Improve Your Reading Comprehension Skills

Improve your reading skills and comprehension of the written word with these techniques and key terms.

Explicit information is information or facts that can be clearly found in a passage or story. Explicit information can answer: Who? What? Why? and When. Explicit information can sometimes include definitions of words and the information is easy to find.

Drawing conclusions involves combining prior knowledge and understanding of the facts in a story to determine something not clearly stated in a text. Put all the facts together and draw a conclusion.

Context clues can help us figure out what a word means. Look at the words and sentences around the word you don't understand to see if you can find the meaning of the word in question.

Figurative Language occurs when words have meaning other than what they say (similes, metaphors, and idioms). Examples include 'It was raining cats and dogs,' 'Shake a leg,' and 'as hot as a grill'.

Genre is a type of text or literature, such as poetry, memoir, biography, autobiography, realistic fiction, and historical fiction. A personal narrative tells of experiences. A biography is factual information about a person's life, which includes important dates and events. Poetry repeats consonant sounds, makes a thing seem like a person, and sometimes has a predictable rhythm. News articles tell of events first, then give explanation, and end with background.

Sequence is the order of events in which the action of the story takes place. It has a beginning, middle, and end. Also, it is the order of steps taken to complete a task. Sometimes events are not presented in order. Use clues to figure out the sequence. Dates are good clues to use.

Character elements are how a character looks, behaves, thinks, acts, & feels, and why. Look for clues about what the character has done personality traits, quotes, and behavior to discover character elements.

Setting tells when and where a story takes place. It includes the time (past, present, & future) and place (appearance, weather, and season).

Plot is a series of events that make up the main story. It usually contains a problem/issue that must be resolved.
Rising action is where the plot develops. Climax is when action changes or something important happens, and the conclusion is the outcome.

Cause and Effect is what happens and why. Cause is why something happens and effect is what happens as a result of the cause.

Predicting outcomes is using clues from a story to help you decide what will most likely happen next. Looking for clues helps us predict what might happen next.

The main idea is the most important idea in a paragraph, passage, or story. It tells us what the work is about. Titles usually give clues about the main idea. Often, the main idea of a paragraph is in the first sentence.

To classify/categorize information is to arrange or organize details from the text with similar characteristics into groups. Look for things that all the items have in common to create a main category. Put objects into separate categories according to shared characteristics.

A fact is a piece of information that can be proven to be true or measured. Opinions are personal statements of how someone feels about a subject, or a theory. Opinions can not be proven true.

To compare/contrast is to view how two or more things are alike (compare) and how they are different (contrast). When you see the word "both", a comparison usually follows. Contrasts usually use the words "in contrast" and "while".

Elements of style are tools used to affect the text by authors. These include boldface, italics, and numbered lists. Italics are usually used to denote other languages. Boldfaced text lets us know that a new topic will follow. Authors sometimes divide information into sections to help organize it in a way that is easy to understand and remember. Subheads are almost another title or headline authors use to let readers know about another section of an article.

Point of view is the perspective of the person telling the story. This can be first person (limited) or third person (omniscient or all-knowing). First person uses "I", "me", and "my". The story is in the words of the main character. We say it is limited because the character gives us all the information. We only know the main character's thoughts.

Voice is the writer's personality, or tone, feelings, emotions, and opinions. Voice can be serious, light, or sad. An author uses voice by using quotes and building tension.

Author's purpose is the reason why the author has written the text for the reader. This can be to inform, to entertain, or to persuade.

Theme is a message or idea that the author is trying to get across.