Reading Comprehension Strategies: The 6 Research-Backed Strategies, Activities, and Question Stems
Updated · By Edulist · 5 sources
First: is it really a comprehension problem?
The Simple View of Reading says reading comprehension equals decoding times language comprehension. If either is weak, understanding suffers. Before you work on strategies, figure out which side needs help.
A quick test: Pick a passage at your child's grade level.
- Have your child read it aloud. Note how many words they miss and how smoothly they read.
- Ask three questions about it.
- Read a similar passage to your child and ask three questions.
| What you see | Likely issue | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Many misread words, slow reading, poor answers | Decoding or fluency | Phonics and fluency practice; see how to teach a child to read |
| Reads smoothly, poor answers, also poor when listening | Language comprehension | Vocabulary, background knowledge, strategies below |
| Reads smoothly, poor answers, good when listening | Attention or strategy use while reading | Monitoring and summarizing strategies |
| Good answers both ways | No major problem | Keep stretching with harder texts |
The six reading comprehension strategies with strong evidence
The What Works Clearinghouse's 2010 practice guide, Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, rated teaching comprehension strategies as having strong evidence. Its panel, chaired by Timothy Shanahan, highlighted these six:
| Strategy | What the reader does | Simple way to practice |
|---|---|---|
| Activating prior knowledge / predicting | Thinks about what they already know and guesses what will happen | Before reading: "What do you know about volcanoes?" Midway: "What do you think happens next? Why?" |
| Questioning | Asks and answers questions about important ideas while reading | Use question-word cards: who, what, where, when, why, how |
| Visualizing | Makes a mental picture of what the text describes | Read a descriptive paragraph; your child draws or describes what they "see" |
| Monitoring, clarifying and fixing up | Notices when meaning breaks down and does something about it | Stop and restate; reread; look up a word; read ahead |
| Drawing inferences | Figures out what the text implies but doesn't say | "The text says clowns and acrobats. Where are we?" (a circus) |
| Summarizing / retelling | Briefly describes the main points in their own words | "Tell me what happened in three sentences." |
The guide also recommends teaching text structure (how stories and informational texts are organized), guiding focused discussion about meaning, choosing texts purposefully, and creating an engaging context.
The National Reading Panel (2000) found similar support for comprehension monitoring, cooperative learning, graphic and semantic organizers, story structure, question answering, question generation and summarization, and for teaching several strategies together.
How to teach any strategy: model, share, release
- Model (I do). Read aloud and think out loud: "Hmm, I don't get why he's crying. Let me reread that part."
- Practice together (we do). Take turns using the strategy on the next page.
- Independent (you do). Your child uses it while reading alone, and tells you about it afterward.
Teach one strategy for a week or two before adding another. Then practice choosing the right one for the moment. Short, frequent practice during real reading works better than long strategy worksheets.
Activities for each strategy
Predicting and activating prior knowledge
- Picture walk: Before reading, flip through pictures and predict the story.
- Know–Wonder–Learned chart: List what your child knows about a topic, what they wonder, and afterward what they learned.
- Stop and predict: Halfway through, ask for a prediction and the clue behind it.
Questioning
- Question dice: Write who, what, where, when, why and how on a cube. Roll and ask.
- Thick and thin questions: Thin questions have answers right in the text. Thick questions need thinking. Have your child ask you one of each.
Visualizing
- Sketch it: After a descriptive paragraph, your child sketches the scene in 60 seconds.
- Mind movie: Close eyes while you read; your child describes the "movie" afterward.
Monitoring and fix-up
Use road-sign cards. The WWC guide suggests a stop sign (stop and restate) and a U-turn (reread); the other signs below are easy additions for home:
| Sign | Fix-up move |
|---|---|
| Stop sign | Stop and say what's happening in your own words |
| U-turn | Reread the part that didn't make sense |
| Slow | Slow down for hard parts |
| Look ahead | Read the next sentence for clues |
| Question mark | Ask for help or look up a word |
Inferences
- Detective clues: Read a short passage and underline clues for something not stated, like a character's feelings.
