or sentences at a time. Think about what you read using reading strategies before continuing.

- Visualization: While reading, always try to visualize how the characters and the scenes described look like.

- Blogs: Check if there is any blog or forum on the Internet where this topic or book is discussed online, read what other people think about it and try to write your own opinion.

- Journaling: As you read, write down your thoughts in a special journal.

- Graphic organization: Make a chart showing how much you understand before, during, and after reading.

Progressive Implementation Model

If you are a parent or educator, you can use the Progressive Implementation Model to help a student with autism develop strategies for reading comprehension. First, demonstrate to the student how you yourself read using this strategy. Then use this strategy together, under your guidance. Then ask the student to apply this strategy again (in a different situation) on their own.

Make sure you discuss reading with the student and whether the strategy is helping or not. You may need to model this strategy for the student many times, or practice it many times together until it becomes a natural part of the reading process and the student can apply it completely on his own.

Availability of books to read

If reading skills are too low, use books on topics that are interesting to the student, but with very low reading requirements. As a rule, they have a lot of illustrations and little text. It can be children's encyclopedias and reference books. They keep the reader motivated, their topics are age-appropriate, and the reading isn't too difficult.

You should also pay attention to the following books:

- Books with many photographs and illustrations, which will greatly facilitate understanding.

- Books with fairly large letters.

- Books with a small amount of text on one page so that the amount of text on the page does not cause stress.

- Books that have titles, subtitles, clear definitions of words in the glossary. These books are the easiest to understand.

Relationship between reading and writing

You may be wondering why it is so common to write down something while working on reading comprehension. The reason is that this is another way to better understand and assimilate the material read. For example, if someone finds it difficult to speak verbally about what they have read, then keeping a diary, blogging, or graphing can help analyze what they read and update the information in memory, but without verbal dialogue.

Closing Thoughts

The goal of all reading is to understand the text, so it is hoped that these strategies and ideas will enable you to improve your reading skills or help your child or student reach that goal.