ABSTRACT
Comprehension lies at the heart of reading. It has been defined in a variety of ways but essentially involves getting to grips with a text. A highly complex process, comprehension involves a range of components which work together to help readers make sense of what they are reading. Teaching the range of comprehension strategies: predicting, clarifying, questioning, summarising, connecting, noting text structure, visualising and thinking aloud, aided by reciprocal teaching, allows young readers to develop their own inner thought processes and to develop fluency -an important element in reading comprehension. Comprehension of written texts can be effectively supported by using film. More focused comprehension can be developed through strategies such as those described in DARTS(directed activities related to texts)which support understanding by hands-on manipulation, active analysis and re-presentation of texts and the targeted use of skimming and scanning techniques.
