Just because you can read the words, doesn’t mean you understand them

Reading must be about thinking and constructing meaning. It is much more than pronouncing words. Researchers today define reading as a complex thinking process.

Metacognition: Thinking About How You Think 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.

More About Metacognition Good readers have developed good habits when they read. We call these habits strategies. Strategies help readers understand, connect to, and determine the importance of what they are reading. They also visualize, ask questions about, and read between the lines of what they read.

Eight Strategies Used by successful readers of all ages They use existing knowledge to make sense of new information They ask questions about the text before, during, and after reading They draw inferences from the text They monitor their comprehension They use “fix-up” strategies when meaning breaks down They visualize by creating images in their mind They determine what is important They synthesize information to create new thinking

Successful readers use existing knowledge to make sense of new information. Authors will sometimes make reference to characters or events from literature or history to help illuminate, dramatize or enrich the concepts they are presenting. These allusions, as they are called, point to characters and events from literature, the Bible, history, music, mythology, and sometimes even advertising.

Let’s look at a few short text excerpts to see if you have the prior knowledge to deal with the allusions presented by the authors.

“Essentially the research published today in the journal Chemistry and Biology points out an Achilles' heel in cells, unknown until now, that will help scientists find new ways of breaking down the walls of bacteria.” What is an “Achilles' heel”?

So, what is your Achilles' heel? According to Greek mythology Achilles could only be killed in his heel, his only weak or vulnerable spot. Now Achilles' heel means any weak or vulnerable spot not only physically, but also emotionally, psychologically and so on.

“Got a GPS? No? You Luddite! Unless you're a pilot, an avid hiker or hunter, or own a car with a navigation system, you may not have noticed that one of the fastest-growing sectors in the otherwise chilly technology business is gadgets to help lost people figure out where they are." What is a “Luddite”?

Luddites were 19th century British textile workers who smashed new labor-saving machinery because they believed the modern technology to be responsible for unemployment and reduced wages. Now Luddites means anyone opposed to modern technology or technological advances.

“People used to say to me 'oh Sarah, you're such a Pollyanna, you think you can fix anybody'. People just didn't understand my philosophy.” Being called a Pollyanna seems like an insult. What does it mean?

Pollyanna was the excessively and persistently optimistic heroine of novels by Eleanor H. Porer in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Allusions in writing help the reader to visualize what's happening by evoking a mental picture. But the reader must be aware of the allusion and must be familiar with what it alludes to. So, let’s look at a few that you might recognize:

"As the cave's roof collapsed, he was swallowed up in the dust like Jonah, and only his frantic scrabbling behind a wall of rock indicated that there was anyone still alive". The allusion in the sentence above is to Jonah. The reader is expected to recognize the reference to Jonah and the whale, which should evoke an image of being 'swallowed alive'... in this case, behind a wall of dust and rock.

"Christy didn't like to spend money. She was no Scrooge, but she seldom purchased anything except the bare necessities". Did you spot the allusion to Scrooge? That name should bring to mind an image of someone who 'pinches pennies' and hoards money with a passion. But the allusion only works if the reader is familiar with Charles Dickens' story 'A Christmas Carol'.

Before Reading Good readers think about reading before they start to read to help them understand what they know about the topic. Strategies you should use before reading include: 1.Set a purpose for reading: Why am I reading this piece of text? 2.What do I know about this topic? 3.What predictions can I make about the text? 4.What new vocabulary do I need to learn before I start? 5.What features of text, (headings, bold) aid comprehension?

During Reading: Questioning Ask myself questions. 5W’s and How All about professional image. Who needs a professional image? What is a professional image? When do I need to have a professional image? Where do I need to have a professional image? Why do I need to have a professional image? How can I have a professional image?

Fix Up Strategy Re-read Re-read a section. “Dressing for the interview.” Why? Because there is a lot of information to understand.