Comprehension Skills of Elementary Learners: Basis for Development of Learning Interactive Reading Activities (LIRA)

The study aimed to evaluate the reading comprehension skills of Grade 6 pupils during the 2022-2023 school year. It investigated the students' profiles including age, sex, economic status, parental educational attainment, and their relationship with parents and teachers. Additionally, it identified reading problems and assessed comprehension levels across phonetic awareness, phonics, decoding, word identification, fluency, vocabulary, and overall comprehension. The research also sought to establish any significant relationship between pupil profiles and reading comprehension skills, with the ultimate goal of developing an activity program to enhance these skills.

The Grade 6 learners were predominantly younger females from middle socio-economic backgrounds. Their parents generally had not completed secondary education or obtained a degree, with at least one parent working. Students showed parental supervision and regular study habits. The primary reading challenges identified were still developing basic understanding and meaning in fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies, along with a lack of self-motivation and insufficient background knowledge. Vocabulary knowledge specifically was noted as still developing.

The study concluded that parental supervision and consistent study habits positively impact learners' reading comprehension. It suggests that these strategies can improve comprehension both at school and at home. The main recommendation for teachers is to provide resources and strategies tailored to students' demographic backgrounds, such as culturally relevant texts. Based on these findings, the study advocates for the development of interactive learning activities (LIRA) to address the reading comprehension needs of Grade 6 learners.