Weekly Reader materials incorporate a set of inferential thinking skills known as the Concepts of Comprehension^©. This framework of 21 Concepts was developed by a not-for-profit educational organization, Urban Education Exchange (UEE), as a means of helping educators teach reading-comprehension skills-explicitly, simply, and clearly.

Teaching students how to infer meaning from text is the foundation of good reading-comprehension instruction. The research-based Concepts provide a clear and consistent structure that makes it possible to teach these essential skills across all grade levels.

Weekly Reader editions 1, 2, 3, and 4-6 include ideas about how to discuss and use the Concepts with students. Each digital edition of those publications specifically highlight one Concept, and activities in the student editions and Teacher's Guides also reinforce the Concepts.
 

Concept by Concept

Here are the definitions of the 21 Concepts. Most are taught across all grades. A few—such as Pronoun Reference—are pedagogically necessary only in early grades. Others—such as Point of View—are appropriate only for later grades.

Explicit Information is information that can be clearly found "right there" in the text.

Drawing Conclusions is when you figure out what a text means by using what you already know and information from the text.

Vocabulary in Context means figuring out the meaning of a word by looking at the words and sentences around it.

Figurative Language refers to words that mean something other than what they say.

Genre is a type of text, such as fiction or nonfiction.

Sequence is the order of events or steps in a text.

Character refers to the looks, traits, thoughts, actions, and relationships of a person or animal in a text.

Setting tells you where and when a story takes place.

Plot is the events that make up the main story of a text.

Cause & Effect: Cause is the reason why something happens. Effect is what happens as a result.

Predicting is deciding what will most likely happen next in what you are reading.

Main Idea is the big idea in a text. It tells you what the text is mostly about.

Text Features are words and pictures that help organize and highlight information. Examples include headlines, photographs, and captions.

Classify & Categorize: Categorize is when you gather together information that is the same or almost the same. Classify is when you give that information a name.

Fact & Opinion: Fact is information that someone can prove true or false. Opinion is what someone believes about a subject.

Compare & Contrast: Comparing is noticing how two or more things are alike. Contrasting is noticing how they are different.

Pronoun Reference means connecting the pronouns in a sentence to the nouns to which they refer.

Point of View is the viewpoint from which a story is told to the reader.

Voice is how an author expresses his or her personality or attitude through language.

Author's Purpose is the reason why an author has written a text for readers.

Theme is the message that an author is trying to share with the reader.

We welcome your feedback about your experience with the Concepts of Comprehension. Send your comments to editor@weeklyreader.com.
 

Concepts of Comprehension is a trademark of Urban Education Exchange. Used by Permission.