Strategies for Teaching
Reading Comprehension in
the Content Areas
Reading Comprehension in
the Content Areas
Comprehensive reading occurs when a student truly understands what he or she is reading (Brummitt-Yale, n.d.). In order to achieve reading comprehension, the student must possess a knowledge of the vocabulary presented in the text and have the ability to read fluently. In addition, the student must be able to recognize the connection between words in context. In the content areas, this can be a challenge for students who have little background knowledge of the topics or concepts that are being addressed in a given text (Cunningham, Cunningham, Moore, & Moore, 2011). Because of the wide-range of aspects involved in building reading comprehension, teachers in the content areas face a tough task in making sure that students understand the material that is presented to them in various text sources. This website presents a number of strategies that can be used before reading, during reading, and after reading to teach reading comprehension in the content areas.