- Riddles: "I have keys but no locks. I have space but no room." Riddles are inference practice in disguise.
Summarizing and retelling
- Five-finger retell (fiction): characters, setting, problem, events, solution.
- Somebody–Wanted–But–So–Then: "Goldilocks wanted to rest, but the beds didn't fit, so she tried them all, then fell asleep in Baby Bear's bed."
- Main idea plus two details (nonfiction): one sentence for the big idea, two for support.
Question stems by grade band
| Grade band | Literal | Inferential | Big picture |
|---|---|---|---|
| K–1 | Who is in the story? Where are they? | How does she feel? How do you know? | What was your favorite part? Why? |
| 2–3 | What happened first, next, last? | Why do you think he did that? | What lesson does this story teach? |
| 4–5 | What is the main idea of this section? | What evidence shows the character changed? | How is this book like another you've read? |
| 6–8 | What claim does the author make? | What is the author suggesting but not saying? | Do you agree with the author? Why? |
Build the foundations under the strategies
Strategies help, but they rest on knowledge. In Scarborough's Reading Rope, the language comprehension strands are background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning and literacy knowledge.
- Background knowledge: Read nonfiction on topics your child likes, watch documentaries, visit museums, and talk about the news at their level.
- Vocabulary: Talk about interesting words in read-alouds. Use new words in conversation over the following days.
- Sentence structure: Read longer, more complex sentences aloud and talk about who did what.
- Text level: Use the Lexile levels by grade chart to pick independent reading in the right range, and read aloud above it.
Free extras: our word search maker is a fun way to preview vocabulary from a book, and the spelling word lists help with word study.
A 20-minute comprehension routine
| Minutes | Step |
|---|---|
| 3 | Before reading: preview, activate knowledge, predict |
| 10 | During reading: stop twice to question, visualize or monitor |
| 5 | After reading: retell or summarize, then one inference question |
| 2 | Talk about one new word |
Programs that help
- ReadTheory: free adaptive passages and questions for K–12 with Lexile-linked reports.
- Readability: an AI tutor that listens as K–6 children read aloud and asks spoken comprehension questions.
- Epic: a large digital library for building background knowledge and reading volume.
- Lindamood-Bell: intensive one-to-one instruction, including its Visualizing and Verbalizing program for comprehension.
- Vocabulary.com: adaptive vocabulary practice for grades 5–12.
Compare more in best reading programs for kids, or browse reading programs for struggling readers. Save picks to your wishlist, and check your state's scholarships to see if they may be covered.
Free tools
Programs that help
Sources
- What Works Clearinghouse: Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (2010)
- What Works Clearinghouse: Improving Reading Comprehension in K–3, full guide PDF (Table 3, strategies and activities)
- National Reading Panel (2000): Reports of the Subgroups, Chapter 4, Comprehension
- Wikipedia: Science of reading (Simple View of Reading, Scarborough's Rope)
- MetaMetrics Lexile Hub: Lexile Grade Level Charts
Questions
What are the 7 reading comprehension strategies?
Lists vary. The National Reading Panel named seven types of comprehension instruction with research support: comprehension monitoring, cooperative learning, graphic organizers, story structure, question answering, question generation and summarization, plus using several together. The What Works Clearinghouse's K–3 guide highlights six similar strategies.
How can I improve my child's reading comprehension at home?
Read aloud together and talk about the book, ask open questions, and model strategies by thinking out loud. Build vocabulary and background knowledge with nonfiction and conversation. Make sure your child can decode accurately, since slow word reading blocks understanding.
At what age should comprehension strategies be taught?
Children can start with listening comprehension in preschool, such as predicting and retelling stories you read aloud. The What Works Clearinghouse guide covers kindergarten through 3rd grade, and strategy teaching continues through middle and high school with harder texts.
Why can my child read the words but not understand them?
Common causes are limited vocabulary, little background knowledge about the topic, slow decoding that uses up attention, or not noticing when meaning breaks down. Try reading the same text aloud to them; if they understand it when listening, decoding fluency may be the issue.
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