Why Students “Make Stuff Up” When They Read—And What It Reveals About Comprehension
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board…”
— Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
You’ve planned a strong lesson. The text is rich, layered, worth the time. You start with a simple question: What’s happening here?
A student offers: “There are some men on some ships… right?”
Another adds: “It’s kind of about survival?”
They’ve read the words.
But they haven’t built the meaning.
So they do what students learn to do to get by: They fill in the gaps.
When Reading Comprehension Breaks Down
If you’ve taught middle or high school ELA, you’ve seen this pattern.
Students say things that sound reasonable—sometimes even insightful—but that aren’t actually grounded in the text. They circle a key word, latch onto a vague idea, or pull in something they already know and build from there.
It can look like engagement. Students are talking. They’re participating.
But they’re not reading.
Over time, many students come to see English class as a place to say something that sounds smart, not as a place to build meaning from what’s actually on the page.
What’s Happening When Students Struggle with Reading Comprehension
This isn’t a motivation problem.
It’s what happens when comprehension breaks down.
When students hit a sentence they don’t fully understand, a few things happen quickly:
unknown vocabulary triggers frustration
abstract phrases don’t connect to clear ideas
sentence structure becomes hard to follow
meaning starts to slip
At that point, students have a choice, whether they realize it or not:
stop and rebuild meaning
or keep going and substitute something plausible
Most choose the second.
They grab onto a word, a phrase, a vibe, and build from there. Once that happens, everything downstream gets shaky. The text keeps moving, but their understanding doesn’t.
Why Students Struggle with Reading in Middle and High School
By middle and high school, expectations shift fast.
Students are asked to:
analyze themes
interpret symbolism
evaluate arguments
But many haven’t been shown how to do the most basic part of that work: how to build meaning from the text itself.
In many secondary settings, teachers are asked to teach complex texts without the time, training, or tools to teach reading explicitly. So the assumption becomes: If students can read the words, they can understand the text.
That assumption doesn’t hold.
As a result, students develop workarounds. And “making stuff up” is one of the most common.
Enjoying this article?
Get practical, classroom-ready ideas like this in the Zinc Literacy Lens, our bi-monthly newsletter for secondary ELA teachers and literacy leaders.
What Strong Reading Comprehension Actually Requires
Reading isn’t simply recognizing words.
And it’s not sharing opinions.
Reading is building meaning, line by line, from what’s actually on the page.
That means:
turning sensory language into images and feelings
making abstract words and phrases more specific and real
tracking how sentences and ideas connect across a text
Strong readers do this so automatically that it’s easy to miss.
Most students don’t. And when they’re not taught how to do it, they don’t stop to reset—they start guessing.
Why Reading Comprehension Matters for Tests, Engagement, and Confidence
This pattern shows up everywhere.
In assessments
Standardized reading tests don’t reward “good guesses.” They reward students who can stay grounded in the passage and follow the author’s ideas, using the text as evidence.
Raising reading levels is the key driver for improving standardized test scores. An effective test-taking method is also essential, but even the best strategies can’t substitute for comprehension.
In engagement
Students disengage when reading feels confusing or out of reach. In secondary classrooms, what looks like “lack of motivation” often masks a deeper issue: students simply haven’t been taught what to do when they read complex texts.
When they can actually follow what’s happening, something shifts. Effort starts to feel worthwhile and reading can actually become enjoyable.
In confidence
Students know when they’re guessing.
Over time, that erodes their sense of authority. They stop trusting their own thinking because it isn’t grounded in anything solid.
The ELA classroom offers an unparalleled opportunity to help students cultivate the sense of earned prestige. There’s no better training ground for learning to apply effort—and develop a real sense of confidence—than reading, and sticking with, a book they chose.
How to Improve Reading Comprehension in Secondary Classrooms
This doesn’t require a complete overhaul of your classroom. Small shifts in focus can have immediate impact.
Instead of asking students to jump straight to interpretation, start by helping them stay anchored in the text.
Three moves make a difference right away:
1. Anchor thinking in the text
Gently guide students to anchor their thinking in the passage, without confronting them or reinforcing guessing.
Small nudges like, “Let’s let the writer drive. Try that again,” can be much more effective than either, “Where does it say that in the passage?” or, “That’s an interesting idea, but…”
2. Teach meaning-making explicitly
Even students with strong decoding skills may still need guidance in how to build understanding, especially as texts become more complex and abstract.
Show them how to:
turn sensory words into images
make abstract phrases real with examples
notice when meaning breaks down
3. Normalize going back
Strong readers don’t power through confusion.
They notice, go back, and rebuild.
When that becomes normal in a classroom, comprehension improves quickly.
A Better Way to Teach Reading Comprehension
Students don’t “make stuff up” because they don’t care. They do it because they don’t have a better way.
When we show them how to stay with a text—how to build meaning step by step—the guessing drops away.
What replaces it is much more durable and enjoyable: Clarity. Confidence. Real engagement.
Want to go further?
Explore Zinc’s free Fundamentals of Adolescent Literacy professional learning series. These short, interactive modules give you practical strategies you can apply immediately to help students turn words into meaning, consistently, and across subjects.
Want more like this?
Join the Zinc Literacy Lens for clear, practical approaches to teaching reading in middle and high school.