reading comprehension

What is reading comprehension? Reading comprehension is the ability to comprehend or understand, what you are reading. This is an intentional and active part of reading and takes place before, during and after you read something. By being able to comprehend what you are reading, you can extract meaning from the text and better realize what the author is trying to convey.

There are two components of reading comprehension: text comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary knowledge is the ability to understand the language being used, while text comprehension is using this language to develop an awareness of what the meaning is behind the text.

Why are reading comprehension skills important? Reading comprehension is important for several reasons and can provide many benefits. Being able to effectively read can improve both your personal and professional life and can increase your overall enjoyment of reading. Knowing how to understand a text can help boost your knowledge in certain areas and help you learn new skills and information faster.

Additional benefits of good reading comprehension skills include: Being able to understand, analyze and respond to documents and written communication in the workplace Improved your ability to write clearly and effectively The ability to comprehend and engage in current events that are in written form such as newspapers Increased ability to focus on reading for an extended period Better enjoyment of and motivation to read

1. Improve your vocabulary Knowing what the words you are reading mean can improve your ability to comprehend the meaning of the text. To improve your vocabulary, you can: Take an online vocabulary quiz to assess your current level of vocabulary understanding Use flashcards to quiz yourself on words you don’t know once or twice a week Make a point to use newly learned words in verbal and written communication Read as much as possible to improve your ability to guess what a word means in a certain context Make a list of unfamiliar words as you read and look them up in the dictionary

2. Come up with questions about the text you are reading Asking questions about what you are reading can help improve your reading comprehension by allowing you to become invested in the text. It can also broaden your overall understanding of what you are reading by enabling you to explore themes, motifs and other components of text that you otherwise wouldn’t inquire about. The following are examples of questions you could pose as you read: Why did the author begin the book at that location? What kind of relationship do these two characters share? What do we know about the main character up to this point in the book? Are there any themes that have consistently come up throughout the book? If so, what do they mean?

3. Use context clues Using context clues is a great way to understand what you are reading even if you don’t know all the vocabulary being used. Context clues can be found in the words and sentences surrounding the word that you aren’t familiar with. To use context clues, you can focus on the key phrases or ideas in a sentence and deduce the main idea of a sentence or paragraph based on this information. You can also look for nearby words that are synonyms or antonyms of the word you don’t know.

4. Look for the main idea Identifying the main idea of a paragraph or article can help you determine the importance of the article. Understanding why what you’re reading is important can give you a better comprehension of what the author is trying to convey. When reading, pause every few paragraphs and see if you can decipher what the main idea is. Then, try to put the main idea in your own words for even further understanding.

5. Write a summary of what you read A great way to increase your knowledge of what you have read is to write a summary. Summarizing requires you to decide what is important in the text and then put it in your own words. Summarizing allows you to determine if you truly understand what you have read and better remember what you have read in the long term.

6. Break up the reading into smaller sections If you are reading longer or more challenging text, consider breaking it up into smaller sections. For example, you could read two paragraphs at a time and then pause to quickly summarize what you just read in your mind. Breaking up what you are reading can help you feel less overwhelmed and give you a better chance of truly comprehending the information in the text.

7. Pace yourself Pacing yourself is also an effective way to work on your reading comprehension skills by allowing you to set realistic goals for your reading practice and habits. This is especially true for books or other literature that you find challenging. Set a goal for yourself that you know you can meet each day. For example, rather than saying that you want to read an entire book in two days, say that you will read three chapters a night. This allows you to reach your goals and also provides adequate time for you to process what you are reading between each session.

A Sports Contest: Last Sunday, forest animals had a sports contest. Elephant Woody and Ant Nima had the Weight lift. Although Nima is smaller and thinner, she lifted much heavier things than her body, So she won. Next, Rabbit Rapid and Tortoise Trent had a race. Rapid thought he would be the winner. He laughed at Trent, “Follow me, slower guy? “He ran as fast as he could until he couldn’t see Trent. “Let me have a rest, “he said to himself and slept under a big tree. Suddenly he heard the cheers. Trent won the first prize. Rapid couldn’t laugh again.

1. When did the forest animals have a sports contest? ____________________________________________________________________ 2. Why could the ant win? ____________________________________________________________________ 3. Did the rabbit win? ____________________________________________________________________ 4. Why couldn’t Rapid win the first prize? ____________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER I Down the Rabbit-Hole Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?' So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

Lennie came in through the door. He wore his blue denim coat over his shoulders like a cape, and he walked hunched way over. “Hi, Lennie,” said George. “How you like the pup now?” Lennie said breathlessly, “He’s brown an’ white jus’ like I wanted.” He went directly to his bunk and lay down and turned his face to the wall and drew up his knees.

George put down his cards very deliberately. “Lennie,” he said sharply. Lennie twisted his neck and looked over his shoulder. “Huh? What you want, George?” “I tol’ you you couldn’t bring that pup in here.” “What pup, George? I ain’t got no pup.”

George went quickly to him, grabbed him by the shoulder and rolled him over. He reached down and picked the tiny puppy from where Lennie had been concealing it against his stomach. Lennie sat up quickly. “Give ‘um to me, George.” George said, “You get right up an’ take this pup back to the nest. He’s gotta sleep with his mother. You want to kill him? Just born last night an’ you take him out of the nest. You take him back or I’ll tell Slim not to let you have him.”

Lennie held out his hands pleadingly. “Give ‘um to me, George. I’ll take ‘um back. I didn’t mean no harm, George. Honest I didn’t. I jus’ wanted to pet ‘um a little.” George handed the pup to him. “Awright. You get him back there quick, and don’t you take him out no more. You’ll kill him, the first thing you know.” Lennie fairly scuttled out of the room. Slim had not moved. His calm eyes followed Lennie out the door. “Jesus,” he said. “He’s jus’ like a kid, ain’t he?” Page 56 Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck