Comprehension is a SUPERPOWER!

Reading comprehension issues often go undetected for years in the early grades, resulting in middle and high school students who are decent decoders and sound like they’re reading but understand nothing that they have read.

Reading comprehension becomes more neccessary as older students engage in more complex text.

In order for students to be successful at reading comprehension thinking strategies must be explicitly taught:

-Discuss what your child knows about the topic (called activating prior knowledge)

-Ask questions before, during, and after reading (Click below for list of crticial thining questions)

-Make connections to something read or experienced similar to what is in the text

-Visualize a picture in your mind of what's being read

-Make predictions about what will come next in the text throughout

-Engage in "look backs" for keywords and reread to clear up any confusion.

Students lacking critical thinking skills is a great concern in the American school system. I remember as a former teacher, this would be the topic of most professional development trainings.

"My kids can't comprehend!" is frustratingly repeated year after year by teachers.

It is a broad statement. It requires more of a surgical and bite size solutions. After all there is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.

Consider providing manageable "thinking tools" such as pyscholgist Dr. Edward de Bono describes as the "six thinking hats."

1. The white hat: Tell your student

"put your white hat on." Have your students analyzing and focus on gathering details and facts first from the reading/text.

2. The yellow hat: Tell your student to now

"put your yellow hat on." Evaluate the reading and be optimistic and hopeful about what was read. There are always struggles or conflict embedded in stories allow kids to think about a positive outcome.

3. The black hat: Now look at the problem in more critical terms "put your black hat on." Students must face the difficulties associated with the problem being addressed in their reading. (Think of a role of a judge if this helps the role of this hate. )

4. The red hat: Encourage your child to invite their emotions into the story.

What do they feel about the character's actions? What would they do if they were in that situation?

The red heart is the hat that touches the heart!

5.The green hat: My favorite! Your student has gathered facts, considered the good and the bad and now emotionally invested, analyzed the problem. Your child can now move into creative mode. This is my favorite because now students have agency. Student agency empowers students to "do" and create something meaningful and actionable to them! This should be the primary goal point of reading-- to grow difference makers in society for the common good.

6. The blue hat: Your child has now gathered facts, considered the good and the bad, emotionally invested, analyzed the problem, created a metaphorically solution or tangible real-life solution now they are ready for the last hat. The blue hat represents management mode. Review all of the process of the first 5 hats. Are there any stones in the process left unturned? Are you content with mental transformations? If not, what could you change to satisfy your critical thinking skills.

Bottomline is this: Your child at the elementary, middle, or high school level might not engage with all of the six hat method for every nonfiction or fiction read.

Rather these are learning tools that reframe our quest to raise critical thinkers. It does not happen organically.

Remember, one of the goals of education, should be to train students "how" to think not just "what" to think.

And reading comprehension will take care of itself as a by product of learning how to think.