U is for Understanding: Building Literacy Skills

U is for understanding (verb form).  How do we build skills in this area?  A synonym for understanding is comprehension.  Does the child comprehend the text and the question? This is key to success when taking a test or completing an assignment

Today my dad is in hospital and I had to answer scenario questions online.  I did not fully understand what they were asking me to do but I had a time limit so I forged ahead, only to comprehend it better as I moved through it.  I realized I was not answering the question correctly and had to adjust my answer.  However, because my time was limited, I unfortunately do not think I ended up properly reconstructing my response.  This wasn't a lack of knowledge or skill but to an outsider, it would appear to be that that was the case.  I had a busy day and had just heard bad news and my brain could not process as effectively as usual.  Understanding a child's day, their health status, their level of alertness and their emotional state will help you better assess their ability to understand you.  It takes more patience and clarity to help them succeed on off days. You may need to repeat yourself or simplify your words or questions to aid them. 

I did not fully comprehend on first pass but after rereading the question a few times, it sunk in and I was able to start building a correct response  Repeating a question is a great technique to help a person grasp it and have time to sort out their answer.  Others benefit from the rephrasing of a question.  Wording something a little differently can also help with comprehension.   Using visuals, providing verbal cues or examples or demonstrating the concept or technique is also useful.

To assess understanding, we typically ask them to demonstrate their comprehension by answering questions.  It could be yes/no or single word responses. It could be connecting the text to your own situation or that of the world around you.  It could be providing quotes or examples from the text to illustrate a point.  Answering the who, what, where, why, when and how questions also are useful to demonstrate understanding.  So, if you are looking to build skills in this area, practice answering questions based on texts.  Can they sequence the events of the story in the correct order? Can they provide the correct true or false or multiple choice answer?  Working on these questions helps people learn how to do it well (practice makes perfect concept) so it is a good idea to work on different question formats to help work on comprehension skills.

Of course, it is not all simple facts, it is understanding the nuances of the text, the hidden meanings and subtle messages, the tone and mood of the communication.  It is recognizing the significance of the text and understanding not just the information but the importance of the text in daily living.  How does it apply?  Is it right? True? Valuable? Relevant?  

Communicating with the child(ren) in your life and asking questions and truly listening to their answers will not only help you know if they understand a text, but also if they understand how to assess the world they live in.  It will reveal to you not only their level of comprehension, but what they think and how they process information.  You will discover not only what they understand, but so much more about who they are as individuals.  The conversations that can arise from simple questions may become points of deep philosophical discussion, heated argumentative debate, deeply personal, soulful sharing or simple small talk that connects people in social interaction.  All of it is valuable.  I encourage you to take time to ask questions and help the child(ren) in your life build the skills of understanding and comprehension!


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