Reading Strategies
Preview
Preview the text before reading by looking at the headings, the pictures, and the key words. This helps students to gain a better understanding of what they should learn while reading. Sometimes, they can even learn the main ideas and supporting details through previewing. Also, set a purpose for reading. For example, "The heading is Photosynthesis. After reading this page, I should be able to describe how photosynthesis works."
Self-Monitor and Reread
Stop after a section or a page, close the book, and tell yourself what you read and learned in that section. If you are unable to do so, you may need to go back and reread. Good readers make themselves responsible for not just reading the words, but understanding the story. They look back in the text to clarify before moving on.
Summarize
Give a summary of a fiction or non-fiction text by synthesizing the important ideas.
Main Idea and Supporting Details
In one complete sentence, state the main idea of a small section or an entire non-fiction text. This forces students to think about all of the ideas and what they have in common. The main idea should be a broad statement that relates to almost all the other ideas in the text. Then find the supporting details, which are details or examples from the text that tell more about the main idea.
Author's Purpose
Determine why the author wrote a particular text, and what exactly he/she was trying to accomplish. In general, author's write for three reasons: to entertain, to inform, and to persuade. Then create a sentence such as, "The author's purpose was to inform. She was giving us information about how wolves find food." Or, "The author's purpose was to persuade. He was trying to persuade us to recycle."
Make Inferences
Use clues from the story to draw your own conclusions. In other words, read between the lines to find implied messages. For example, pretend there is a chapter book in which the main character, Sonya, has a very old and sick dog. Later in the story, Sonya is at a friend's house spending the night when her mom calls. After the phone call, Sonya put her head down and cried. Although the text never actually stated what happened, we can infer that the dog died. Understanding fiction is all about paying attention to the clues in the text.
Visualize
Think about what is happening in the story and paint a picture in your mind. Use the picture to help you make sense of the information and remember important details for later.
Make Connections
There are three types of connections that students should be making as they read. Text to text connections compare one book to another book. Text to self connections compare something in the story to something personal in the reader's life. Text to world connections compare something from the story to something in the world. Making connections aids comprehension and helps students to relate to a story.
Use Context Clues
Use clues from the story to figure out the meaning of words that you don't know. Also, use clues from earlier in the story to find hidden meanings later in the story.
Understand Story Elements
Tell about the setting, characters, and plot of a story (beginning, middle, and end). Describe the characters and why they act the way they do.
Ask Questions
Ask your student questions about the story. Try to ask questions that cause them to think critically rather than simply recall information. Here are some examples:
* Defend a character's actions in the story
* Evaluate a character's decision
* Compare and contrast two characters
* What do you think the character learned in the story
* Defend a character's actions in the story
* Evaluate a character's decision
* Compare and contrast two characters
* What do you think the character learned in the story