Reading Strategies
Making Predictions
When we make predictions, we use the author's "clues" from the text to help us think about what might happen next. A prediction is not just a guess; we need to have evidence to support it. When we talk or write about predictions, we say things like:
Video review: Making Predictions |
Making Connections
When we make meaningful connections to what we are reading, it helps us to understand the text more deeply. We can connect in three main ways:
Video review: Making Connections |
Visualizing |
Questioning |
When we visualize while we read, we create mental pictures to go with the words the author has written. Visualization helps readers to engage with the text in ways that make it personal and memorable. Good readers adapt their mental images as they read. When we write or talk about our visualizations, we say things like:
Video Review: Visualizing |
By asking questions while we read, we focus our thinking on what the text is about. Good readers ask questions before, during, and after reading a story. There are two types of questions that we as readers should be asking while we read: thin questions and think questions.
Video Review: Questioning |
Summarizing
When we summarize, we tell the most important parts of the text in our own words. Good summaries are concise, include the key ideas and/or story elements, and do not include too many extra details.
When we summarize fiction, the SWBST strategy can help us make sure we include all of the key elements:
Video Review: Summarizing with SWBST |
Inferring
Authors never give us all of the details about the characters or events in a story. Sometimes, we have to figure things out as we read. When we make inferences about our reading, we use what we already know about the world (our schema), together with what we read in the text, to understand what the author is telling us. All inferences need to be supported with evidence from the text. When we talk or write about inferences we make, we say things like:
Video Review: Making Inferences |
Synthesizing
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Evaluating
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Coming soon!
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When we evaluate the books we have read, we reflect on whether or not we enjoyed the book or whether or not the author accomplished his or her goals...and why. In our class, we will be writing and presenting book talks about the books we have read and loved. Book talks are a way for us to talk about our evaluations of different books and to recommend books to each other.
Some ways we can talk about our books and what we think of them include:
Video Review: Evaluating |