Comprehension strategies for 1st grade

First Grade Reading Comprehension Activities

First grade is an exciting time of discovery for early readers. They’re spending less time decoding and word solving and more time comprehending and making sense of the texts they’re reading. Early readers are building reading identities and reading for meaning and joy. Explicitly teaching reading comprehension strategies like making predictions, asking questions, retelling, and inferring helps young readers build the skills they need. These first grade reading comprehension activities are a good place to start.

1. String up a retelling rope

Learning how to retell a story helps young learners as readers and thinkers. It helps them organize their thoughts as they read and recognize when their thinking changes. Using these symbols representing different elements of a story, students can string up a cute retelling rope while gaining valuable comprehension skills.

Learn more: First Grade W.O.W.

2. Visualize the story with illustrations

Visualizing is an important skill for understanding what you’re reading. This blog includes two fun visualizing activities. In the first, students are given a title and are asked to draw an illustration that matches that title. In the second, students are given clues about an object and are asked to draw the object the clues are hinting at.

Learn more: You Clever Monkey

3. Make predictions with a graphic organizer

Making predictions is a just-right reading strategy for emerging readers. During a read-aloud, find a few good stopping points to ask students what they think will happen next.

Learn more: Brown Bag Teacher

4. Make a “beginning, middle, and end” flip chart

One tried-and-true way to teach summarizing to early readers is instructing them to identify the beginning, middle, and end of a story. This easy-to-make flip chart is just an 8 x 11 piece of plain paper folded vertically then divided into thirds. On the front half, students will draw a picture of what happens in the three sections of the story. Underneath each flap is a short written description.

Learn more: Bishop’s Blackboard

5. Ask questions with story sticks

Good readers ask questions before, during, and after they read. These cute story sticks make a game of first grade reading comprehension. Perfect to use with small reading groups or with partners.

Learn more: The Happy Teacher

6. Master the five-finger retell

One strategy you can teach students is the five finger retell. Each finger stands for a different part of the story. Assigning a different finger for each part gives students a kinesthetic connection and makes it easier for them to remember.

Learn more: Mrs. Wheeler’s First Grade Tidbits

7. Summarize using simple signal words

Sometimes with early readers, simpler is better. Start with these basic questions—who?, what?, when?, where?, how?, and why?—to help kids go deeper into their understanding.

Learn more: This Reading Mama

8.

Practice with story maps

There are tons of fun tools to help students build reading comprehension, and story maps are one of them. Here are 15 free downloadable story maps to help your first graders practice going beyond just the words when they read.

Learn more: Education.com

9. Figure out problem and solution with a graphic organizer

Every fiction story has, among other elements, a problem and solution. This lesson helps students understand that a story’s problem and solution fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

Learn more: My Primary Paradise

10. Retell the story using LEGO bricks

Put two things that first graders love together: reading and building. Read a story together, then allow students to use blocks to build a scene from the story. As they build, they can describe details from the story.

Learn more: The Educators’ Spin On It

11. Retell using story cubes

Retelling is a helpful comprehension skill for readers. These six cubes encourage readers to retell the story in different ways. They are prefect for reading partners and to use with small groups.

Learn more: Every educaid

12. Play the Oh Snap! word game

Sight words (aka high-frequency words) are words readers encounter most frequently in texts. Early readers benefit from knowing a large bank of sight words, which encourages fluent reading. This fun sight word game is a great way to improve reading skills and build reading fluency.

Learn more: School Time Snippets

13. Use scooping phrases

The goal of reading fluency is better comprehension. To read with fluency or expression, readers must comprehend the story events. Teach early readers to use “Scooping Phrases” to scoop up words to form phrases within sentences. This effective strategy also works well with struggling readers.

Learn more: This Reading Mama

14. Introduce wordless picture books

As readers encounter more-difficult texts, character traits become less explicit. To determine what the character is like, the reader has to do more inferential work. Using wordless picture books is a great way to introduce early readers to making inferences.

Learn more: Ashleigh’s Education Journey

15. Inference using thought bubbles

Foundational inference activities give first graders an opportunity to practice their inferring skills. As they move into texts, first graders can infer what a character is thinking in the story and then add a thought bubble to explain it.

Learn more: The Teacher Next Door

If you like these first grade reading comprehension activities, check out our fun, printable first grade writing prompts.

