{"id":29464,"date":"2024-09-30T12:43:36","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T20:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.abcmouse.com\/learn\/?p=29464"},"modified":"2026-04-07T08:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:29:13","slug":"reading-comprehension-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abcmouse.com\/learn\/advice\/reading-comprehension-strategies\/29464","title":{"rendered":"27 Reading Comprehension Strategies and Activities for Young Learners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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27 Reading Comprehension Strategies and Activities for Young Learners<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Delight children with engaging activities designed to nurture their reading comprehension skills.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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By Jill Staake<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reviewed by Dr. Nika Fabienke<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Table of Contents<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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What is Reading Comprehension?<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Does Reading Comprehension Fit Into the Science of Reading? <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is Reading Comprehension Important?<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Skills Does Reading Comprehension Include?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does Reading Comprehension Look like for Young Readers?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading Comprehension and Metacognition<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre-Reading Comprehension Strategies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story Elements Reading Comprehension Strategies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonfiction Elements Reading Comprehension Strategies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Characterization Reading Comprehension Strategies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making Connections Reading Comprehension Strategies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABCmouse Reading Comprehension Programs and Resources<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In many ways, learning to read is like solving a jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle pieces include skills like phonics and decoding to sound out the words themselves, vocabulary to understand what the words mean, and reading comprehension strategies<\/strong> to understand the overall text. When all the pieces fit together, the reader is finally able to see the whole picture.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You may already know how to help your child with phonics<\/a>, decoding<\/a>, and sight words<\/a>. Here\u2019s how to ensure they\u2019re developing good reading comprehension strategies too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is reading comprehension? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Reading comprehension<\/strong> is the ability to understand, interpret, and engage with what is read. It involves many layers of skills, such as vocabulary knowledge, background knowledge, word decoding and recognition, reading fluency, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In a way, reading comprehension skills are similar to being a detective, as the reader looks for facts and clues in the text and uses them to make inferences and draw conclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like a detective, a reader must analyze the information, deciding which pieces are most important and which might be misleading or even incorrect. Both readers and detectives use critical thinking skills to explore more deeply, with careful attention to detail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What are inferences and conclusions?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reading, an inference<\/strong> is an educated assumption based on a combination of details from a text and the reader’s prior knowledge, while a conclusion<\/strong> is a judgment based solely on facts and details within the text. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n


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Comprehension is actually one of the earliest reading skills children develop, even before they begin learning the alphabet or sounding out words. When kids listen to books read aloud through shared reading<\/a>, they\u2019re learning to understand plot, characters, and other components right from the very start! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How does reading comprehension fit into the Science of Reading? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Science of Reading<\/a> is a body of research that helps educators develop evidence-based strategies for teaching reading. It includes linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, and more. This research finds that (among other things) effective reading instruction includes five components: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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