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Improve My Child’s Reading Comprehension Skills (Part 5 – Synthesizing) TutorGiant.com When we refer to reading comprehension skills, we are referring to the way that a reader understands beyond the literal meaning of a story or text. A reader, who understands the message in a fairy tale, develops a new opinion from a report, gains a deeper understanding of a written opinion, or understands a character’s motivation, changes his or her thinking. We can both gain knowledge and gain insight by reading. Knowledge comes from consistent reading and can be more easily acquired. Insight, on the other hand, is something that comes from the ‘skill’ of reading. By teaching students the reading process, we are teaching them how to learn. In order for a student to improve his/her comprehension, he/she must learn how to ‘synthesize. Synthesizing occurs when a reader combines new information with background and existing knowledge in order to create an original concept or interpretation. The reading skill of synthesizing requires the proficient abilities of another reading skill, determining importance. That is, students must determine what concepts are significant and use those ideas to create an original thought. You can help your child learn to synthesize when reading at home. Try to follow these steps by working with your child when he/she reads with you. 1. As your child reads, occasionally (at opportune times), stop your child and have him collect his thoughts before reading on. Ask him to put together everything he has read so far and what he ‘thinks’ about it. 2. Have your child determine important ideas (see Part 4) in order to sift through information that is needed for synthesizing. 3. Have your child identify main ideas and themes. 4. Show your child the major themes, morals and the ‘bigger picture’. 5. Get your child to come up with conclusions about the themes and major ideas. 6. Finally, get your child to combine the information he has read with his background knowledge and form a new idea, opinion, or view of the topic. Synthesizing is the reading skill that we want our children to be able to do proficiently. Synthesizing is the byproduct of the other reading skills. It is the end product of reading, that is, synthesizing is the taking of information and creating a new perspective. As you read with your child, you can follow the above steps. The reading skill of synthesizing doesn’t develop overnight. Be persistent and patient. Synthesizing is a developmental process that evolves in small increments. ©Tutorgiant.com Tutorgiant.com provides complete Reading Comprehension lessons with worksheets. See some of the lessons in our video library. |
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