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Advanced Reading Comprehension

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Advanced Reading Comprehension Episodes help students learn and apply key reading comprehension strategies across a variety of text types while also learning key academic vocabulary.

More About Headsprout Advanced Reading Comprehension Episodes

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Why Use Advanced Reading Comprehension Episodes

Advanced Reading Comprehension Episodes provide students with the skills and strategies needed to understand and answer questions about what they read. Throughout the episodes, students will do the following:

learn and practice strategies for answering questions about texts, including literal comprehension questions, inferential comprehension questions, questions about the main idea, and vocabulary questions requiring the student to derive the meaning of a word or phrase from context
learn over one hundred fifty academic vocabulary words through explicit instruction, with an additional five hundred plus words learned from context and from "just-in-time" vocabulary*
develop skills in reading and answering questions about different types of text, including narrative text, folktales, poems, drama, informational text, instructions, persuasive essays, advertisements, illustrations, and diagrams
become independent in using comprehension strategies across increasingly complex text
engage in activities specifically designed to prepare them for the testing environment

*In "just-in-time" vocabulary, students can click on a word while reading a text to hear the word�s pronunciation and a short, accessible definition.

How to Use Advanced Reading Comprehension Episodes

The online episodes can be used in whatever environment best suits the needs of your students, whether in a computer lab, classroom, library, or at home.
The episodes allow students to work independently, freeing teachers to monitor the entire class.
Teachers can provide encouragement, celebrate student success, and offer support when needed.
All that's needed to use the episodes is an internet-connected computer or mobile device with the sound on; although headphones are recommended to prevent distracting nearby students.

Keys to Success

Complete at least three episodes per week. We recommend that students complete at least three episodes independently each week. If a student needs additional help, teachers can rephrase the instructions to help a student understand expectations in the way best suited for that individual.
Engage students. It is important that students actively read the passages, questions, and answers, and refer to the passage when answering questions. Actively engaging in the steps of each strategy and thinking aloud while solving problems will help ensure students gain meaningful practice as they work through the episodes.
Encourage students. The episodes include positive feedback, but teacher praise and encouragement are strongly recommended as students advance through the program and apply their new skills to reading a variety of materials.