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Comprehension: Activities for Your First Grader

Overview

First graders are quickly developing impressive skills as active readers! Here are some of the things your first grader can do:

Independently read and retell familiar stories.
Notice when a text doesn't make sense, and begins to use strategies such as rereading, predicting, and questioning to understand it.
Read and understand fiction and nonfiction and know the difference between made-up stories and facts.
Predict what will happen next in stories.
Think about and share prior knowledge before reading a nonfiction book.
Discusses how, why, and what-if questions in sharing nonfiction texts.
Answer simple written comprehension questions.

Here are some basic things you can do to boost your child's comprehension skills:

Try to read at home together every day

Just 15 minutes each day makes a big difference! Although your first grader may be reading independently, reading aloud allows you to introduce your child to more sophisticated vocabulary and stories, including chapter books. It's also one of the best ways to help children learn about the world and make connections between their own lives and what's in the book — and that helps children see the world with empathy. And last but not least, it's a wonderful time to snuggle up with your child and share the experience of reading and discovery together.

Keep it fun

Remember that reading together should spark curiosity, joy, and a desire to explore and learn. Conversations about books should be enjoyable, and not a set of quizzes and questions. As you try some of the activities listed below, remember to keep it light and lively for your child.

Storytelling and audiobooks count, too

Sharing family stories out loud and listening to audiobooks are wonderful ways to expose your child to language, how stories are built, and knowledge about the world.

Bring in the nonfiction

There are so many great nonfiction and informational books for very young kids (such as the popular DK Eyewitness series and National Geographic series). Try to include some of these during your next trip to the public library. Children love learning about the real world and are proud to share what they know!

Explore your world together

Even a walk around the neighborhood or a trip to the grocery store can be a rich learning experience for young children. On a walk, your child may watch what's going on at a construction site, and then be able to connect it to stories about building and the big machines that make it happen — bulldozers, cranes, cement mixers, and more. These personal connections help children connect what they read with what they know — a powerful way to build comprehension skills!

Signs of good reading comprehension in first graders

Try these comprehension activities at home

"I predict ..."

When you sit down for a read aloud, look at the book's cover together. Ask, "What do you think this book might be about? Why? Can you make some predictions?" Guide your child through the pages, discuss the pictures, and brainstorm what might happen in the story. Talk about any personal experiences your child may have that relate to the story.

Five-finger retell

After reading a story together, have your child tell you five things about the story, using her fingers to talk about each one:

Characters: who was in the story?
Setting: where did the story take place?
Events: what happened in the story?
End: how did the story end?
Favorite character or part of the story

Active reading

Model active reading when you read with your child. Talk about what's happening as you're reading. Stop and discuss any interesting or tricky vocabulary words. Help your child make pictures of the story in his mind. Ask your child, "What just happened here? How do you think that character feels? Have you ever felt like that? What do you think will happen next?" Not only will this develop your child’s comprehension, but critical thinking skills as well.

Mind movies

When you come to a descriptive passage in a book, have your child close her eyes and create a mental movie of the scene. Encourage her to use all five senses. Read the passage over together, looking for details that bring the scene to life. Ask questions like, “How do you know it was a hot day? Which words help you understand that the child was lonely?”

Tell me about it

After a read aloud, one of the best and easiest ways to check for understanding is to ask your child to summarize what the book was about in their own words. You can ask a question or two to help your child clarify her thinking or to add more detail.

Can your child tell you what happened in the story?

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children’s reading at home provided by Read Charlotte. Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper.

Think alouds

Connect the book to your child's own life experience. For example, A River Dream: "This book reminds me of the time my father took me fishing. Do you remember the time we went fishing?"

Connect the book to other books they have read. For example, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: "This story reminds me of Cinderella. Both stories are about sisters. Do you know any other stories about nice and mean sisters? Let's keep reading to find out other ways the stories are similar."

Connect the book to big ideas/lessons. For example, Stellaluna: "This story helps me understand that we are all the same in many ways, but it's our differences that make us special."

Wordless

Wordless picture books provide your child with practice using clues to create meaning. There are no wrong stories with wordless picture books, only variations based on what the "reader" sees and puts together. Rosie's Walk, Good Dog, Carl, and Beaver Is Lost are all interesting and fun wordless picture books to explore. Find more wordless books on BookFinder.

