This year, the Spanish Association of Reading Comprehensionhas published a study showing an increase in reading in the classroom, however, nearly 25% of teachers say that in their school no time is dedicated to reading, or less than one hour a week.
According to the data collected from this report, one of the main causes of this lack of motivation for reading is the lack of motivation to read. lack of motivation for reading is due to the is due to the leisure alternatives available to children that seem to be more attractive to them: for example, video games.
Reading comprehension, a challenge for teachers and students
Learning to read is one of the first major challenges children face. But truly understanding a text goes far beyond learning the alphabet. The objective of the reading activity is to decode the written message and, once decoded, to be able to understand its meaning and integrate it into memory.
For some people, dealing with a text can be a difficult task and this can affect their studies. The good news is that reading comprehension can be worked on and, with the help of adequate resources, can be significantly improved. As the student improves, he/she will notice that he/she needs less time to study and is better able to extract information, interpret and reflect on what he/she reads.
Working on reading comprehension in a fun way
The main tip for improving reading comprehension is, of course, to read. However, it is not necessary for this reading to be in paper format. to be effective. There are many ways to work on reading comprehension that are engaging and fun. You just need to figure out which one works best with your classroom. Digital platforms such as Smile and Learn can be a great alternative to capture the attention of the little ones and also be a technological solution that adapts to the individual needs of each student. Here are some tips you can apply to improve reading comprehension in a simple and fun way:
Choose content of interest to you
Giving students the opportunity to choose the content they like the most can increase their motivation for reading. motivation for reading increase considerably. If they are interested in the text they will make an effort and it will be easier for them to understand it. Students can be the first to establish an idea of themes, so that the teacher has a list to build on and the students feel involved.
Lean on images and other visual resources
Multisensory learning is a methodology that involves more than one sense at a time and seeks to offer a more complete and enriching learning experience. Use visual elements to help them understand what they have read. is a very effective alternative that is increasingly being used in schools. Images are a common support resource in texts with children’s content that gives children the possibility to create a mental profile of the narrative and the facts they are reading (Braslaysky 2005). In other words, images help young children to decipher the meaning of what they are reading, to stimulate their imagination, to to create the habit of reading and to understand the world through it.
Choose short texts
To improve reading comprehension, try to keep the selected texts as short as possible to avoid saturation and loss of attention. It is very important to start with short and striking stories because at first the reader focuses on the idea or information clearly presented. The first contact should be interesting, children will primarily value the content of the first few pages.For this reason, the text must be understandable. The size of the texts will be increased progressively and, in case it is too long, it can be fragmented in parts.
Reflection on content
After reading, it is interesting to dedicate some time to make sure that they have understood it. Therefore, Smile and Learn includes a small interactive quiz that engages them, invites them to think and develop their critical thinking. The teacher can also encourage them not only to summarize what they have read but also to give their personal opinion.
Customization
Not all students are the same, nor do they start with the same ability or level of reading comprehension, and knowing how to adapt to their different circumstances can be the key to avoiding student demotivation or frustration. At Smile and Learn, there is a wide catalog of comprehensive readings and stories that adapt to different themes and also to different reading levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced). In addition, it has customization options for the different educational needs that students may have: there are texts accompanied by speech, with text only, with pictograms support, etc.
If you haven’t tried our educational platform yet, you can do it for free by filling out this form
this form.
