How to Support Students Who Struggle with Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension can be a tough skill to teach. There can be many reasons that students struggle understanding a passage, and it is not always easy to determine the problem.
Research has shown that reading comprehension skills are not automatic for all students, but can be taught. This instruction is most effective when a variety of strategies are combined, rather than focusing on just one aspect or reading habit.
Instructional Strategies
Here are some instructional strategies that have been shown to increase reading comprehension skills:
Teaching morphological awareness (understanding of word meanings, word roots, affixes)
Building reading fluency
Vocabulary knowledge
Building and accessing background knowledge
Teacher modeling (thinking about the text, asking questions, being aware of understanding)
Learning text structure (story elements, non-fiction text features)
Text discussion and analysis
Writing in response to reading
Scaffolding for Struggling Students
As students are building reading comprehension skills, teachers can support their learning by making text easier to understand. Here are some ways that can help:
Providing visuals (illustrations, photos, videos, charts)
Including audio versions of text
Use graphic organizers
Provide vocabulary instruction before introducing the text
Teach in units to help build background knowledge
Break large text into smaller chunks
Give students multiple ways to gain understanding (reading, videos, hands-on practice, small group work, individual conversations)
Discuss text together as a class, in small groups, and individually
Start with familiar or preferred topics, then build to more challenging or abstract texts
Skills May Build Slowly
Don’t be discouraged if progress is slow. Reading comprehension is difficult for many students, but it is SO important for their success in the future.
I’d Love to Help!
When I was trying to help my own kids who were struggling with reading comprehension, I found many resources that provided passages and questions. However, I felt this did not get to the root of the problem. I did a lot of research on what methods were shown to help struggling students and designed several resources based on what I learned. These resources helped my kids, and I hope they help your students as well!
Available in a digital download or in paperback, this set of reading comprehension worksheets and graphic organizers designed to build the following skills:
Visualization of text
Building background knowledge
Sequencing skills
Retelling
Story elements (characters, setting, plot diagrams, story maps)
Main idea and supporting details
Making predictions
Inferences
Answering questions based on high-interest texts
Digital download of reading comprehension worksheets and graphic organizers
Paperback version of the reading comprehension book available on Amazon
Purchase individual reading comprehension resources through our TPT store