Map this book!

Draw a map of the book's setting, and be sure to include the places where the main action happens!

Beginning-middle-end

This is a great way to see if your child understands the main parts of a story. After reading a book together, give your child three sheets of paper, with "beginning" on one sheet, "middle" on the second sheet, and "end" on the third sheet. Ask your child to think about the three parts of the story, and then draw what happened on each on the sheets. Arrange the sheets in order, left to right. What happens if you re-arrange the sheets? Does the story still make sense?

Words, words, words

Be sure to include books with rich vocabulary in your read alouds and call attention to interesting words and phrases from the story. This may include repeated phrases or idioms (such as "get cold feet" or "I'm all ears"). Offer a kid-friendly definition and connect the new word or phrase to something your child already knows. Talk about how the author used language or words to make the text interesting, informative, funny, or sad.

Illustrated timelines

After reading a story, have your child create an illustrated timeline of events from the story. Tape together five sheets of paper along the 8-1/2-inch side to create one very wide sheet that is 55 inches X 8-1/2 inches. To help plan the timeline, your child can add numbers that mark important points of the story. Then it's time to fill in the sequence of events with words and pictures. Once the timeline is complete, ask your child to re-tell the story — acting it out is okay, too! Variation: Create the timeline using Post-Its on a wall or outside using sidewalk chalk.

Talk show

Set up a talk show set with two chairs facing each other. If you like, make two microphones out of paper tubes or other craft supplies. You are the host and your child is a character from the book. Ask questions about the character, such as who you are, why you are important to the story, what happened to you in the story, what is the craziest interaction you had with another character, etc. Then switch roles!

Book trailer

Using a cell phone camera or other recording device, make a short video of your child talking about about why he recommends this book. Encourage your child to show the book cover and some of the inside pages when talking about a certain character or action sequence. Share the book trailer with family and friends!

Picture the character (Part 1)

Try this activity from the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). The FCRR "At Home" series was developed especially for families! Watch the video and then download the activity: Picture the Character. See all FCRR comprehension activities here.

Picture the character (Part 2)

Does your first grader read to learn about things?

More comprehension resources

Effective strategies for working with text in the classroom at school

The ultimate goal of teaching Russian is practical literacy and language competence. The basis of the content of literature as an academic subject is reading and textual study of works of art.

Work with the text as the main didactic unit allows schoolchildren to combine the activities of developing practical skills of literate writing and speech development.

Every teacher dreams that all students come to the lesson prepared: they have completely read this or that work or paragraph. And not just read, but understood the meaning of the text read. During the final certification, the graduate must also understand the meaning of the read text. Whether it is a task to the text or the text itself.

Teachers working in grades 9 and 11 know that most mistakes are made due to misunderstanding of what is read, as well as when reading the assignment itself.

Teaching a child to read “correctly”, “effectively”, “productively” is an important task for a teacher. That is why the technology of productive reading (PRT), developed by Professor N. Svetlovskaya, acquires a leading role and contributes to the achievement of the results that are mentioned in the new standards.

The technology is universal and can be used in lessons of any cycle.

It is aimed at the formation of all universal educational activities: cognitive, communicative, regulatory, personal.

The technology of productive reading differs sharply from the traditional technology of transferring ready-made knowledge to a student. The teacher organizes the children's research work in such a way that they themselves "think" about solving the key problem of the lesson and can themselves explain how to act in new conditions. The teacher becomes a partner, a mentor, an observer.

The developed technology includes three stages of working with text, a three-stage process.

The goal of is the development of anticipation (the ability to guess, predict the content of the text). Task - to develop motivation for reading the text

1. Strategy "Forecast by headline".

Task: think about what can be discussed in the story of K.G. Paustovsky "Warm bread", in the work of P.P. Bazhov "Mistress of the Copper Mountain", etc.

– Try to predict the content by the first line of the story…Remember the name of the story…. Does the content of the story match the title?

Give examples of such discrepancies.

Associative bush (circle, row). Today we will read and discuss the topic… What associations do you have about the stated topic?

2. Strategy "Brainstorm" ("Basket of ideas").

Task: answer the questions before reading the text (fairy tales "Warm bread") - What do you know about K. G. Paustovsky? What do you think the story will be about? Who can be the main character? What event in the story can be described.

