Making Reading Stick: Active Reading Comprehension Strategies and Why They Work
Written By Alex Bellantuono, PhD
As schoolwork ramps up in late elementary, middle, and high school, many families notice a similar pattern: kids spend a lot of time “studying,” but not a lot of information seems to stick. They reread chapters, highlight notes, or stare at slides—and then feel blindsided by quizzes and tests.
Research in cognitive and educational psychology suggests that the issue is rarely effort or motivation alone. It’s how students are studying. Strategies that keep students passive (like rereading and highlighting) tend to be far less effective than strategies that ask them to actively think about, explain, and quiz themselves on what they’re learning.
Think of your child’s brain like a filing cabinet. When they jump straight into dense text with no preparation, it’s like dropping loose papers into an overstuffed drawer—information goes in, but it’s hard to find later.
Previewing and elaborating on information are two key processes that help students retain a great deal of information from what they read. They are what give the brain labels, folders, and links to facilitate retrieval of information and deeper learning.
Previewing (skimming titles, headings, visuals, and key terms before reading) helps students activate what they already know and set a purpose for reading. Research on pre-reading and background knowledge shows that this kind of preparation leads to better comprehension, especially as texts get more complex.
You can teach your child to preview by having them:
Read the title and headings/subheadings
Skim bold or italicized words
Look at pictures, diagrams, charts, and captions
Explain new or unfamiliar vocabulary words
Notice any chapter goals, key questions, or summaries
Then, ask:
“What do you think this section is mostly about?”
“What do you already know about this topic?”
“What do you think you’ll need to remember from this?”
Elaboration essentially means “doing something with that information”. It includes paraphrasing, asking “why” and “how” questions, making examples, and connecting new ideas to familiar ones. Large reviews of learning techniques show that elaborative strategies such as self-explanation and “why” questions support deeper, longer-lasting learning.
Elaboration can look like:
Paraphrasing – putting information into your own words
Explaining “why” or “how” – elaborative interrogation
Connecting to prior knowledge – “This reminds me of…”
Making simple examples – “An example of this would be…”
Research shows that when students are prompted to explain new ideas in their own words and connect them to what they already know, they remember and understand more than if they only reread the text.
These strategies become increasingly important in middle and high school, when textbooks assume more background knowledge and tests expect students not just to remember facts, but to explain, compare, and apply them.
They are also especially important for students with ADHD or specific learning disabilities, who may have more difficulty holding details in mind or organizing information as they read. Strategy instruction that explicitly teaches students to preview, summarize, and monitor their understanding has been shown to benefit struggling readers in upper elementary through high school.
Troubleshooting: What happens when my child has trouble elaborating on or connecting information?
This is usually a signal that they feel stuck, unsure, or overwhelmed—not that they’re unwilling to think. Instead of pressing the same question, you can gently scaffold. These are also excellent moments to model how to approach these strategies. Here are some things to try:
Narrow the task: “Let’s just pick one sentence—what is this part saying in your own words?” or offer choices: “Is this more about how something works or why it happens.
Model your thinking: “If I had to explain this, I might say…” then invite them to tweak or correct you.
Simple Prompting: Begging with simpler prompts such as “What surprised you?”, “What does this remind you of in other stories/real-world situations you know?”
Shorten Reading Before Paraphrasing: Shorten the amount of reading your child does before questioning.
A Structured Approach: SQ3R
SQ3R, short for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review, is an effective reading comprehension strategy that essentially combines previewing, elaboration, and self-quizzing in one routine.
Here is how it works:
1. Survey – The Preview
Skim titles, headings, visuals, summaries to activate prior knowledge and outline of what’s coming.
2. Question – Turning Headings Into Curiosity
Turn headings into questions primes the brain to look for meaningful answers, which supports comprehension and focus.. For example, the heading “Photosynthesis” becomes the question “How does photosynthesis work and why is it important for plants?”
3. Read – Look for Answers, Not Just Words
Students read a short section looking for the answer to their question.Reading now has a clear purpose, which reduces the “eyes moving but mind wandering” problem many students describe.
4. Recite – Paraphrase and Retrieve
Look away from the book and say or write the answer in their own words without looking. This combines paraphrasing (elaboration) with retrieval practice—recalling information from memory instead of just seeing it again. Research on retrieval practice shows that self-testing like this significantly boosts long-term retention across many ages and subjects.
If a student gets stuck here, they simply peek back, reread, and try again—struggle here is a normal part of learning, not a failure.
5. Review – Locking It In
At the end, students quickly review their questions and answers, and identify the three most important ideas. This final step strengthens memory traces and helps students see how ideas fit together, rather than remembering isolated facts.
Ultimately, the goal is to shift your child's study habits from passive, low-impact strategies like endless rereading and highlighting to active ones that emphasize processing, connecting, and retrieving information. This active engagement is not just about earning better grades; it's about building a deeper, longer-lasting understanding that serves them far beyond the next exam. Learning these skills is a process, and by modeling and scaffolding these strategies, you are equipping your child with the most powerful tools for lifelong learning.
References
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
Nabilla, A., & Asmara, C. H. (2022). The effect of SQ3R method on improving students’ reading skill. English Education Journal, 12(4), 510–525.
Peng, P., Wang, W., Filderman, M. J., Zhang, W., & Lin, L. (2023). The active ingredient in reading comprehension strategy intervention for struggling readers: A Bayesian network meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 94(2), 228–267.
Roediger, H. L., III, & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
