Want your students to understand and retain more of what they read? Far and away the best way to do this is to ask students to summarize a piece of text. After students have read a passage, ask them to write a paragraph of 4 or 5 sentences summarizing the most important points in the [...]

After children learn to decode text, the next most important skill for them to develop is the ability to comprehend what they read. One of the ways to check for understanding is to have children explain what has been happening in the section of text that they have read. When children can summarize the actions [...]

Now that winter break is over, teachers all across the country are returning to their classrooms, painfully aware that time is running out for their students to improve their reading skills. With state performance tests are just around the corner, the pressure to help their students quickly is upon them. I was recently talking with [...]