3. Strategy "Image of the text".

Task: check your assumptions. Based on the words taken from the text, try to make a short plot story. The title of the story is given.

4. Strategy "Battery of questions".

Task: make up questions to the text according to the title, according to the illustrations.

5. Glossary strategy.

Task: look at the list of words and mark those that can be related to the text. When you finish reading the text, go back to these words and look at their meaning and the use of words used in the text.

6. "Competing with the writer" strategy.

Task: try to predict the content of the book by looking at the illustrations. One student offers his version, the rest complete it.

7. Strategy "True and False Statements".

8. Strategy I know, I want to know, I found out.

Stage 2 - stage of text activity.

The purpose of is to understand the text and create its reader's interpretation, summarizing part of the read text, asking questions of a general nature, making assumptions about the further development of the plot and the role of characters in the composition of the text, etc.).

The main task of is to ensure the full perception of the text. The main strategies at the stage of text activity are dialogue with the author, commented reading.

1. Strategy "Reading in a circle". The text is read in turn (each "circle member" reads a paragraph). After this, a stop follows: everyone asks questions to the read passage. If the question cannot be answered (it does not correspond to the text), then the question is considered incorrect. * All correct questions can be recorded.

2. Silent reading with questions strategy.

3. Strategy “Reading to yourself with notes. (Insert)" . Marginal notes: + - knew; - - new; ? - Interesting; V is unclear. Others are possible: B - question; O - answer; Z - I know; N - new; And - interesting; X - I want to know; C - ask; U to clarify.

4. Strategy "Reading with stops". Reading the text with stops, during which tasks are given in the form of questions: some are aimed at checking understanding, others - at predicting the content of the next passage.

5. "Pose a problem - offer a solution" strategy. Remember what problems the heroes of the work face (the problem is formulated and written down in an oval). Next, the children can name several problems, students are divided into groups and offer all kinds of solutions to problems.

6. Strategy "Creating a question plan". The student carries out a semantic grouping of the text, highlights the strong points, divides the text into semantic parts and titles each part with a key question…….

Stage 3 – stage of post-text (post-text) activity.

The purpose of is to correct the reader's interpretation in accordance with the author's meaning.

The main task of is to provide in-depth perception and understanding of the text, to raise a question to the text as a whole, followed by a conversation, the result of which should be an understanding of the author's meaning. Re-addressing the title, illustrations, performing creative tasks.

2. Question tree strategy Crown – what? Where? When? Barrel - why? How? Could you? Roots - how to relate the text to life? With current events? What is the author trying to show?

3. Strategy "Bloom's Cube" (Benjamin Bloom is a famous American teacher, author of many pedagogical strategies = technician).

The beginnings of the questions are written on the faces of the cube: “Why?”, “Explain”, “Name”, “Suggest”, “Think up”, “Share”. The teacher or student rolls the die.

It is necessary to formulate a question to the educational material on the side on which the cube fell.

The “Name” question is aimed at the level of reproduction, i.e. at the simple reproduction of knowledge.

Question "Why" - the student in this case must find cause-and-effect relationships, describe the processes occurring with a certain object or phenomenon.

“Explain ” question – student uses concepts and principles in new situations.

All of the above strategies provide for serious work with the text, its deep analysis and understanding, the organization of independent cognitive activity of students on educational material. socially moral experience and makes you think, knowing the world around you.

Technology Advantage:

1. Applicable in the lessons of any cycle and at any level of education.

2. Focused on personal development.

3. Develops the ability to predict the results of reading.

4. Promotes understanding of the text in the lesson.

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22 simple ways to give feedback every day

Author: S. Briggs

(translated from English)

The ultimate goal of learning is understanding.

But, as we know, sometimes it's easier to just tell than to teach, especially when you need to master a lot of material in a short period of time. And so we hope that the students will understand everything - well, if not now, then before the control testing, and "keep their fists" so that their results show that we have done our job well.

The problem is that we often rely on these tests and don't always have time to fill in gaps and misunderstandings.

These strategies will help you plan and teach effectively:

Ask open-ended questions that encourage speaking and writing.

Avoid yes/no questions (closed questions) and expressions like “Does this make sense?”, “Is this true or not?”. In response to them, students usually answer “yes”, and then many admit that they answered that way, simply at a loss.

