English // English Thinking
Monitoring Comprehension
Notice the difference between decoding words and actually understanding them — recognise when you've read the words but not grasped the meaning, and do something about it
Quick check
After the learner reads a paragraph or listens to an explanation, do they notice when they haven't really understood it — rather than just carrying on as if they had?
Ask this to see whether the topic is secure.
Topic // Mastery
What mastery looks like
- comprehension monitoring research
- Metacognitive Monitoring in Reading Comprehension (MDPI 2024)
Topic // Map
Where this fits
- RequiredMust come first
- HelpfulHelps, but not essential
Before this
2 topics- Reading for MeaningRequired
English Thinking // Ages 5 to 6
Noticing the gap between decoding and understanding requires first having the foundational idea that reading means making meaning
- Feeling of not understandingHelpful
Learning to Learn // Learning to Learn // Ages 6 to 7
Noticing the decoding/understanding gap is the English-specific form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
You are here
Monitoring Comprehension
Ages 6 to 8 // Thinking skill
Leads to
3 topics- Inference vs Explicit MeaningRequired
English Thinking // Ages 7 to 9
Distinguishing literal from inferred requires first being able to monitor whether you have actually understood — you must notice comprehension before you can interrogate its source
- Author's word choicesRequired
English Thinking // Ages 7 to 9
Recognising authorial effects requires reading for meaning rather than just decoding — you can only notice the effect of a word choice if you are genuinely engaging with meaning
Reading Comprehension // Ages 5 to 11
Self-correcting while reading requires the awareness that decoding correctly is not the same as understanding
English // English Thinking
More in English Thinking
- Reviewing Own WritingAges 8 to 10Thinking skillEvaluate whether your own writing achieves the effect you intended on a reader — go beyond checking for correctness to asking whether it actually works
- Knowing What You Don't KnowAges 8 to 10Thinking skillMonitor your own vocabulary gaps — notice words you half-know, distinguish confident from uncertain knowledge, and develop strategies to resolve the uncertainty
- Reflecting on Your Language UseAges 10 to 11Thinking skillReflect on yourself as a language user — how your reading, writing, and speaking shift across audiences, purposes, and contexts, and where you want to develop…