Planning for reading comprehension across secondary subjects

A weaker class pattern in reading comprehension can affect access to dense subject texts even when pupils can read the words accurately. They may lack assumed knowledge, misunderstand essential terminology or fail to connect evidence across a passage.

Subject teachers can address this through deliberate text preparation rather than a generic list of comprehension strategies.

Establish the reading purpose

Decide what pupils need to understand and what evidence they must notice. State this before reading.

For an explanatory science text, pupils may need to trace a process. In history, they may need to evaluate a source's claim. In geography, they may need to connect information from prose, data and a diagram.

Choose one directing question that fits that purpose.

Prepare what the text assumes

Identify:

essential terminology;
knowledge the author assumes;
references to earlier ideas;
the paragraph where the argument or explanation becomes most demanding.

Teach only the knowledge and vocabulary needed to access the text. Then divide the passage at meaningful points, not at arbitrary lengths.

At each stopping point, ask a question that builds the intended understanding. For example: “What has the writer claimed?”, “Which evidence supports it?” and “How does this paragraph change or qualify the claim?”

Adjust the amount of planning

Where comprehension is slightly weaker, clarify the purpose and the evidence pupils need. Where the pattern is lower, prepare vocabulary, activate relevant knowledge and plan connection questions around the demanding sections.

End by returning to the original purpose. Ask pupils to explain the answer using the text, not memory of the teacher's explanation.

When some pupils need more

This is disciplinary literacy for the whole class. Some pupils may also need a personal vocabulary preview, a focused check during reading or a different level of text access. Plan those for the pupils who need them.