Abstract
The purpose of this Master’s Thesis (Project), which resulted in a Professional Development Project, was to explore effective comprehension strategies and their effectiveness on improving students’ understanding. The comprehension strategies that were explored in the project included rereading , generating questions, reciprocal teaching, and paraphrasing. The project also explored the literacy approaches Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) and Scaffold Silent Reading (ScSR). The professional development project contained a one day workshop on effective comprehension strategies. With the goal of having teachers who participated being able to implement the strategies with their students creating critical readers and thinkers.