Understanding What You Read

Reading comprehension means being able to understand and make sense of what you read. It’s not just about reading words, but about thinking about their meaning, connecting ideas, and remembering important facts.

Building Blocks of Comprehension

• Identifying Main Ideas: Figure out what the text is mostly about.
• Supporting Details: Find facts or examples that help explain the main idea.
• Summarizing: Tell what happened using your own words.
• Making Predictions: Guess what might happen next based on what you’ve read.

Why It Matters

Good comprehension skills help you in every subject at school, and even when reading instructions, stories, or websites outside of school.

Tips for Better Comprehension

• Ask yourself questions as you read.
• Look for clues in the title, pictures, and captions.
• Pause and think about what you’ve read before moving on.