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Comprehension

Comprehension is the ability to understand, remember, and think about what is read. At Hoot, comprehension instruction helps children move beyond decoding words to building knowledge, making connections, and engaging deeply with texts.

What Is Comprehension and Why It Matters

Reading isn’t just about saying the words correctly. It’s about making meaning from them.

Strong comprehension supports success across all subjects because children use reading to learn new information, follow instructions, and explore ideas.

How Hoot Builds Comprehension

Teachers intentionally guide students through conversations and thinking processes that strengthen understanding.

Building Text Knowledge

Every book introduces new ideas, characters, settings, or facts. Teachers help students identify the most important information and remember it as they read or hear a text read aloud to them.

This helps children follow the story or topic more easily and prepares them for deeper thinking later on.

Understanding Text Structure

Different texts are organized in different ways. For example:

  • Stories often include characters, a problem, and a resolution

  • Informational texts may present facts, explanations, or comparisons

Before reading, teachers briefly discuss what kind of text it is so students know what to expect and what to look for.

Looking Closely at Sentences

Sometimes one complex sentence can interrupt understanding.

Teachers help students slow down, unpack important sentences, and restate them in their own words. This is a powerful way to strengthen comprehension.

Developing Verbal Reasoning

Verbal reasoning is the thinking work readers do while reading. This includes:

  • Making predictions

  • Drawing inferences

  • Asking questions

  • Connecting new information to what they already know

Teachers often model their own thinking and invite students to share theirs, helping reading become an active process rather than a passive one.

Growing Vocabulary

Vocabulary plays a major role in comprehension. Children need to understand most of the words in a text to fully understand its meaning.

Teachers support vocabulary by:

  • Pausing briefly to explain important words

  • Using context and glossaries to clarify word meaning

  • Highlighting word parts (prefixes and suffixes)

  • Encouraging students to use new words in conversation

Over time, this builds both language and knowledge.

What if my Child is Still Learning Phonics?

Children who are still developing word-reading skills still deserve rich comprehension experiences.

Teachers spend a portion of lesson time reading grade-level texts aloud so students can focus on understanding, discussing ideas, and building vocabulary, without the extra effort of decoding.

This ensures comprehension grows alongside foundational reading skills.

What This Means for Your Child

As comprehension strengthens, children often become more curious readers. They ask better questions, remember more, and connect ideas across texts.

Most importantly, reading becomes a tool for learning, not just a skill to practice.