Open-ended questions encourage thinking and analysis. Ask “How are you going to do this?”, “Why did you choose this way of solving?” etc.
( From the editor of :
How to ask open-ended questions? )

Reflect

Spend the last five minutes of the reflection lesson by asking students to reflect on the lesson and write down what they have learned. Then ask them to think about how they would put that concept or skill into practice.

Use quizzes

Conduct a short quiz at the end of the lesson to check understanding.

Ask students to summarize

Let the students summarize, systematize, paraphrase the information received. This can be done both in writing and orally.

Use hand signals

This strategy requires a little preliminary preparation (at the beginning of the school year) - you explain that with a certain number of fingers (from one - nothing is clear, up to five - everything is clear) students can show the level of their understanding.

The use of signals allows the teacher to check the understanding of the content of the lesson in a large group.

Use cards

Index cards, cards, signs, flags, boards, magnetic boards, or other items, any of which are held up and held by all students in the class at the same time to show their answer to a question or problem you have raised.
( Editor's Note : Kahoot or Lectureraice can be used)

Play Four Corners

This is a quick, easy and fun way for students to express their full confidence in the correctness, agreement, doubt or disagreement, and for the teacher to monitor and evaluate understanding.

Ask a question or make a statement. Ask students to move to one of the corners of the class corresponding to their answer: “I am sure yes”, “I agree”, “I am not sure, I doubt”, “I do not agree”.

Ask to share with friends

Give class members a few minutes to think about the topic and questions about it, then invite them to compare their thoughts with a classmate.

Read aloud in unison

Have the students first mark the main ideas or answers to the questions in the textbook, then read in unison with you. This strategy allows you to develop reading fluency; distinguish between interrogative and declarative sentences; practice reading dialogues, reading with expressions, etc.

Conduct a survey with one question

Ask one targeted question with specific wording that can be answered within 1-2 minutes. Then quickly scan the answers (using mobile apps that read QR codes, for example) and assess students' understanding.

( Editor's Note : You can also use Kahoot and other services to quickly rate answers. But it's easier to look at the raised hands)

11. Use Socratic Seminars

This is a workshop practice in which children learn to formulate questions, ask each other, complete statements, and initiate conversation to facilitate understanding of a topic or come up with a new understanding of it.

( Editorial :
What are
Socratic Seminars and How to Conduct Socratic Seminars (from Letovo School))

Use the three standard questions (3-2-1 technique)

Students reflect on what they learned in the lesson by answering the following questions: 3) what they learned from your lesson; 2) what they want to learn more about; and 1) what questions they want to ask you. This reflection strategy stimulates thought activity and helps process information.

13. Issue a “ticket out the door”

At the very end of the lesson, have the students write down their understanding of the topic or problem raised in class in a short time. Each answer is a “ticket out the door”, i.e. opportunity to leave the class. Such an exercise not only quickly generates a lot of ideas that can later be combined into entire projects, but also brings an entertaining moment at the end of the lesson, adds a touch of competition in the fight for the desire to leave the class first.

Offer to keep a “reflection diary”

This tactic is also suitable for ending the lesson - in the "reflection diaries" students write down their thoughts during the lesson, for example, what they learned, what caused them difficulties, describe strategies that they found useful, or other topics related to lessons. By reading student work, you can identify general and individual misconceptions and successes.

Conduct short formative assessment on paper

Individually, children answer short questions on a printed test that assesses their knowledge and skills. This test is both self-assessment and teacher-assessment, and tracks the progress of individual students, gaps in the achievements of others, and helps you plan further work based on the results.

( Editor's note : can be surveyed online)

Check for misunderstandings

Give students the wrong idea about the topic of the lesson and ask them if they agree or not, and ask them to explain why.

Invite to play analogy

Learning by analogy can be very effective. Invite students to think about what the lesson is like and explain it using their own analogies.

Check often

Check your understanding of the learning material at least three times per lesson!

Use different assessment methods

You must use different individual and group assessment methods and strategies at all times. This means that during one lesson the same method should not be repeated.

Make assessment useful

Each student test should bring you answers to the questions: should you change course or continue as planned? Should I stop and start again? Should I take a breather and explain to the laggards in a different way?

Organize mutual learning and peer review

Perhaps the most accurate way to test understanding is the strategy in which one student tries to teach another what he has already learned.