Developing Comprehension Using Reading Strategy Supports: Introduction

This sample lesson demonstrates a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach to developing reading comprehension skills using reading strategy supports. Good readers ask questions about text prior to, during, and after reading. They monitor their comprehension by asking questions, drawing inferences, identifying when they don’t understand what they are reading, and employing various skills and strategies to fix the problem. Struggling readers need explicit instruction in how to utilize different reading strategies in order to increase their comprehension and understanding.

This lesson focuses on using think-aloud strategies with students and is not a comprehensive guide to reading instruction. There is no one right answer in the teaching of reading, and your reading strategy instruction will depend on the abilities and needs of your individual students.

This lesson provides methods for teachers and students using Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. However, the techniques and activities can be used with any novel.