To comprehend a text, students must progress over time from simply identifying the words in a piece of writing to understanding the ideas those words and phrases represent. Students should deepen their comprehension by making inferences, drawing conclusions, and building associations to construct meaning from the text. Once students reach this level of understanding, they can engage with and form responses to these ideas.

As students engage with texts of increasing complexity, they must understand how to assess their own comprehension and, if necessary, how to apply strategies to address and overcome specific challenges they have understanding the text. The process of assessing understanding, or monitoring your thinking, is metacognition.