Essential skills for reading comprehension:

Some people think of the act of reading as a straightforward task that’s easy to master. In
reality, reading is a complex process that draws on many different skills. Together, these
skills lead to the ultimate goal of reading: reading comprehension, or understanding what’s
been read.

Reading comprehension can be challenging for lots of reasons. Whatever the cause,

1. Decoding

Decoding is a vital step in the reading process. Kids use this skill to sound out words they’ve
heard before but haven’t seen written out. The ability to do that is the foundation for other
reading skills.

Decoding relies on an early language skill called phonemic awareness . (This skill is part of
an even broader skill called phonological awareness.) Phonemic awareness lets kids hear
individual sounds in words (known as phonemes). It also allows them to “play” with sounds
at the word and syllable level.

Decoding also relies on connecting individual sounds to letters. For instance, to read the
word sun, kids must know that the letter s makes the /s/ sound. Grasping the connection
between a letter (or group of letters) and the sounds they typically make is an important
step toward “sounding out” words.

What can help: Most kids pick up the broad skill of phonological awareness naturally, by
being exposed to books, songs, and rhymes . But some kids don’t. In fact, one of the early
signs of reading difficulties is trouble with rhyming, counting syllables, or identifying the first
sound in a word.

The best way to help kids with these skills is through specific instruction and practice. Kids
have to be taught how to identify and work with sounds. You can also build phonological
awareness at home through activities like word games and reading to your child.

2. Fluency

To read fluently, kids need to instantly recognize words, including words they can’t sound
out . Fluency speeds up the rate at which they can read and understand text. It’s also
important when kids encounter irregular words, like of and the, which can’t be sounded
out.

Sounding out or decoding every word can take a lot of effort. Word recognition is the ability
to recognize whole words instantly by sight, without sounding them out.
When kids can read quickly and without making too many errors, they are “fluent” readers.

Fluent readers read smoothly at a good pace. They group words together to help with
meaning, and they use the proper tone in their voice when reading aloud. Reading
fluency is essential for good reading comprehension.

What can help: Word recognition can be a big obstacle for struggling readers. Average
readers need to see a word four to 14 times before it becomes a “ sight word ” they
automatically recognize. Kids with dyslexia, for instance, may need to see it up to 40 times.

Lots of kids struggle with reading fluency. As with other reading skills, kids need lots of
specific instruction and practice to improve word recognition.

The main way to help build fluency is through practice reading books. It’s important to pick
out books that are at the right level of difficulty for kids.

3. Vocabulary

To understand what you’re reading, you need to understand most of the words in the text.
Having a strong vocabulary is a key component of reading comprehension. Students can
learn vocabulary through instruction. But they typically learn the meaning of words through
everyday experience and also by reading.

What can help: The more words kids are exposed to, the richer their vocabulary becomes.
You can help build your child’s vocabulary by having frequent conversations on a variety of
topics. Try to include new words and ideas. Telling jokes and playing word games is a fun
way to build this skill.

Reading together every day also helps improve vocabulary. When reading aloud, stop at
new words and define them. But also encourage your child to read alone. Even without
hearing a definition of a new word, your child can use context to help figure it out.

Teachers can help, too. They can carefully choose interesting words to teach and then give
explicit instruction (instruction that is specialized and direct). They can engage students in
conversation. And they can make learning vocabulary fun by playing word games in class.

For more ideas, watch as an expert explains how to help struggling readers build their
vocabulary .

4. Sentence construction and cohesion

Understanding how sentences are built might seem like a writing skill . So might connecting
ideas within and between sentences, which is called cohesion. But these skills are important
for reading comprehension as well.
Knowing how ideas link up at the sentence level helps kids get meaning from passages and
entire texts. It also leads to something called coherence, or the ability to connect ideas to
other ideas in an overall piece of writing.

What can help: Explicit instruction can teach kids the basics of sentence construction. For
example, teachers can work with students on connecting two or more thoughts, through
both writing and reading.

5. Reasoning and background knowledge

Most readers relate what they’ve read to what they know. So it’s important for kids to have
background or prior knowledge about the world when they read. They also need to be able
to “read between the lines” and pull out meaning even when it’s not literally spelled out.

Take this example: A child is reading a story about a poor family in the 1930s. Having
knowledge about the Great Depression can provide insight into what’s happening in the
story. The child can use that background knowledge to make inferences and draw
conclusions.

What can help: Your child can build knowledge through reading, conversations, movies and
TV shows, and art. Life experience and hands-on activities also build knowledge .

Expose your child to as much as possible, and talk about what you’ve learned from
experiences you’ve had together and separately. Help your child make connections between
new knowledge and existing knowledge. And ask open-ended questions that require
thinking and explanations.

You can also read a teacher tip on using animated videos to help your child make
inferences .

6. Working memory and attention

These two skills are both part of a group of abilities known as executive function .
They’re different but closely related .

When kids read, attention allows them to take in information from the text. Working
memory allows them to hold on to that information and use it to gain meaning and build
knowledge from what they’re reading.

The ability to self-monitor while reading is also tied to that. Kids need to be able to
recognize when they don’t understand something. Then they need to stop, go back, and re-
read to clear up any confusion they may have.