Multicultural high school classroom with active discussion groups

Comprehension

Reading isn’t really reading if students don’t understand what they have read. Many struggling adolescent readers can recognize and pronounce words from print, but cannot understand or answer questions about what they have just read. This section includes information on methods to improve students’ comprehension.

Multicultural middle school students discussing a text

Shanahan on Literacy

Think-Pair-Share in Reading Instruction: Is It Effective?

When kids get the opportunity to discuss something with a partner before responding to a teacher question, positive outcomes have been seen in the primary grades in reading and in the upper grades with second-language learners.

Videos

Benefits and limits of comprehension strategies
ELA teacher and literacy expert Carol Jago says that comprehension strategies represent the things that good readers do all the time, and the goal is to “make them visible in order for them to go away.”

Learning to love text complexity
ELA teacher and literacy expert Carol Jago talks about the difference between readability and Lexile levels — and true text complexity.

The critical reader
Literacy expert Nancy Frey says we should teach students to read critically — to question and interrogate the text they are reading. Students should ask, “whose voice is not represented?”

Classroom Strategies

Articles

High school student struggling with reading

About Teaching Reading

When Older Students Can’t Read

When a student’s reading comprehension is more impaired than their listening comprehension, inaccurate and slow word recognition is the most likely cause. 

Comprehension

Create Reading Accountability

Engaged, accountable reading requires students to interpret, and respond, often creatively. This article suggests several personalized ways to hold students accountable for their reading.

Blog Posts

Read Between the Lines

Blog: Shanahan on Literacy

What Does It Take to Teach Inferencing?

Reading comprehension instruction should focus on guiding students to think actively about the ideas in text. I suggest treating inferencing not as a skill but as a strategy for intentionally making sense of text.

Expert Q&A

Using Underlining
Strategies to Understand the Question

Research, Reports & Guides

What Is Disciplinary Literacy and Why Does It Matter?
Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescents: Rethinking Content-Area Literacy
Summary of 20 years of research on the effectiveness of adolescent literacy programs and practices

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National Education Association (NEA)