Research School Network: Five Minutes on Reading (Comprehension) What is reading comprehension? Find out in 5 minutes

Reading is an active process of constructing meaning from texts. 

The EEF’s recently updated ​‘Improving Literacy in KS2’ guidance report states that the ‘… goal of teaching reading is to enable children to comprehend written texts. To do this, pupils need to build both word reading and language comprehension skills. 

These two key components of reading are supported by a broad academic consensus and underpinned by research evidence. (p.8).’ The EEF’s report goes on to state that its newly developed ​‘Reading House’ illustrates ‘… that word reading and language comprehension are underpinned by a number of other building blocks of reading. These component parts build on one another and connect together as children learn to read. (p.8).’