Strategic Reading

What good readers do

Reading is thinking!

Reading is strategic!

Reading is active!

Everyone can become a better reader by using the strategies!

What is a strategy?

A strategy is a carefully

devised plan of action to achieve a

goal.

Strategy #1

Good readers use fix-up methods

when meaning is challenged.

Fix-up Methods

Good readers pay attention to their ability to understand what they’re reading. At times, even the best readers may be unsure of what they’ve read. No matter what problem happens, whenever good readers don’t understand what they’ve read, they take action and do something to help fix this problem. They don’t keep reading!

Fix-Up Methods

1. Reread the passage.

2. Go back to other parts of the text.

3. Read on for no more than two sentences.

Read-Along Guide

When I Read(Page #)

I was confused because…

The fix-up method I used was…

Strategy #2

Good readers find word meaning and build vocabulary using

context clues.

Word meaning

Finding word meaning is a critical skill that will help you better understand what you’re reading. Being able to figure out new or

unfamiliar words is kind of like good detective work. Often there are clues within the passage,

and it’s simply a matter of decoding them.

Methods for figuring out word meaning

1. Sound out the word.2. “Chunk” the word– Break up the word. Is there a root word, a prefix, or

a suffix?3. Link the word to a known word.—Do you know other words that look or

sound like this word?4. Look for smaller words that you recognize—Is the word made up a

smaller word you know?5. Use context clues—Use clues from the sentence or surrounding

sentences.6. Think about what makes sense—Ask yourself, “What would make sense

in the sentence?”7. Other sources—Ask a teacher, use a dictionary, use a glossary, etc.

Read-Along GuidePage # New or

Unfamiliar Word

Method(s)Used

Definition

Strategy #3

Good readers use visual text clues to

figure out meaning.

Visual Text Clues

• Good readers pay attention to any features of the page or the text. For example, good readers pay attention to when a character is speaking because of the quotation marks and the indented space. Also, good readers look at punctuation and read expressively using the punctuation clues.

Text cluesText Clue (Fiction)

• Punctuation (.,;: “”…!?-)• Boldface text/italics/capitals

• Spacing features or unusual spacing

• Titles or subtitles• other

Text Clue/Feature(Nonfiction)

• Boldface text/italics/capitals• Titles/subtitles• Photographs/illustrations• Maps• Captions• Sidebars• Table of contents/glossary/index• other

Read-Along GuideText Clue (Fiction) Page

#Explain the Importance

Punctuation (., :;””…!?-)Boldface text,italics, or capitalsSpacing features or unusual spacingTitles or subtitlesOther

Read-Along GuideText Clue/Feature(Nonfiction)

Page #

Explain the Importance

Boldface text, italics, capitals Titles or subtitles

Photographs or illustrationsMaps

Captions

Sidebars

Table of Contents, glossary, indexOther

Strategy #4Good readers ask

questions to engage in the

text.

Asking Questions

Good readers ask silent questions before, during, and after reading. They question the content, the author, the events, the issues, and the ideas in the text. Sometimes your questions will be answered immediately. Sometimes they are answered by the end of the text. Still, other times you may need to research a little bit more to find an answer or you may need to thing of them as open questions and hold onto them for the future. No matter when your questions is answered, using this strategy makes you a better reader.

Key question words

• Who?• What?• Where?• When?• Why?• How?• If…?

Read-Along GuideWhen I read (Page #) I wondered Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? If?

Strategy #5

Good readers make connections to aid

understanding.

Making Connections

Good readers use prior knowledge and experiences to better understand what they’re reading. Sometimes it is helpful to think about what you “know” or try to “connect with” a character, event, or some part of the book you are reading.

Types of Connections

• Text-to-Self Connection (T-S)• Text-to-Text Connection (T-T)• Text-To-World Connection (T-W)(These types of connections may overlap, but it’s

fun to think about how you know or “connect with” something.)

Text-to-Self Connection These connections include

experiences you share from your background. For example, you might be a very good soccer or football player and share experiences with a character who plays the same sport. Also, you might share a feeling with a character, such as being frightened or excited.

Text-to-Text Connection

These include experiences you read about in other writings. For example, you may be familiar with fairy tale characters from reading books about them. Likewise, you may enjoy reading books that are in a series when you need to know what happened in earlier volumes. Also, you might have a favorite author who may write about similar things.

