Teach Reading Comprehension With 7 Keys to Comprehension

I purchased the book, 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It! by Susan Zimmerman and Chryse Hutchins.

This books gives parents and teachers practical ways to improve a child's reading comprehension. I focus a lot on learning to read and decode words on my blog. There is so much more to becoming a successful reader. 7 Keys to Comprehension clearly defines and shows ways to teach the complicated thinking processes involved in reading.

The 7 keys are:
1. Create mental images.
2. Use background knowledge.
3. Ask questions.
4. Make inferences.
5. Determine the most important ideas or themes.
6. Synthesize information.
7. Use "fix-up" strategies.

The book shows ways to help preschool readers, emerging readers, and advancing readers develop the 7 keys listed. There are also classroom connection ideas for teachers. I love that this book is geared toward parents. Parents are powerful teachers. We have numerous opportunites to teach our children in a relaxed environment. The challenge is usually how do we teach.

I've started using some of the ideas from 7 Keys to Comprehension with my three children ages 9, 7, and 7. We are reading Socks by Beverly Cleary. Our current focus is on creating mental images. Beverly Cleary's writing provides us with great images. I plan to sprinkle in the other keys while reading this book. I'm already noticing an increased interest from my children. I love hearing their mental images.