Which comprehension monitoring strategies are appropriate for second grade?

• A. Silent reading and memorization of text.
• B. Self-questioning, predicting, clarifying unclear passages, and summarizing with teacher guidance.
• C. Rewriting passages in own words without guidance.
• D. Answering only after finishing the entire book.

Answer: (B)

When students monitor their understanding while reading, they actively check meaning and adjust strategies as needed. For second graders, the most helpful approach combines several connected strategies with teacher guidance so students learn how to think about their thinking as they read.

Self-questioning invites students to pause and ask themselves questions like “Do I understand this part?”, “What might happen next?”, or “What does this word mean?” These questions keep meaning in focus and make understanding visible. Predicting serves as a purpose-setting tool—students use clues from the text and their own knowledge to guess what might come next, which keeps them engaged and helps reveal gaps in comprehension. Clarifying involves pausing to resolve confusion, using context clues, rereading, asking for help, or asking a teacher or peer to explain tricky parts. Summarizing in short, kid-friendly ways checks whether the main ideas are grasped and remembered. With teacher guidance, teachers model these practices through think-alouds, provide sentence frames, and gradually release responsibility so students become independent at monitoring their own understanding.

The other options miss key parts of comprehension monitoring. Silent reading and memorization focus on reciting text rather than actively checking meaning as you read. Rewriting passages in one’s own words without guidance can help with expression but doesn’t teach how to monitor understanding or use strategies to resolve confusion. Waiting to answer only after finishing the entire book removes the ongoing checks that help students understand text in real time.

So, self-questioning, predicting, clarifying unclear passages, and summarizing with teacher guidance best support second graders in monitoring and improving their comprehension.