In our diverse culture, students bring their own culture to the reading experience. We can help students better understand the characters in the fiction they are reading by asking them to consider the perspectives a character might have rather than looking at the issues or problems from their own background or cultural perspective. Some questions [...]

One of the characteristics that separates  good readers from poor readers is what the reader does when s/he realizes that the text has stopped being meaningful. Good readers have “fix-up” strategies that they use to help reconnect with text and regain meaning. Poor readers, on the other hand, more often than not, become overwhelmed and [...]

Teachers from all content areas continue to struggle with how to help students comprehend more of what they read in their content area textbooks.  These simple 8 tips can help content teachers better prepare students to comprehend more of what they read on a daily basis: Help students activate their prior knowledge on a topic [...]

Helping students visualize what they are reading helps deepen comprehension and also helps students retain information longer. Ask students to read a specific section of text collaboratively. When they have completed the text, ask them to discuss the material and to then create a picture, diagram or mind map to show what they have learned [...]

Although they have been around for many years, Anticipation guides are still a great way to get kids interested in text before reading. Not only do Anticipation guides build student interest but they also activate a student’s background knowledge. This helps students get more out of reading and be more interested in the text you [...]