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Read Questions First to Improve Comprehension and Focus

Tags

ELA: Reading All Ages Strategy

Skills

Organization Working Memory Attention Verbal Reasoning Verbal Memory Abstract Reasoning Processing Speed

Read Questions First to Improve Comprehension and Focus

If your student struggles to answer end of chapter questions

Instruction And Practice

  1. Objective: Going through the assignment or end-of-chapter questions before reading will help students narrow in and focus on the most important information while they read.
  2. Guide students to first look at the assignment or end-of-chapter questions before reading. Model and practice with students using the questions as clues to find the most important topics and key words, and how to pick out which paragraphs or parts of the reading should receive the most focus.
  3. Encourage students to challenge themselves by trying to answer, or partly answer, the questions before reading. Generating answers and comparing how they were correct or incorrect will improve long-term recall and understanding.

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

Reading the review questions ahead of the text helps students cue in to the most important information while reading. This strategy can be particularly helpful for students with weaker reading, attention or memory skills. Further challenging yourself to come up with potential answers before reading activates prior knowledge and will help understanding and recall later.