1. An Overview of Comprehension Monitoring

Do you ever read a page in a book and realize you have no idea what you just read? The fact that you make the realization says you’re activating an essential reading skill known as comprehension monitoring.

Comprehension monitoring is a process readers use before, during, and after reading to ensure that they are understanding what is stated in the text. It includes thinking about what you’re reading and determining what information is relevant, what is not, and how that impacts your understanding.

Comprehension monitoring must be taught explicitly. This is especially important for struggling readers, who may not realize that their comprehension has failed them. Even for proficient readers, who may monitor their understanding automatically, teachers should draw their awareness to the comprehension monitoring they’re doing and explicitly teach additional strategies for strengthening the skill.

The best way to introduce comprehension monitoring is to model it during a read aloud. This involves stopping every so often and voicing the kinds of thoughts you’re having as you read. Modeling the exact thinking and processes involved makes the cognitive work that usually happens in silence concrete, visible, and actionable.

Here are some strategies students can learn to use to monitor their comprehension (find more on our sister site Reading Rockets (opens in new window)): 

Strategy	Example
Identify where the difficulty occurs	“I don’t understand the second paragraph on page 76.”
Identify what the difficulty is	“I don’t get what the author means when she says, ‘Arriving in America was a milestone in my grandmother’s life.’”
Restate the difficult sentence or passage in their own words	“Oh, so the author means that coming to America was a very important event in her grandmother’s life.”
Look back through the text	“The author talked about Mr. McBride in Chapter 2, but I don’t remember much about him. Maybe if I reread that chapter, I can figure out why he’s acting this way now.”
Look forward in the text for information that might help them to resolve the difficulty	“The text says, ‘The groundwater may form a stream or pond or create a wetland. People can also bring groundwater to the surface.’ Hmm, I don’t understand how people can do that… . Oh, the next section is called ‘Wells.’ I’ll read this section to see if it tells how they do it.”

More to Come!

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