Research consistently supports the importance of engaging students at multiple stages—before, during, and after reading—to enhance reading comprehension and facilitate deeper learning. Each stage has a specific purpose that collectively supports students’ ability to activate prior knowledge, manage new ideas, and reflect upon learning, ultimately strengthening their comprehension skills and building a foundation for long-term memory. Each stage is integral to successful reading instruction and supports students’ growth as confident, independent readers.
Before Reading: Building Context for Deeper Understanding
Setting context for reading is a foundational activity that teachers can strategically plan to optimize student engagement with a text. Before-reading strategies allow students to activate their prior knowledge, set purposes for reading, and build connections that make new content more accessible. Research suggests that pre-reading activities that include Prediction-Making prompts or Anticipation Guides help students engage with key themes and establish expectations, which can improve comprehension. Pre-reading strategies, that utilize Writing to Learn, Academic Dialogue, and/or Vocabulary Development, invite students to collaboratively explore concepts, fostering curiosity and investment in the reading. These collaborative activities encourage students to organize their thinking and approach the text with a clearer purpose.
During Reading: Active Engagement with Comprehension Monitoring
The during-reading phase is crucial for supporting students’ ability to interact actively with the text, monitoring their understanding, and making adjustments as needed. Identify strategies that promote active engagement, which can enhance comprehension and deepen students’ connections to the text. For instance, Double-Entry Organizers allow students to identify or record specific passages on one side of the page and their reactions, questions, or insights on the other. This format encourages reflective reading and helps students process information in real time. Additionally, Graphic Organizers, such as Cause-and-Effect charts, See.Think.Wonders., or Sequence Maps, offer structured ways to capture key ideas and relationships within the text, guiding students to organize their thoughts and focus on critical information. Additionally, the use of Text Codes, where students highlight or underline key phrases, or circle unfamiliar vocabulary, coupled with brief comments or questions in the margins, enhances engagement and serves as a tool for interacting with content later. By providing these structured, active reading approaches, educators can empower students to monitor comprehension, interact with the material meaningfully, and retain essential information.
After Reading: Reflecting, Synthesizing, and Solidifying Understanding
After-reading strategies are essential for reinforcing comprehension and supporting students in synthesizing information for long-term memory. Research underscores the role of after-reading activities in enhancing comprehension by encouraging students to make connections to other texts, content or existing schema. After-reading activities enable students to reflect on their learning, make inferences, and integrate new knowledge with prior understanding. Students can consolidate information, correct misunderstandings, and apply knowledge by using strategies such as discussion-based synthesis, concept mapping, or collaborative summarization. These activities mirror the importance of pre-reading, as both stages frame and deepen the comprehension experience, allowing students to fully process and retain what they have learned.
Supporting and developing reading comprehension skills requires intentional engagement before, during, and after reading. Each phase serves a unique purpose and contributes to students’ ability to access prior knowledge, engage with new ideas, and synthesize information for lasting understanding. Through thoughtful planning and strategy integration, educators can foster students’ growth as confident, reflective readers capable of navigating diverse texts independently.