o strategies create a plan of attack. then you can solve any reading problems yourself. o strategies...

o Strategies create a plan of attack. Then you can solve any reading problems yourself.

o Strategies help you learn HOW to understand. If you know HOW to understand, then you are more likely TO understand.

o Strategies help you realize HOW you are thinking so that you can think more deeply and more consciously.

o The pictures inside your mind stop forming or moving.

o Your questions and inferences are not getting answered.

o Your mind wanders from the text; you read it but are thinking about something else.

o The current page has nothing to do with what you thought the big picture or author’s purpose was for the text.

o You cannot summarize the last few paragraphs or pages.

o Characters appear and you cannot remember who they are.

Word Attack Strategies

These strategies help you read unknown words.

Comprehension Fix-up Strategies

These strategies help you read and understand the meaning of unknown phrases and text.

o Look at the pictures - use the pictures to get information that may help you figure out the word

o Sound blending (look at the beginning letters, look at the ending letters, chunking)

o Use a Dictionary

o Read Aloud

o Ask for Help

Rereado It is OK to reread text that you’ve already

read.o It’s important to remember you don’t have to

reread everything for this strategy to be helpful.

o Sometimes rereading a portion of the text – a sentence, or even just a word – can help you.

Stop and Thinko Every so often as you read, you should stop

and think about what you have read.o If you can’t remember anything you have

read, why continue?o Pause and summarize in your head. o Stopping and thinking gives you time to

synthesize new information.o It allows you to ask questions, visualize, and

determine what is important in the text.

Ask a Question◦If you ask questions as you read, you will

be more actively engaged with the text.◦You will be looking for answers to your

questions, and will remember what you read.

◦Readers who ask questions and know where the answers to their questions are to be found are more likely to have a better understanding of what they are reading.

Retello Taking a moment to retell what has been

read helps you reflect on what you have read.

o Retelling activates background knowledge and also provides a check on whether you are understanding.

o When you can’t retell what you’ve read, it shows that your mind has wandered and confusion has set in.

Adjust Your Reading Rateo Good readers adjust their rate to meet the

demands of the task.o Good readers slow down when something is

difficult or unfamiliar.o They also know that it’s okay to read faster

when something is familiar.o Good readers select a rate based on the

difficulty of the material, their purpose in reading it, and how familiar they are with the topic.

Ask for Helpo When you are not understanding what you

are reading, and you do not know which fix-up strategy to use, ask someone.

o You might ask a friend or you might need help from a teacher or parent.

Before you can truly improve your reading skills, you need to understand what happens in good readers’ minds while they read. You may even do

these things already. You just don’t know it…yet.