Is there anything specific I can do to improve comprehension?

[Runoutofideas]

My dd1 is 5 1/2 and is reading well. She is able to fluently read purple/gold level books with expression etc. However, I have recently been noticing that she doesn't actually understand quite a lot of what she reads. For example the last book she read was about Unusual Traditions. Firstly she didn't know what a tradition was, then she didn't know what was meant by phrases such as "huge parade of carnival floats" "people in China belive that dragons have great power over your life" etc. She reads it in such a way that you wouldn't know she hadn't understood, and is reluctant to admit that she doesn't know what something means.

Will she just naturally develop greater understanding though books and conversation as she gets older or is there anything specific I can do to help her at the moment?

Would say IMO at 5 & half its great that her reading is going well and think comprehension will come. Talking about the books she is reading and maybe finding further books (eg in library) that she's interested in, will help with comprehension.

Why would a small child know what is meant by a 'huge parade of carnival floats'? Just because you can read something doesn't mean you can understand it. You need to explain what she does not understand, whether it is in 'real life' or in books. She sounds like a competent reader so it is highly likely that there will be much that she reads that is quite outside her experience, and also outside her ability as yet to figure out.

Non-fiction picture books are a good way to extend general knowledge, as is everyday conversation about the world around her.

'Tradition' is an abstract idea, and concrete concepts are more comprehensible to young children.

I read plenty of stuff I can't understand by the way!

I have exactly the same thing with ds who is the very same age and on the same reading band!

He understands what he reads very well provided he has actually come across a particular concept but when it comes to things like 'toxic waste' of course he hasn't encountered that and doesn't have a clue what it means.

The problem is that school are saying they want him to be able to comprehend everything he reads before moving him up. As I say his general comprehension is fine but some of the books he encounters are beyond his experience.

What do any teachers do about this normally - would you keep him on a lower band for this reason even if there were very, very rarely any new words in terms of being able to decode/ read them?

Thanks everyone - Malaleuca and mychatnickname, you seem to understand the problem. She is not having to concentrate on decoding the words, she can pretty fluently read what is put in front of her, so it is not that sort of comprehension problem. It is more, as you say, when what she is reading falls outside her range of experience.

I think the suggestion of reading more non-fiction is probably a good one. I think I am going to have to concentrate more on what she is reading, (rather than my current just nodding along, smiling approach) and try to spot bits which she may not understand. Does anyone have any more tips?

I really could have written the OP myself Runout!

Maybe just reiterating to her how it's really important to stop and ask if she doesn't know what a word means?

I'd still really like to hear what any teachers suggest and what they do re book bands with this. I wish there were some more 'innocent' books for younger advanced readers too. I think there are some ORT ones but I haven't seen them at our school.

I remember the "Unusual Traditions" book - dd brought it home last year. If I recall correctly, she was highly amused by the idea of cheese rolling!

Your dd is ahead of her age for reading, and inevitably, there will be words and concepts that she hasn't yet come across because the books that she is reading are aimed at slightly older children. I don't think this is anything to worry about at all, and as you have suggested, she will naturally develop greater understanding and vocabulary through ordinary conversation and further reading. Obviously, you can probably help by talking to her a lot about a wide range of topics, and also by reading to her a lot.

DD is also five and a half and in year 1. She is a free reader, and has been since the last term of reception. Like your dd, she can decode just about anything she sees, and has been able to do this for quite a long time. However, the teacher apparently moved her onto the free readers in order to give her access to more challenging and complex content, and so I am guessing that her comprehension is pretty good too.

I think this is partly because dd is good at guessing what things mean from the context - I don't know how or why she is good at this, but she'll sometimes ask me what a word means, and if I ask her to say what she thinks it means, she's usually spot on. I wonder if you could make up some sort of guessing game with your dd to tackle unknown vocabulary?

Other things that have probably helped are that dd has always had a fascination for non-fiction books, and we have read loads of these together over the years - our local library has a fabulous selection, and I just let her go and choose whatever appeals to her. My own general knowledge has increased enormously as a result! :)

Fiction is good for developing vocab too, of course, and for giving children access to things outside of their own experiences. Obviously, when you read to them, you can read things which are much more complex than the things that they read for themselves, and I guess this helps them to develop their comprehension skills. And whether fiction or non-fiction, I think it's probably helpful to talk to children a lot about what they have read, what they think of it, what they found most interesting etc.

DD also loves documentaries on TV - anything about science, nature, other cultures etc. Obviously, you have to ensure that things are age-appropriate, but it is surprising how much she actually seems to take in and remember from these programmes, even when I think they're way over her head. Again, we tend to talk about things after we've seen them, and I guess that helps to clarify the bits that she didn't quite get the first time round.

Just keep reading and talking about the books and explaining what the words mean.

Just diverting off topic a bit, but this is a classic example of when people quote reading ages and get upset when another child is higher/lower than their DC. Lots of children can read the words clearly and well but dont understand what they have read. Different teachers use the reading level books differently, some issue books at a higher level because they can read the words fluently, other teachers will want to ensure they fully understand what they have read before moving up.

At 5 there are lots of words your child wont understand, just keep talking, having discussions about anything and everything and her comprehension will come.

Enjoy her reading. If she is reluctant to talk about it, you can encourage this by asking questions and talking without it being an interrogation.

Roadart - if you are a teacher, what would you do with levels if e.g. a child could read every word (or only need help with 1 or 2) in a purple or gold book but would find some concepts hard to understand as they were outside of a five year old's experience? Would you keep them on that level even if they could generally understand things they were reading?

Don't just rely on school reading books. Use your library and get your DD to choose her own books (from the appropriate section eg not teenage fiction). Read them between you (let her read, but if too hard, you read) and discuss stories etc. Don't worry if she chooses easy books, just find things you can talk about comprehension-wise
Some TV programmes can be good at extending knowledge. I'm not so familiar with all the modern ones but do a bit of judicious selecting/ask friends what their dcs watch that help them learn etc. I can remember amazing my parents with useless interesting knowledge about places we visited on holiday that I had learned from Blue Peter but she might be a bit young for that yet!

check out a previous thread dated04/05/10 title: Mrz I need your help

sorry I can't do links and 11.30 is not the time to learn.

My DS, is 5 & in Reception - he is also an advanced reader so often has books with difficult themes that are above his years. To help his comprehension & make him aware of the fact that he should be able to understand what he reads (& not just read it perfectly) he does year 1 comprehensions each week that are taken from a basic book of comprehension exercises. We also discuss what he reads & I 'test' him on bits of his reading book when he has finished. Can you ask the teacher for some simple comprehensions as this has helped him hugely & he loves doing them.

This is going to become an increasing problem due to the lack of a balanced education, matching our children's decoding abilities to their ability to comprehend the content of what they are able to decode.

As has been noted children have a limited experience of life, and can only relate what they read to what they have experienced.

It can be dangerous for their confidence in the long run if they always not able to understand what they have read because they are not able to relate what they have decoded from a book.

The whole point of reading is to be able to communicate and share ideas with others, which is done by comprehending what you are reading.

Unfortunately this problem is a side effect of the teaching reading using only Phonics, which does not teach or encourage children to understand what they have read only to be good at decoding text. We all try to understand the real world in which we live many be informed guess work, and children need to learn how to process information to be able to make the correct guesses. Teaching Phonics does not allow guessing so our children do net learn this important skill, and expect everything to be as they reading in books.