Reading Strategies

for

Before, During and After Reading

Jane Reifreifjc@mail.irsc.edu

Reading Comprehension

The active process of obtaining meaning from written text

Before Reading•Preview •Set a Purpose •Predict•Question•Activate Prior Knowledge

These strategies will prepare you for what you are about to read

PREVIEW

• Read headlines and subtitles

• Read captions and side bars

• Look at pictures and other graphics

You will get some information about what you will be reading

SET A PURPOSE• Why are you reading this?

• Is it to learn about a something?

• Is it to learn how to do something?

• Is it to get information on a subject, place or person?

PREDICT

About information that you expect to find

Write down what you think will happen next

QUESTIONS

Write down questions that you want answered

What information do you do you want from the text?

Write the questions in the margin or on sticky notes

ACTIVATE PRIORKNOWLEDGE

Think about what you already know about the subject

• Text to self- are there connections between the text and your personal experiences?

• Text to world-are there connections between text and facts and information about the world?

• Text to text-is there a connection between the text and something else you have read?

This will help understand the meaning of what you are reading

DURING READINGVisualize

Re-read

Question

Infer

Vocabulary

VISUALIZE

Use pictures to help you create mental pictures

Use your own experiences to add images

This will create a “Mental Movie” to help you better understand what you are reading

RE-READIf you have read a sentence that doesn’t make sense to you

RE-READ IT

If you do not understand what a paragraph is telling you

RE-READ IT

Is there a word that doesn’t sound right in the sentence?

RE-READ IT

If you stop and re-read you will not continue reading with the wrong information

QUESTIONSCreate questions that you want answered while reading

What more would you like to know?

Think about what the author is not telling you

VOCABULARYWhen you come across a word that you don’t know the meaning of use context clues. Read the

sentence again and look at the words around it. This may help you understand the meaning

Look at text structure of the word. See if there is a familiar prefix,root or suffix

If the word is in bold print or has a footnote indication(small number next to it), look for the definition on the page

Use the glossary

If necessary, get a dictionary and look it up.

Vocabulary knowledge is important to understand what you are reading

INFERAs you read, make predictions about what the text will tell you.

Use clues from the author and your knowledge to draw conclusions

Revise these as you read more

AFTER READING

Re-Read

Summarize

Reflect

Review

Question

REFLECT

Think about what the text was mainly about

Talk about it

Write about it

Draw it

RE-READRe-read for clarification

If something was unclear or confusing,

re-read it

SUMMARIZERead the first sentence of each paragraph

Write down the most important points

Talk about the most important points

REVIEWLook back

Were your questions answered?

Did you get the important information?

Question

Ask yourself if you have any questions that are still unanswered.

Was there more that you wanted to know?

Were your questions before reading answered?

R E M E M B E R

Reading is

Thinking

REFERENCES• Study Skills Activities:Reading as a Study Skill. Montana State Literacy

Resources: A Service of the National Institute of Literacy.

• http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/pilotproject/studyskillsindex.htm

• Beers, K. (1998). When Kids Can't Read.

• Bursuck, W. D., & Damer, M. (2011). Teaching Reading to Students Who Are at Risk or Have Disabilities. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

• Keene, E. O. (2002). Comprehension Strategies.