Importantance of Comprehension

An important part of our Title I curriculum is comprehension.  This week we worked on comprehension strategies.  In first grade, we discussed important characters, how they created a problem in our story.  First grade students also discussed how our story was similar at the beginning, but different at the end.  In Second grade, we discussed what both of our stories had in common.  Both stories involved working or jobs.  We also discussed how the characters were different, people and a dog.  The students also noted the difference between fiction and nonfiction stories.  In Third grade, our story this week was Educating Arthur.   This was a story about a dog who needed a little help from his owners learning how to do things properly.  We worked with some challenging words, so we also discussed looking for word parts or breaking apart words to help read unknown words.  When reading our stories we constantly focus on comprehension, reading for understanding.  We want the students to read accurately and fluently, but understanding what they read is very important as well.  A simple way to practice comprehension at home is to ask your child what they are reading; who are the characters, what's the problem and setting, how was the problem solved.  If they are reading a nonfiction book, ask them to tell you what they are learning.  Your child will love sharing new facts they are learning!