Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade: An IES Practice Guide

(Published September 2010)  |  Students who read with understanding at an early age gain access to a broader range of texts, knowledge, and educational opportunities, making early reading comprehension instruction particularly critical. This guide recommends five specific steps that teachers, reading coaches, and principals can take to successfully improve reading comprehension for young readers:

• Teach students how to use reading comprehension strategies.
• Teach students to identify and use the text’s organizational structure to comprehend, learn, and remember content.
• Guide students through focused, high-quality discussion on the meaning of text.
• Select texts purposefully to support comprehension development.
• Establish an engaging and motivating context in which to teach reading comprehension.

Find the guide online at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/practiceguide.aspx?sid=14