Use fix-up strategies: 

Good readers are aware of when they understand and when they don't.  If they have trouble understanding specific words, phrases or longer passages, they use a wide range of problem-solving strategies including skipping ahead, rereading, asking questions, using a dictionary and reading the passage aloud.  It is the reader's job to determine when the text does not make sense.  Good readers will stop reading when they don't understand what they've read and figure out how to fix the problem.  Some fix-up options are:

• reread
• read ahead
• ask new questions
• draw inferences
• make predictions
• figure out unknown words
• seek help from someone or an outside source such as a dictionary, encyclopedia, etc.
• stop to think
• connect what you are reading to your background knowledge
• try to form a mental picture of what you are reading
• look at pictures to see if they help with the meaning
• define the purpose for why you are reading

   

  Excerpted from 7 Keys to Comprehension:  How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It! by:  Susan Zimmerman and Chryse Hutchins