Middle level students are making the transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." They are discovering how to apply the foundational reading skills they were taught in elementary school to text and content that is longer and more conceptually complex, and that incorporates more advanced terminology. This is no small task for students who are still learning foundational literacy skills. Three major categories of skills and strategies focus on developing and reinforcing comprehension: (1) Learning about vocabulary; (2) Learning to comprehend extended content or text; and (3) Learning to become a strategic learner. Selected instructional strategies within each of these interrelated categories are designed of easy implementation within classroom instruction, especially given the frequent limitations of time. As lifelong learners, it is the responsibility of educators to continually learn about and use instructional strategies to help students understand what they are learning.