READING TO UNDERSTAND: A LOOK AT READING COMPREHENSION

Abstract

Reading comprehension is an essential skill that allows students to interpret, analyze, and construct meaning from texts. This competency is not only key to academic performance but also fundamental to the development of critical thinking, intellectual autonomy, and active participation in society. Reading with comprehension involves much more than decoding words: it involves interacting with the text, formulating hypotheses, making inferences, and connecting information with previous experiences. The purpose of this article is to offer teachers a clear and in-depth view of the importance of teaching reading for comprehension, highlighting the role of reading strategies, the reader's context, and pedagogical support as elements that foster this process. Furthermore, it seeks to motivate educators to implement teaching practices that promote reflective and meaningful reading at different educational levels and in different areas of knowledge. The methodological framework is based on a documentary and theoretical review that allows for the exploration of different approaches to reading comprehension, analyzing previous research, cognitive models, and pedagogical proposals. This approach allows for an orderly and coherent presentation of the factors that influence understanding, as well as practical suggestions for strengthening it in the classroom, thus promoting an education centered on thinking, analysis, and active learning.