Stellar Teacher Podcast: A Podcast for Upper Elementary Teachers

235. 3 Powerful Routines to Boost Reading Comprehension in Your Classroom

Jan 13, 2025

Struggling with reading comprehension? Discover three effective routines to boost your students' understanding. Explore the vital connection between vocabulary and comprehension, along with a structured five-step approach to teach critical vocabulary. Learn how writing about reading enhances skills, especially for those who need extra support. Implement a consistent fluency practice to elevate reading success in your classroom. These actionable strategies are designed to empower both teachers and students in their literacy journey.

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ADVICE

Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

Explicitly teach vocabulary to boost comprehension.
Focus on a few key words weekly, even if you can't teach every word.

INSIGHT

Reciprocal Relationship: Vocabulary & Comprehension

Strong comprehension improves vocabulary acquisition, creating a reciprocal relationship.
This effect, known as the Matthew effect, can widen the gap between strong and weak readers.

ADVICE

Five-Step Vocabulary Routine

Use a 5-step process: define, analyze structure, clarify context, connect to known words, and engage students.
Focus on tier two vocabulary words, essential for understanding and common in various texts.

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Are your students struggling to fully understand what they read? Teaching reading comprehension can be one of the most challenging parts of literacy instruction, but it’s also incredibly rewarding when you see your students grow as confident, capable readers. In today’s episode, we’re diving into three powerful routines that can help you strengthen your students’ reading comprehension and transform how they engage with texts.

These routines focus on three key areas: explicit vocabulary instruction, writing about reading, and fluency practice. Grounded in research and designed to be practical for busy classrooms, each strategy provides a clear path to building the skills students need to deepen their understanding of what they read. When implemented consistently, these routines can make a meaningful difference in your students’ reading success.

Reading comprehension isn’t something that happens by chance—it’s the result of intentional instruction and consistent routines. In this episode, I’ll walk you through actionable steps for each routine, making it easy to incorporate them into your literacy block. Whether you’re supporting struggling readers or refining your teaching practices, these strategies will empower your students to thrive in literacy this semester and beyond.

If you’re participating in our Comprehension Reset Challenge, this episode aligns with what you’ve been learning. Haven’t joined yet? There’s still time! Sign up at stellarteacher.com/reset to access daily videos packed with evidence-based strategies. Let’s kick off the semester by resetting your approach to comprehension instruction.

Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: stellarteacher.com/join!

Follow me on Instagram @thestellarteachercompany.

To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode235.