Comprehension Grades K-2

Presented by:Sandra Harvey and Pamela CharityReading Specialists

My Child Can Read All The Words:

Now What?

April 3, 2014

What Is Comprehension? Comprehension is being able to

understand and discuss what is being read. If a child does not understand what is being read, he/she is not really reading.

KindergartenBefore: Use pictures to take a “picture walk” and

predict what the story will be about.

During: Use pictures to figure out tricky words.

After: Tell who it was about. Tell where it happened. Tell who the characters are. Tell important events in order from

beginning, middle and end of the story.

1st Grade – Focus is mostly on Fiction

Before: Use pictures to tell what the story will say without

reading the words.

During: Fix reading errors, especially when they don’t make

sense.

After: Retell at least 5 events in order including character

names, setting, problem and solution. Make connections to better understand character

feelings, choices they make, setting, problem, solution and story ending.

Determine the most important event or lesson of the story, and tell why it is important. Give a good reason.

2nd Grade – Fiction and Non-Fiction After Reading a Page or Two: Describe characters. Predict what will happen in the middle/end. Use text features, such as table of contents,

to predict what might be learned.

During: Correct reading errors when they do not

make sense (Fiction and Non-Fiction). Use index/glossary/interpret maps,

diagrams and other text features. 

2nd Grade

After: 5 finger retell—Retell the story. Include

the characters, setting, problem, important events and story ending.

Make connections. Share at least 2 details from each section. Locate information in the text to answer

questions. Tell the most important thing learned and

why it is important. Fiction Non-fiction

Ways of talking to your kids about what they read

SEARCHING FOR AND USING INFORMATION Think about who is talking now. What were some of the important events that happened?

SUMMARIZING Tell what you know so far in the story. Tell what you read. PREDICTING So now what are you thinking? Based on what you know about _ _ _, what are you wondering? Think about what you know. What do you think will happen next? INFERRING That is what the writer/character said. What did he/she mean? How do you know _ _ _ has changed? Why do you think _ _ _ did that? Talk about what the character said or did. What does that tell you about

the character?

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”

~Emilie Buchwald