Getting students to reread a text is often the first step. Many of our students just do not engage in this strategy. Encouraging students to apply their word attack skills is also a simple yet important step. This means students take their time to look at the context of a word for which they don't know the meaning.
Firstly, students have to ask, what do I already know about the topic. Tuatara, eggs, etc. Next, as they reread the sentence in context, students read what comes before and after the hard or unknown word, e.g. breeding.
Remind students of the mantra, Don't Panic. You're encouraging students to use a variety of reading speeds and strategies as they try to comprehend the question. Our students have these skills, but they tend to give up easily.
Lastly, explain that the structure of a maths question is the opposite of most other paragraphs. The topic comes first, then details are added, but the most important information comes last. These are the instructions, the imperatives, and the interrogatives, such as: calculate, find, how much, etc. Make students aware that being able to find these features in a maths question is an essential life skill as well as an important comprehension skill.
Tell students that comprehension doesn't happen automatically; understanding a text is a task to be undertaken by using comprehension strategies. Completing a maths problem is a goal; comprehending a maths problem is also a goal.
Comprehension is a complex process, make students aware of this aspect of their education.
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