Text-to World Connections

These include experiences you know and share with others simply because of your common worldly experiences. These might be things you seem to know to do without being told, just like your automatic reflexes, such as blinking. Or it might be things that everyone just seems to know, like that the President’s job is pretty important.

Read-Along GuideWhen I Read (Page #)

I thought about….. Type of Connection(T-S, T-T, T-W)

Strategy #6

Good readers visualize to support the

text.

Visualizing

Good readers visualize to help them fully understand the words, actions, characters, setting, and other elements of the text they are reading. It’s like having a movie playing in your head. Sometimes you can create a movie from some descriptive words the author has written. Other times, simply sharing an experience makes it easy to create a picture in your mind.

Read-Along GuideWhen I read (Page #)

I could picture…..

Strategy # 7

Good readers make

predictions.

pre- = beforedict = to say

predict = to say before

Making Predictions

Readers are always guessing about what’s going to happen next in their story. Guessing(or making predictions)about what’s going to happen and then discovering whether the prediction is right or wrong is something good readers do without thinking about it. It’s like a game they play while they’re reading.

Reader’s predictions are based on other events that might have happened in the story. They could also come from what readers know about a character. A reader’s own experience might also help them make predictions. Making predictions and testing them helps us understand a story.

Read-Along GuideWhen I Read(page #)

I predicted that……

Strategy #8Good readers synthesize to

gain new meaning.

Synthesizing

Synthesizing means that you actively collect and organize information you’ve learned from your reading. It’s like filing information into folders you’ve stored in your mind. As you do this, you begin to discover ideas and even reshape your understanding to create new ideas.

As you read this process of synthesizing occurs continuously---you expand and reshape your ever-growing body of knowledge. It’s like your knowledge is “morphing” into something new and exciting.

Read-Along GuideSynthesizing for Fiction:

Think about the main character.

Collect information from many chapters.

List character traits and give details to support your thinking.

Trait: Trait: Trait: Trait:

Detail: Detail: Detail: Detail:

Detail: Detail: Detail: Detail:

Detail: Detail: Detail: Detail:

Detail: Detail: Detail: Detail:

Read-Along Guide

Synthesizing for nonfiction: Using sticky notes, identify 3-5 new, significant facts that you’ve learned from your reading. Think about how these facts added to your understanding.

On page ____the significant fact I found was _______________________________________________.

I already knew that __________________________________.What I didn’t know was _______________________________.This new fact is important because ______________________.

Strategy #9 Good readers find the

important or main idea in

their reading.

Finding the Important or Main Idea

Remember that the main idea is a pretty big idea that tells what a paragraph or an entire reading passage is mainly about. The main idea is not a small detail, although all of the small details together make up the main idea.

Sometimes a main idea is stated, like in a topic sentence, a closing sentence, or somewhere else in the passage. Other times, the main idea is not directly stated, but implied.

Read-Along Guide

Summarize or locate the main idea for your reading passage and then find three examples from the passage that support the main idea.

The main idea in pages _____ to _______ is ___________________________________________________________________.

Support/p.______ Support/p. _____ Support/p. _____

Strategy # 10

Good readers identify facts and details.

Identifying facts and details

Writers use facts and details for many

reasons. Facts and details support a main

idea and, and in so doing, provide more

information about the main idea.

Facts and details may:• Describe a person, place

or thing• Explain how to do

something• Tell the order in which

things happen• Share an experience,

idea, or opinion

An easy way to find facts and details is to look for sentences that tell about the

who, what,

where, when,

why, and how of the main idea.

Read-Along Guide

Strategy # 11

Good readers distinguish fact from fiction.

Telling fact from opinion

fact= opinion =

Telling fact from opinion

Distinguishing fact from an opinion is sometimes harder than we imagine. Facts express ideas that can be proven, whereas an opinion tells us what someone thinks or feels. Often, there are key words that help us determine if something is a fact or an opinion. For example, using words like greatest and phrases like I believe…., or I think…, or I feel… all signal an opinion.

Read-Along Guide

Pages: ____________Fact: ______________________________Opinion : ___________________________My opinion: _________________________

___________________________________

Strategy #12

Good readers understand sequence.

Strategy #13

Good readers can interpret

figurative language.

Strategy #15

Good readers can recognize

cause-and-effect

relationships.

Strategy #16

Good readers can draw

conclusions and make

inferences.

Strategy #17

Good readers can

summarize.