At Children's Reading Partners, we help to ensure the biggest impact for your volunteer work by surveying teachers at the beginning and the end of the program to see where students need help and how they have improved.

Our fall 2016 Elementary Express survey found that only 20% of students in all grades met or exceeded standards in their reading comprehension - which means that fully 80% of students fell below standard or showed limited progress in understanding what is being read.

As a reading mentor, you can help. Even if you are reading to your student instead of the student reading to you, the key is to ask pointed questions before, during and after the story. When you ask your student to make predictions or comment on what is happening in the story, you are modeling the questions he or she should ask him- or herself when reading. Below are a few suggestions to improve reading comprehension.

Before reading - Before you start reading, look at the book's cover together, discuss the title, and point out the pictures on the first few pages. Ask, "What do you think this book will be about?" "Can you make any predictions about what will happen?" As students try to verify whether their predictions were correct, they learn how to look for important plot cues and other clues.

During reading - As you read to your student, stop occasionally to check for understanding and explain tricky vocabulary words. You can also continue to make predictions as you read. Ask, "Can you explain to me what's happening?" "How do you think the character feels?" "What do you think will happen next?" Discuss any confusing, surprising, funny or sad parts. Help your student visualize parts of the story by looking for imagery related to the five senses..

After reading - After you've completed the book, ask your student to summarize and share his or her favorite part. Ask "Can you tell me what happened in the beginning/middle/end of the story?" "Who were the main characters?" "What was the problem, and how was it solved?"

By incorporating these strategies into your weekly reading sessions, you'll give your student the tools necessary to improve reading comprehension skills.

Happy reading!

Alana

Alana Butler

Director, Children's Reading Partners

860.727.6152