READING STRATEGIES

READING READING STRATEGIESSTRATEGIES

Thinking About How You ReadThinking About How You Read

Metacognition:Metacognition:Thinking About How You Thinking About How You

ThinkThink

Before you can truly improve Before you can truly improve your reading skills, you need your reading skills, you need

to understand what happens in to understand what happens in good readers’ minds while good readers’ minds while

they read. You may even do they read. You may even do these things already. You just these things already. You just

don’t know it…yet.don’t know it…yet.

More About MetacognitionMore About Metacognition

Good readers have developed good Good readers have developed good habits when they read. We call these habits when they read. We call these

habits strategies. Strategies help habits strategies. Strategies help readers understand, connect to, and readers understand, connect to, and determine the importance of what determine the importance of what

they are reading. They also visualize, they are reading. They also visualize, ask questions about, and read ask questions about, and read

between the lines of what they read. between the lines of what they read.

The Reading StrategiesThe Reading Strategies

There are seven reading strategies.There are seven reading strategies.

Making ConnectionsMaking Connections

Wondering (Questioning)Wondering (Questioning)

Noticing (Determining Noticing (Determining importance)importance)

Inferring and Predicting Inferring and Predicting (Guessing)(Guessing)

Visualizing (Picturing)Visualizing (Picturing)

Figuring out (Synthesizing)Figuring out (Synthesizing)

Using Fix Up StrategiesUsing Fix Up Strategies

CONNECTINGCONNECTING

Text to Self (similar events in your Text to Self (similar events in your life)life)

Text to Text (books, movies, T.V., Text to Text (books, movies, T.V., etc.)etc.)

Text to Life (real world events)Text to Life (real world events)

How do good readers make How do good readers make connections?connections?

Ask Yourself:Ask Yourself:

What do I already know about What do I already know about this?this?

Has anything similar ever Has anything similar ever happened to me?happened to me?

How would I feel if this How would I feel if this happened to me?happened to me?

Can I relate to the characters?Can I relate to the characters?

Does this story remind me of Does this story remind me of something?something?

How does making connections help me think as I read?

Making connections helps me understand the story.

When I can think of a similar experience to the one in the story, I can better understand what is happening and what characters are feeling.

When I understand what is happening, I can remember the story and the story is more interesting to read.

Make ConnectionsMake Connections

CONNECT yourself to the text!CONNECT yourself to the text!

Go past the OBVIOUS!Go past the OBVIOUS!

WONDERINGWONDERINGAsk QuestionsAsk Questions What don’t I get?What don’t I get?

What do I get?What do I get?

What words don’t I What words don’t I understand?understand?

What other questions What other questions do I have?do I have?

What do I wonder What do I wonder about as I read?about as I read?

Why Ask Questions?Why Ask Questions?

Asking questions helps keep Asking questions helps keep you focused on the you focused on the text. text.

If your mind wanders, you will If your mind wanders, you will not understand. Then you will be not understand. Then you will be bored.bored.

If you run into problems, things If you run into problems, things you just don’t understand, then you just don’t understand, then you can check yourself with a you can check yourself with a question.question.

NOTICINGNOTICINGPick and choose which details are the Pick and choose which details are the most important to remember.most important to remember.

• Get the bigger ideas and themes.Get the bigger ideas and themes.• Use text features and clues to help you figure out the important information.• Some features and clues include italicized words, pictures, graphs, key words, and headings•Always look over the entire selection to get an idea of what the topic is about.•Carefully highlight key information.

Why Determine Why Determine Importance?Importance?

It helps me not have to memorize the whole text. It helps me figure out what is important information and what is not important to remember. It helps me figure out what the text is about as whole. It helps me to remember to stop and ask myself if what I am reading makes sense. It helps me look at features such as bold words, italicized words, pictures, captions, headings, and graphs and know that I should pay attention to these words.

GUESSINGGUESSINGInfer and PredictInfer and Predict

Good readers are like Good readers are like detectives.detectives.

They use clues to determine They use clues to determine what is happening in a what is happening in a story.story.

This is called INFERENCE!This is called INFERENCE!

How do good readers infer? Read between the lines Make own discoveries without the

author directly stating Use text clues, prior knowledge, and

questions to come up with a conclusion

Create meaning based on own notions

Infer and PredictInfer and Predict

Good readers also make Good readers also make educated guesses about educated guesses about what may happen later in what may happen later in the story.the story.

They use the author’s They use the author’s hints to PREDICT what will hints to PREDICT what will most likely occur.most likely occur.

Infer and PredictInfer and Predict

Ask Yourself:Ask Yourself:What isn’t stated that I have What isn’t stated that I have figured out?figured out?

