Teach Reading Comprehension Skills in 5th Grade

Teach Reading Comprehension Skills in 5th Grade

Teach Reading Comprehension Skills in 5th Grade : Multi-thousand tips to make your life easier.

Students in Grade 5 are expected to have already mastered some of their basic reading comprehension skills. They should be able to predict, infer, question, summarize, and clarify ideas when presented with appropriate reading selections for their age and background. Therefore, your next goal is to prepare them to learn advanced reading comprehension strategies. You should begin to enhance their critical-thinking skills through a series of practical and intensive applications.
Here are some recommendations for you:

• Practice, practice, practice. This can help your Grade 5 students hone their basic reading comprehension skills, especially when they cannot focus or concentrate on their reading selections. Repetition can help them become more adept at those skills. Give them the chance to test those skills in different situations. So, instead of practicing reading comprehension techniques only during language arts, have them practice their reading comprehension skills while solving a math problem, performing a science experiment, or reviewing a historical event. If necessary, you may even set up one-on-one sessions with those who are unable to cope with the activities or tasks.
• Think, think, think. Once you have confirmed that your Grade 5 students have mastered some basic reading comprehension skills, you are ready to proceed to the next level. Teach them how to become critical thinkers. As mentioned earlier, critical thinking is an advanced skill, so prepare your lessons thoroughly and excite your students. For instance, your students can read either an unfamiliar short story or an excerpt from an unknown novel. After reading and comprehending the assigned piece, instruct them to predict what will happen next. Encourage them to use their imagination. You can divide them into pairs or groups and tell them to brainstorm and formulate their own ending for the short story or novel. You can allow them to use a graphic organizer, such as a story web, to list their predictions or probabilities.
• Group, group, group. Breaking your Grade 5 students into groups can help a great deal in teaching reading comprehension strategies, particularly if you intend to model certain procedures. Your Grade 5 students can certainly learn from their classmates. For example, if you plan to focus on summarizing as a reading comprehension skill, you can require each group member to retell a portion of the assigned story, selection, or passage. It can be the beginning, middle, or end. This task helps group members identify unimportant details, inevitably allowing them to focus only on the significant points. Grouping ensures better results than involving the whole class. Some students may be intimidated by the process and may choose to stay quiet throughout the discussion. In a small group, they are effectively forced to open up and express their ideas.

Monitor your Grade 5 students' progress. Surprise them with short quizzes, or make them more accustomed to daily exercises. Record the scores and see whether the results improve. Otherwise, modify your activity lineup as needed.