Understanding What You Read

In today's world of education, where testing seems to be the marker of student achievement and student learning, reading for understanding has definitely become a phrase where "Reading between the lines" is its synonymous counterpart. With different types of questions, text structures, and a vast array of literary elements thrown in for good measure, "reading for pleasure" seems to be an expression that has been thrown to the wayside. But have no fear: with reading strategies that turn abstract thought into concrete understandable language, your child can be a successful reader who will then turn reading for a purpose into reading for pleasure!

A good place to start when estimating what your child understands is by getting him to figure out the difference between when he's confused and when he's not, while reading. If he's rereading it several times, if he's finished a page and cannot state what happened, or if he reads the same sentence on the page over and over because his mind is drifting, the chances of him being confused are likely. So, what do you do to help your student overcome this confusion?

First, make your student aware that the above signs show that he's not understanding what he's reading. Anyone can read words if he's literate, but if those words can't be meaningfully connected to his own experiences or if he doesn't have a reaction to them, then it's about as useful as being able to read aloud a foreign language, but not having a clue as to what it means.

Secondly, since we're on the subject of being able to relate to what's being read, let's talk about something called "prior knowledge". Prior knowledge just means that your child already knows things through school, you, and life experiences. When he uses that prior knowledge and accesses it because of a book, it means that he can take what's being read in a book and connect to it to experiences of his own. So, if he's having trouble with text on the page, have him start with stuff he can understand on the page. Is the main character being ridiculed for not fitting in with the crowd? Is he the popular student who has serious aspirations but hides them to maintain his image? If he can relate to the character or plot, positively or negatively, it's a stepping stone to understanding the plot that's harder to break down.

Some other steps to getting your child to understand what he's reading involve vocabulary, context clues, and using word indicators to better understand what the next thing will say. If you find that your child still struggles, and you and your family live in the Phoenix area, please contact Melissa Loukas at eatbiz@cox.net or visit http://www.excellenceinacademicstutoring.com/. Reading comprehension is within your child's grasp.