Reading Strategies
Reading comprehension strategies that get results!
Reading strategies include the following:
- Pre-reading: Before beginning to read, encourage students to preview the text by scanning headings, subheadings, bolded words, and any images or graphics. This can help activate prior knowledge and set the stage for reading comprehension.
Chunking: Break down the text into manageable chunks, whether it’s by chapter, paragraph, or sentence. Encourage students to read each chunk carefully before moving on to the next, and to pause periodically to reflect on what they have read.
Questioning: Encourage students to ask questions about what they are reading. This can help them stay engaged and actively involved in the reading process, and also help them focus on the main ideas and details of the text.
Summarizing: After reading a section or chapter, ask students to summarize what they have read in their own words. This can help them check their understanding and also reinforce important ideas.
Visualizing: Encourage students to create mental images of what they are reading. This can help them better understand and remember the material.
Predicting: Ask students to make predictions about what they think will happen next in the story or article they are reading. This can help them stay engaged and also improve their understanding of the material.
Context Clues: Teach students to use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. This can improve their vocabulary and also improve their overall comprehension of the material.
Active Reading: Encourage students to actively engage with the text by asking them to take notes, highlight or underline important ideas, and ask questions while reading. This can help improve comprehension and retention.
What are the top 4 strategies for improving literal comprehension?
Reading for Detail: Encourage students to read the text carefully and pay attention to details such as names, dates, numbers, and specific events. This can help them better understand the who, what, when, where, and how of the text.
Identifying Main Ideas: Teach students to identify the main ideas and supporting details in a text. This can help them understand the overall meaning of the text and the relationships between different ideas.
Making Inferences: Teach students to use clues in the text to make inferences about what is happening or what a character is feeling or thinking. This can help them understand the text on a deeper level and draw conclusions about what they have read.
Summarizing: Encourage students to summarize what they have read in their own words. This can help them check their understanding of the material and also reinforce important ideas. Summarizing also helps to consolidate information in a concise way, which is especially helpful when studying for exams or writing reports.
Physical activity is a powerful reading strategy!
Brain Breaks: Incorporating brain breaks into the reading instruction can help improve focus and attention span. Brain breaks are short periods of physical activity, such as stretching, jumping jacks, or dancing, that can help students reset and refocus their attention.
Reading While Moving: Incorporating movement into reading activities can help students stay engaged and focused. For example, students can walk and read at the same time, or act out scenes from a story as they read.
Outdoor Reading: Taking reading activities outdoors can provide opportunities for physical activity and fresh air. For example, students can read outside while walking, sitting on a bench, or lying on a blanket.
Kinesthetic Learning: Kinesthetic learning involves using movement and physical activity to learn new concepts. Teachers can incorporate kinesthetic learning strategies into reading instruction by having students act out the plot of a story or using movement to learn new vocabulary words.
Overall, incorporating physical activity into reading instruction can help students stay engaged, focused, and motivated, which can ultimately improve their reading skills.