Stages of Reading Comprehension Lesson

Nur Arif Bin Kamal Nor Azizi Bin Abd Rahman Muhammad Yazid Bin Ghazali

Pre-reading
To prepare students for reading. Pre-reading activities are most important at lower levels of language proficiency and at earlier stages of reading instruction.

During pre-reading teacher may:

Assess students' background knowledge of the topic and linguistic content of the text. Give students the background knowledge necessary for comprehension of the text, or activate the existing knowledge that the students possess. Make students aware of the type of text they will be reading and the purpose(s) for reading. Provide opportunities for group or collaborative work and for class discussion activities.

Sample pre-reading activities

Using the title, subtitles, and divisions within the text to predict content and organization or sequence of information. Looking at pictures, maps, diagrams, or graphs and their captions. Talking about the author's background, writing style, and usual topics. Skimming to find the theme or main idea and eliciting related prior knowledge.

While-reading
Making predictions: The readers should be taught to be on the watch to predict what is going to happen next in the text to be able to integrate and combine what has come with what is to come. Making selections: Readers who are more proficient read selectively, continually making decisions about their reading. Integrating prior knowledge: The schemata that have been activated in the pre-reading section should be called upon to facilitate comprehension.

 Skipping insignificant parts: A good reader will concentrate on significant pieces of information while skipping insignificant pieces. Re-reading: Readers should be encouraged to become sensitive to the effect of reading on their comprehension. Making use of context or guessing: Readers should not be encouraged to define and understand every single unknown word in a text. Instead they should learn to make use of context to guess the meaning of unknown words.
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Post-reading
Post-Reading activities encourage student to reflect upon what they have read. For the information to stay with the students, they need to go beyond simply reading it to using it. Using it can involve answering questions, summarizing main ideas, drawing conclusions, or applying the information to a new situation.

Sample Post-reading Activities

Discussing the text: Written/Oral Summarizing: Written/Oral Making questions: Written/Oral Answering questions: Written/Oral Filling in forms and charts Writing reading logs Completing a text Listening to or reading other related materials Role-playing