Your comprehensive toolkit for strengthening reading comprehension.
Comprehension Builder is a practical resource that makes it easy for teachers to effectively and efficiently develop lasting comprehension skills for readers, regardless of age, instructional setting, time constraints, or areas of need.
Buy Now! Download Two FREE Lessons!
For learners of all ages working at beginning to intermediate skill levels
Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading.
Word recognition and language comprehension work together to help a reader achieve this goal—but the process to get there is not as straightforward as it sounds. Reading comprehension is not an inherent byproduct—it requires active engagement and deliberate effort. Rather than passively taking in meaning, good readers analyze text, internalize it, and make meaning for themselves. Many developing readers struggle with this process, which is why it's part of our role as their educators to explicitly teach them how to interact deeply with text.
We do so through direct instruction in comprehension strategies and academic language, paired with structured support in meaningful, content-rich, and knowledge-building contexts. Even after students learn these strategies, we must continue to provide abundant opportunities for practice across their education and within multiple subject areas.
Benefits of Comprehension Builder:
Minimizes Prep Time
Enables Flexibility
Streamlines Implementation
Fosters Professional Growth
Addresses Learning Challenges
Scales Across Grade Levels
Deepens Engagement
Builds Knowledge
Sparks Curiosity
Increases Confidence
Raises Test Scores
Fosters High-Level Thinking
How does Comprehension Builder work?
Comprehension Builder makes use of explicit teaching, modeling, gradual release of responsibility, collaborative learning, frequent opportunities to respond (OTR), and scaffolded support. It includes high-interest, knowledge-building text with rich vocabulary, numerous options for adapting and differentiating instruction, and practical suggestions for extending practice beyond Comprehension Builder lessons.
See It in ActionWhat you need, when you need it.
Comprehension Builder aims to take the stress out of teaching reading comprehension by providing flexible lessons to give you the control you need when designing instruction.
Each lesson and activity can be customized to fit the needs of your students, no matter their current reading level, or whether you're working with individual students, small groups, or a whole class.
When we teach students how to think when they are reading, we are teaching reading comprehension strategies. Teachers may use these lessons to explicitly teach strategies that students can carry into any reading context and to support the development of healthy reading habits that foster deep engagement and meaningful interaction with text.Strategy Lessons
- Before-Reading Strategies
- During-Reading Strategies
- After-Reading Strategies
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To truly understand text, readers must be able to approach it from multiple angles—identifying key details, recognizing relationships, evaluating ideas, and summarizing the content and intent. Teachers may use these lessons to strengthen students' comprehension skills in preparation for comprehension assessments, or on an as-needed basis to provide targeted support when gaps are identified.Question-Specific Lessons
- Detail (Literal)
- Short Answer
- Vocabulary
- Main Idea
- Fact and Opinion
- Cause and Effect
- Compare and Contrast
- Graphical Information
- Author's Purpose
- Making Inferences
- Retelling and Summarizing
Comprehension Builder is a game-changer. Don't just take our word for it.
Here's what your fellow educators are saying about Comprehension Builder.
The [Comprehension Builder] lessons are in the same format students will see in Read Naturally Live, which is very helpful. I have seen an increase in understanding of the question type from several of my students in their quiz performance.
This resource is very useful for teachers of students that require explicit teaching (which about 60-75% of students require). Students are engaged with the lessons, which go hand in hand with the Read Naturally Live passages and comprehension questions.
My students enjoyed the change of pace that came with direct instruction in my classroom. It led to good conversations and students participating in ways and levels they may struggle with in the general education classroom. I would say the biggest effect was students gaining confidence with participation in discussions.
In my role I have 30 minutes, sometimes only once a week, to work with a student on comprehension. These systematic lessons allow me to do that strategically and the prep is minimal.
It is nice to have all the resources prepared for me. The lessons are clear and concise and at multiple grade levels so I can use the same base lesson for different groups of students easily. The students were very willing to participate in the lessons.
What I appreciated most about Comprehension Builder is how closely it aligns with what we already do in Read Naturally Live. I believe in Read Naturally and am a huge fan, as well as a witness to its impact on my students. I will use if for the remainder of my career, and now I have an additional tool in my toolbelt that blends perfectly into my existing program.
I've noticed that my reading comprehension instruction is more explicit and I am not merely assessing reading comprehension. I'm actively doing something to impact it.
I like how each different question type has multiple activities to reinforce the concept. The way they are broken down and repeated practice is offered for each one allows students to experience success which is a great confidence booster.
Download 2 FREE Comprehension Builder Lessons!
Before-Reading Strategies Lesson
In this lesson, students will learn to employ the evidence-based practices of activating prior knowledge, learning key words, and making predictions to help them prepare to read and construct meaning. Using these practices provides students with a framework from which to expand their knowledge and understanding and deepen connections to new information as they read.
Download Lesson, Resources, and Practice StoriesActivities in This Lesson:
- Activity 1: Activating Prior Knowledge
- Activity 2: Learning Key Words
- Activity 3: Making a Prediction
- Activity 4: Practice
- Activity 5: Review
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Lesson Activities
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Activity Resources
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Practice Stories
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Making Inferences Question-Specific Lesson
In this lesson, students will learn about making inferences generally and how more information or clues can lead them to adjust their understanding of things. They will also learn how to answer questions by making inferences. This lesson will teach students that answers to inferential questions are not directly stated in the text of the story. Students will learn that they need to look for clues and consider what the text says to infer or figure out an answer based on the information the author provides.
Download Lesson, Resources, and Practice Stories Watch the Full LessonActivities in This Lesson:
- Activity 1: Looking for Clues
- Activity 2: Stay or Switch Game
- Activity 3: Reading and Making Inferences
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Lesson Activities
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Activity Resources
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Practice Stories
Ready to revolutionize the way you teach reading comprehension?
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