Prereading Strategies to Increase Comprehension
Use Previewing, Predicting, and Vocabulary Study to Improve Reading
Jul 5, 2009
Much of what teachers can do to improve reading comprehension and fluency in students of all ages takes place before the students start reading. By utilizing the following activities, teachers can help students become more strategic in their approach to both fiction and non-fiction text, which will increase understanding and allow for higher-level discussion and more in-depth post-reading activities.
Preview the Text
Previewing text mentally prepares a student to receive information from written material. For fiction, it involves looking at the cover and title, reading the blurbs on the back, considering the author and his or her style, and predicting, in a general way, what the story may be about. For non-fiction, it includes discussion of the topic, review of prior knowledge, and the generation of possible questions that may be answered through reading.
During the preview stage, discussion for fiction should center on whether the students think the story will be realistic fiction or fantasy and why, who the characters may be and how they will interact, what the problem in the story may be, etc. By focusing on story structure, teachers give students a framework on which to put information from the text and to better understand it.
Discussion of non-fiction should center on what students already know about a topic, what they’d like to know, and the structure of the book or article (titles, subtitles, illustrations, charts, etc.) and what information may be included. Teachers raise the attention level of students as they approach informational text by activating their prior knowledge and setting the stage for them to receive and incorporate new information into their understanding.
Set Reading Goals
Use the preview discussions to help students generate questions about what they want to find out from the text. For fiction, these questions will be centered on story structure, such as the characters and their goals and problems; for non-fiction, questions will focus on what students would like to learn about a topic. For both, chapter titles or subtitles may be rephrased as questions to help students set their goals for reading.
Study Essential Vocabulary Words
Vocabulary instruction can be essential for many students. Choose vocabulary words that are not easily understood within the text, but are essential to its understanding, and focus on them for prereading instruction. Other interesting words, and those explained within the context of the piece, may be reviewed or taught after reading. Discuss the words in terms of their meaning and prior knowledge the students may have about them, and, if necessary, decoding and word structure.
Predict and Verify From the Text
This prereading exercise is done repeatedly before and during reading. Text is broken into chunks (usually based on chapters, subtitled sections, or at the teacher’s discretion). For each section, readers predict what will be in it, based on what has occurred before, and then read to verify their prediction, and to predict again. This exercise keeps students actively engaged in their reading and helps develop their higher level thinking skills.
By incorporating more prereading preparation into instruction, teachers will find that K-8 students will increase their comprehension of content area materials and literature. They will gradually become more strategic in their reading, so that as they reach high school and beyond, they will well-prepared to address more difficult textbooks and other required reading, with the use of these strategies becoming a natural part of their own approach to reading.
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