Planning for reading comprehension in primary lessons

A weaker class pattern in reading comprehension may mean pupils need more help connecting vocabulary, prior knowledge and ideas across a text. The most useful response is to plan around the specific text and the understanding the lesson requires.

Avoid presenting a long menu of generic strategies. Start with what pupils need to understand from this text.

Plan four things before reading

Identify:

the main reading purpose;
the essential vocabulary;
any prior knowledge the text assumes;
the evidence pupils will need to find or connect.

Turn the purpose into one well-chosen question. It should direct attention to the central idea rather than test a minor detail.

For example, before reading an explanation of water transport in plants, ask: “How does water move from the roots to the leaves?” Pre-teach only the terms needed to follow that explanation, then pause where the text introduces each stage.

Use purposeful stopping points

Choose two or three places to stop. At each point, ask pupils to retrieve, connect or explain something that matters to the final understanding.

Useful prompts include:

What have we learnt so far?
How does this sentence connect to the diagram?
Which part helps answer our main question?
What changed between these two points?

Keep pupils returning to the text for evidence. Discussion should clarify meaning, not replace reading.

Adjust the level of preparation

If comprehension is only slightly weaker, clarifying the purpose and one key question may be sufficient. If the class pattern is lower, plan more explicit vocabulary teaching, activate the necessary knowledge and divide a demanding text into meaningful sections.

After reading, ask pupils to answer the original question using evidence from the text. Their responses will show whether the planned support helped.

When some pupils need more

This is whole-class preparation. A pupil who needs repeated individual checking, a personal vocabulary preview or an adapted text may require Focused support.