FreeReading is an open source instructional program that helps educators teach early literacy. Because it is open source, it represents the collective wisdom of a wide community of teachers and researchers. FreeReading contains Comprehension Activities, a page of activities to address important comprehension skills and strategies.

This article discusses how creating Readers Theater scripts from informational text can improve fluency and build comprehension.

In this video segment from Garden Insects, learn about six varieties of spiders that live in one garden.

This What Works Clearinghouse guide presents strategies that classroom teachers and specialists can use to increase the reading ability of adolescent students. The recommendations aim to help students gain more from their reading tasks, improve their motivation for and engagement in the learning process, and assist struggling readers who may need intensive and individualized attention.

In this Wide Angle video segment, a young Indian girl talks about her life, family, education and daily routine.

This article discusses explicitly teaching and assessing listening comprehension skills in the elementary grades and provides templates for classroom use.

This video segment from Between the Lions features a catchy song that celebrates an important function of literacy: access to information. It also shows the wide world of print, and all of the knowledge that can be gained from it.

This lesson utilizes the experience-text-relationship method to enhance comprehension and prediction skills of the story "Coyote and the Rolling Stone," a traditional tale shared by the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation. It also helps students become familiar with cultural storytelling and its importance in Native cultures. Students will have a brief introduction to the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation and its location in Utah. The lesson includes an experience-eliciting discussion/activity, a discussion about the students' reading of the story, and a discussion relating students' experiences to the content of the story.

This article provides an overview of questioning as a reading strategy and includes templates and links to books, lesson plans, and web sites for more information.

In this video segment from Between the Lions, Sloppy Pop's song Read the Signs spotlights the letters and words we see on signs every day, encouraging children to be aware of print in their environment.

This article discusses the importance of teaching students to reflect on text through direct instruction and modeling. The article includes a template that can be used with elementary students.

This lesson is to help early readers and non readers understand and recall information from the story Caps for Sale, by Esphyr Slobodkina. This lesson is primarily for preschool children, but can be used with kindergarteners. Children will listen to the story of a peddler trying to sell his caps. The peddler takes a rest under a tree and when he awaks, the caps, which he keeps on his head, have vanished. He looks around and finally realizes that it's monkeys in a tree who have taken his caps. Once the story is read, children will choose a stick out a jar, containing a question or prompt about the book. This lesson is designed for a small group (3-5) of children. There are several extensions that can be done with this lesson including acting out the story and a small art project. 

This article discusses the reading comprehension strategy of visualization and how it can be used to enhance students' understanding of content-area text. Templates and links are provided.