Top 10 Reading Comprehension Resources for Older Striving Readers
Effective reading comprehension is a cornerstone of academic success. For older striving readers, targeted strategies can significantly boost their understanding and engagement with texts. Let's explore some effective approaches to support these students:
Online Resources
- Harvard’s Project Zero Thinking Routines Toolbox: This valuable resource offers a variety of thinking routines that can be applied to reading comprehension.some text
- Strategy: Sentence, Phrase, Word This strategy helps students break down complex sentences into smaller chunks, making them easier to understand.
- Minding the Gap: Natalie Wexler’s Substack: This Substack provides insightful articles and research on the importance of background knowledge and how it impacts reading comprehension.
- Storyshares Reading Comprehension Worksheets: A round-up of reading comprehension worksheets for older students, available to download for FREE on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Books for Educators
- Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters by Kylene Beers and Bob Probst: This groundbreaking book challenges traditional approaches to reading instruction and offers practical strategies for improving comprehension.some text
- Strategy: Book, Head, Heart This strategy encourages students to connect with texts on a personal level, fostering deeper comprehension and critical thinking.
Instructional Strategies
- Making Predictions: Before diving into a text, have students take a few minutes to explore the visual elements, like the title, headings, captions, and images. Ask what predictions they make about the story or information presented. After reading, instruct students to reflect on their initial predictions. Were they accurate? How did the text confirm or challenge expectations?
- SWBST: A comprehension strategy that helps guide students through summarizing the story.some text
- Somebody: Who are the characters?
- Wanted: What are the characters motivated by?
- But: What is the conflict/problem?
- So: What other events contribute to the problem?
- Then: How is the conflict resolved?
Professional Development
- Storyshares Professional Learning Series: Teaching Teens to Read, Module 7: This module provides in-depth training on evidence-based strategies for improving reading comprehension in older students.
Additional Strategies for Older Striving Readers
- Utilize Knowledge-Building Texts: Knowledge-building texts have real-world relevance. They expose students to a variety of real-world topics, sparking curiosity and motivation while building schema and background knowledge.
- Vocabulary Instruction as a Comprehension Strategy: When we systematically build students’ vocabulary, we increase their ability to understand what they are reading. Vocabulary instruction is one of the most important strategies for supporting striving readers in leveling up their literacy skills.
- Using Writing to Reflect on Texts: Encourage students to use writing to process and articulate their understanding of the text.
By incorporating these comprehension resources and strategies into your instruction, you can help older striving readers develop the skills they need to become confident, proficient, engaged readers.
For more ready-to-use adolescent literacy tips and resources, preview our Educator Companion or explore the Educator Toolkit. Happy reading!