What do I predict will What do I predict will happen?happen?

Why do I think so?Why do I think so?

How does inferring help me think as I read?

Draw conclusions based on clues in the text

Make predictions before and during reading

Surface underlying themesUse implicit information from the text

to create meaning during and after reading

Use the pictures to help gain meaning

Infer and PredictInfer and Predict

REMEMBER:REMEMBER:

KNOWLEDGE + TEXT = KNOWLEDGE + TEXT = INFERENCEINFERENCE

PICTUREPICTUREVisualizeVisualize

Picture in your mind the images Picture in your mind the images the author creates with his/her the author creates with his/her words.words.

Pay close attention to sensory Pay close attention to sensory details. For example, if you were details. For example, if you were there, what would you SEE, HEAR, there, what would you SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TASTE, TOUCH, FEEL?SMELL, TASTE, TOUCH, FEEL?

How Do Good Readers Visualize?

Create pictures in their headMake the words on the page real and

concreteCreate a movie of the text in their

headBuild meaning as they go by

visualizingCreate images from all of their senses

How Does Visualizing Help Me Think As I Read?

Enhances meaning with mental picturesLinks past experience to the words and

ideas in the textEnables me to place myself in the storyStrengthens my relationship to the textStimulates my imaginative thinkingKeeps me engaged with the textBrings joy to my readingPersonalizes readingAllows the words to come alive

Hmm…what do I see?

Why Visualize?Why Visualize?

If you don’t picture the If you don’t picture the events of the story, you events of the story, you will get bored.will get bored.

The author’s job is to The author’s job is to paint pictures in the paint pictures in the reader’s mind. The reader’s mind. The reader’s job is to visualize reader’s job is to visualize what the author what the author describes.describes.

Why not?Why not?

FIGURE OUTFIGURE OUTSynthesizeSynthesize

Synthesize is a fancy way of Synthesize is a fancy way of saying that you must bring saying that you must bring everything together in the end. everything together in the end. In other words, what is the In other words, what is the meaning of what you are meaning of what you are reading?reading?

SynthesizeSynthesize

Ask Yourself:Ask Yourself:

o What does it all mean?What does it all mean?o What’s the big idea?What’s the big idea?o Are there questions still left Are there questions still left unanswered?unanswered?o What are the lessons I should What are the lessons I should learn?learn?o What do I think about this What do I think about this book?book?

How Do Good Readers Synthesize?

Take individual pieces of information and combine them with our background knowledge

Form a new picture or ideas from the pieces of information

Create an original idea See a new perspective Combine the strategies of making

connections, visualizing, questioning, inferring, and summarizing

Ask ourselves, “How has our thinking changed from reading the text?”

How does synthesizing help me think as I read?

Take in a lot of different facts, think about them, and learn something new

Sift through a lot of information, take out the key ideas and put them together to get the overall sense of the reading material

Weave together my own ideas and what I read into new, complete thoughts

Use the prompts: I have learned that…This gives me an idea…Now I understand that…

Use Fix-Up StrategiesUse Fix-Up Strategies

Make sure you are understanding Make sure you are understanding what you are reading. When you what you are reading. When you run into trouble (you just don’t run into trouble (you just don’t get it), use little correction get it), use little correction strategies to help you figure out strategies to help you figure out what went wrong. We call these what went wrong. We call these methods FIX-UP STRATEGIES.methods FIX-UP STRATEGIES.

Use Fix-Up StrategiesUse Fix-Up Strategies

Here are some examples of Fix-Up Here are some examples of Fix-Up Strategies:Strategies:

☻ Re-read Re-read

☻UnderlineUnderline

☻Use a DictionaryUse a Dictionary

☻Read AloudRead Aloud

☻Ask for HelpAsk for Help

Why Use Strategies?Why Use Strategies? Strategies create a plan of attack. Strategies create a plan of attack.

Then you can solve any reading Then you can solve any reading problems yourself.problems yourself.

Strategies help you learn Strategies help you learn HOWHOW to to understand. If you know understand. If you know HOWHOW to to understand, then you are more understand, then you are more likely likely TOTO understand. understand.

Strategies help you realize Strategies help you realize HOWHOW you are thinking, so that you can you are thinking, so that you can think more deeply and more think more deeply and more consciously.consciously.

Why Use Strategies?Why Use Strategies?

REMEMBER THIS:REMEMBER THIS:

You may be using some or all You may be using some or all of these strategies already. of these strategies already. You just may not know it. You just may not know it. However, as you learn to read However, as you learn to read more complicated materials, more complicated materials, you WILL NEED to use these you WILL NEED to use these strategies purposefully. strategies purposefully.

SO PRACTICE!SO PRACTICE!