Comprehension problems often surface somewhere around 3rd or 4th grade. It’s not a coincidence that the curriculum in those grades includes more abstract words and concepts than the 2nd grade curriculum.
When students first learned to read, they easily (and automatically) created a visual image in their minds. The sentences they read contained concrete nouns and action verbs – words that are easy to “see.” For example, students can easily form a picture for sentences 1 and 2 below because the sentences contain concrete words that students are familiar with.
1. The dog ran.  | 2. The dog chased a squirrel up a tree.  |
But this “automatic” comprehension doesn’t happen for many students when the words are abstract. For example, sentences 3 and 4 contain abstract words and ideas. When students read words they can’t “see” like liberty, integrity, and character trait, they often skip right over them without giving those words any meaning.
3. Individual liberty is important.  | 4. Integrity is a positive character trait. |
Even if students looked up the definition of integrity and character trait, they may still struggle to understand the meaning of sentence 4. Read the following definitions and see if you can form visual images of the words:
Integrity: doing the right thing even when nobody is watching
Character trait: something that can describe a person’s behavior
It was still hard, right? Let’s try learning those new words again - but instead of just reading words in a definition - let’s use examples to show what they mean. Can you “see” the examples?
Examples of integrity: keeping a promise – even when it’s hard; returning $ when you notice someone dropped it; choosing not to cheat – even when you know you could get away with it.
Examples of positive character traits: kind, funny, generous, curious, polite, thoughtful.
To understand sentence 4, you must “see” someone doing something that shows integrity. You need to figure out a way to turn the abstract words into concrete ideas that you can visualize:
4. Integrity is a positive character trait.
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Many students have poor reading comprehension simply because they never developed the good habit of turning words they read into concrete ideas they can see in their mind.
The good news is that everyone can learn new habits and developing the habit of visualizing abstract words and concepts as you read is a skill that can be easily taught. In Reading Comprehension: Books One, Two, and Three, author Cathy Guth directly shows students how to master this skill.
Reading + Visualizing + Thinking If these three activities aren’t happening at the same time, it’s impossible to comprehend and remember what you read. |
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