How to Help Students Who Struggle with:
Reading Fluency & Comprehension

 

 

 

 

With the help of parents and teachers, kids can learn strategies to cope with fluency and comprehension problems that affect their reading. Below are some tips and specific things students and parents can do to improve reading fluency and comprehension.

 

What kids can do to help themselves:

• Read, Read, Read—in order to improve any skill, it is important to practice. Find something that interests you (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.) and READ!!! 
• Use context clues and word parts to figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words.
• Read stories or passages in short sections and make sure you know what happened before you continue reading
•    Ask yourself, "Does this make sense?" If it doesn't, reread the part that didn't make sense and use your fix-up strategies to figure it out.
• Read with a buddy. Stop every page or so and take turns summarizing what you've read.
• Ask a parent or teacher to preview a book with you before you read it on your own.
• Talk to someone about what you read. Tell them about the characters, events, your favorite part, etc.
• As you read, try to form mental pictures or images that match the story.

 

What parents can do to help at home:

• Echo Reading: Read a paragraph/page aloud to your child and then have him/her read that same paragraph/page aloud to you.
• Read and Retell: Take turns reading aloud with your child. Read a paragraph/page aloud to him/her and then ask him/her to tell you what that paragraph/page was about. When it’s your child’s turn to read aloud, it will be your turn to retell at the end of the paragraph/page.
• Play the CD for the book your child is reading and have him/her to read along silently. At the end of a page/chapter, stop the CD and have him/her to read that same page/chapter aloud. Encourage him/her to try to sound like the reader on the CD.
• Have a conversation with your child and discuss what he/she has read. Ask him/her probing questions about the book and encourage him/her to connect the events to his/her own life. For example, say "I wonder why that character did that?" or "How do you think he felt? Why?" and "So, what lesson can we learn here?".
• Help your child go back to the text to find support for her answers to the questions you ask.
• Help your child make connections between what she reads and similar experiences she has felt, seen in a movie, or read in another book.
• Help your child monitor her understanding. Teach her to continually ask herself whether she understands what she's reading.
• Discuss the meanings of unknown words, both those she reads and those she hears.
• Read material in short sections, making sure your child understands each step of the way.
• Discuss what your child has learned from reading informational text such as a science or social studies book