If you notice that your child or a child you are teaching is having difficulty retaining the information he reads, it could be a simple matter of poor reading comprehension skills. Reading comprehension is a skill set separate from literacy. Additional practice and instruction is sometimes needed to fully develop those skills and keep them sharp.
The K-W-L Process
The K-W-L Process is a reading comprehension exercise detailed in "Reading Comprehension: Strategies for Independent Learners" by Camille Blachowicz and Donna Ogle. In this instance, "K-W-L" respectively stands for "Know", "Want to Know" and "Learned," which serve as categories readers can segment their reading comprehension experience. This exercise works best with an instructor or moderator and a group of readers, but it can be used independently or with a single reader.
To begin, ask the readers what they already know about the topic they're about to read, and write these concepts under a "K" column on a blackboard. Next, discuss what the readers want to know about the subject, and write these concepts under "W." After this, instruct the readers to read the material either alone or in a group, then question them about what they learned from the reading. Write these concepts under "L." Have the readers write a brief essay summarizing what they knew about the topic, what they wondered about, and what they learned after completing this process.
Retelling the Story
Summarizing a narrative's main events is a helpful way to reinforce reading comprehension, according to "Reading Comprehension" by Alyssa Moran and Tracey Orzo. A brief illustrative exercise for this concept involves writing one sentence separately on five strips of paper with each sentence describing a step in a process that only makes sense in one specific order.
Mix the strips up, then work with readers to arrange them in the order that makes sense. After this, explain how authors use words like "first", "next", "then" and "last" to help readers follow the series of events. Have your readers read a short narrative essay full of sequenced events either alone or as a group. Afterward, ask each reader to think of five main events throughout the story and the order in which they occurred. Have them write out five sentences describing each of these events in the proper order and encourage them to use the sequence-specific words discussed earlier.
CATAPULT Exercise
An exercise called "CATAPULT," described by Jeff Zwiers in his book, "Building Reading Comprehension Habits in Grades 6-12," encourages better reading comprehension by researching and thinking about a piece of literature before reading it. Each letter in the word "CATAPULT" represents a concept that each reader should spend a few minutes researching and writing about in advance.
"C" is for Cover--what does the book's cover suggest might be inside? "A" is for Author--what other types of literature has the author written? "T" is for Title--what does the title suggest the story is about? "A" is for Audience--who is this story written for? "P" is for page one--read the first page and consider where the story might go from there. "U" is for Underlying Message--what is the main concept the author wants readers to understand? "L" is for Look--look through the book for illustrations, photos, graphs and other visuals, and consider what they suggest for the work as a whole. Finally, "T" is for Time, Place and Characters--based on all your previous research, what do you know about these three categories in this work?
