Reading Comprehension: Reading And Language Arts Terms Explained

Plain-language definitions of every reading comprehension term your child meets in school, each with kid-friendly explanations, worked examples, and common mistakes to watch for.

Activating prior knowledge

Activating prior knowledge is a reading strategy where a reader thinks about what they already know about a topic, text type, or vocabulary before and during reading, then uses that background knowledge to make sense of and remember what they read.

Author's point of view

An author's point of view is the way the author thinks and feels about a topic or situation, which shows up in how they choose words, details, and characters to tell a story or explain information.

Author's purpose

Author's purpose is the reason an author writes a text, such as to inform, to persuade, to entertain, or to explain an idea.

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