Comprehension

Comprehension Skills
Author’s Point of View:
• Identify who is telling the story
• First Person
o Pronoun clues: I, me, my
• Third Person
o Pronoun clues: he/she, him/her, it

Sequence:
• When events take place
• The order in which events take place
o Clue words: first, then, next, after, before, at last

Fact and Opinion:
• Provable statements vs. statements of preference based on facts

Main Idea and Details:
• What the writing is about
o Clue: check the first sentence of the piece or paragraph
• Details help reader understand the main idea
o Gives examples, facts, opinions, descriptions, reasons, or
definitions
o Compares and contrasts ideas

Compare and Contrast:
• Using the familiar to understand the unfamiliar

Cause and Effect:
• What happened and why?
• Helps reader anticipate or predict outcomes
• Applies to events and characters

Classify and Categorize:
• Identifying relationships of actions, events, or characters
• Putting like things or ideas together

Author’s Purpose:
• To entertain
• To inform
• To explain
• To persuade

Drawing Conclusions:
• “Reading between the lines”
• Put small pieces together to make a statement about a character or
event

Making Inferences:
• To get the big picture
• Text + background knowledge = deeper meaning

Comprehension Strategies
Setting Reading Goals
• Determine purpose for reading
• What information might be gathered?
• How might this selection be of interest?

Summarizing
• Sum up what has been read
• Keep track of important information
• Focus on important information

Monitoring and Clarifying
• Good readers constantly monitor to make sure they understand what they are
reading:
o Self-monitor their comprehension
o Reread if they don’t understand
o Identify unfamiliar vocabulary
o Know when they lack background knowledge

Asking Questions
• Ask questions to prepare reader for what will be learned
• Readers formulate questions to check their understanding

Predicting
• Predict what will happen next based on clues in the text
• Confirm or revise predictions during reading

Making Connections
• Connections between what is being read and own experiences
• Connections between what is being read and a previous reading

Visualizing
• Form mental images
• Picture setting, characters, and action

Monitoring and Adjusting Reading Speed
• Monitor what is being read and adjust speed accordingly