Key Strategies for Improving Reading Skills and Becoming a Middle School Skilled Reader 

Your student is asked to read all the time….“Read your textbook for homework. Read a chapter from your novel. Read the instructions before you start.” Reading is everywhere! From school assignments to everyday tasks at home, students are constantly surrounded by text. But here’s the real question: Do they truly understand what they’re reading? For families, building these skills early not only helps with middle school success but also lays the foundation for strong study habits later on. 

Finding Success Between the Pages: Reading Skills Strategies 

Helping students comprehend what they are reading allows them to get the most out of the text. Teaching students to use these strategies before, during and after reading will improve their comprehension. Try the following strategies with your student, focusing on one at a time with each reading passage or assignment. As they become more familiar with each, encourage them to use them regularly while reading all texts to promote better comprehension. 

1. Previewing 

Previewing uses graphics, charts, text and personal experiences to anticipate what is being read. This strategy awakens their prior knowledge. When combined with previewing the text, students form predictions, making comprehension of the text easier. Use a Prediction Chart to lay out your student’s predictions after previewing the text. 

2. Text Structures 

While reading text, students can use a variety of resources to help them organize and better understand how the text is laid out. It allows students to hone in on key points of the text. This strategy is used most often in expository text because students can find themselves “lost” in the material. The 5 most important text structures are:  

• • Description 

• • Cause and Effect 

• • Compare and Contrast 

• • Chronology/Sequence 

• • Problem and Solution  

Students can use a text structure organizer for each of these types to help them organize what they have read and give them the ability to review the key facts. 

3. Annotating

While reading, students may find placing sticky notes in the text or writing intentional comments in their book (if allowed) a helpful tool. As students read, keeping these metacognitive marks assists in the retention of the material in a unique way.  

Annotating includes:   

• • Asking questions 

• • Adding personal comments or connections 

• • Draw pictures 

• • Mark items that are important 

• • Summarize 

4. Self-Monitoring 

Students who do not self-monitor will retain less. Self-monitoring is the ability to check your understanding as you read and recognize whether the text makes sense. This technique can be used before reading by clarifying their purpose, during reading, to monitor their reading speed to ensure comprehension if the text gets difficult, and after reading a passage to check for understanding. Use the following monitoring strategies:  

• • Identify where the difficulty occurs  

• • Restate the difficult sentence or passage in own words 

• • Look back through the text 

Making notes in the text while reading or on a sticky note also provides clarity of the information and the ability to retain the information easier. Try using a Self-Monitoring Key Card during reading.  

Building Blocks of Reading Success 

As we grow as readers, it’s important to remember that reading skills are built on each other. Your student learned at a young age phonics to help them learn to read. As students progress through school, teachers build on more core components of reading skills such as vocabulary and fluency. Using these strategies, along with several others such as finding the main idea, visualizing, and retelling, your student will become a skilled reader and be more proficient and confident in their reading abilities. For parents looking ahead, we’ve also put together a High School & College Summer Reading List  that can provide inspiration for the next steps in their academic journey. 

Strong reading skills now are the building blocks for long-term academic success. For more tips on preparing for future academic milestones, check out our guide on Academic Success in High School.