Reading Strategies

When you are reading you should be in a conversation with the author. Ask him/her questions. Respond and react to what you read. Connect the story to your life.

How? Write in the book! (IF it belongs to you) Use post-it notes. Highlight (IF it belongs to you) Keep a journal while you are reading.

MAKE CONNECTIONS TEXT TO SELF Relate the text to your own life. Do the characters remind you of yourself or anyone you know? Have you ever been in a similar situation? Does something in the text spark a memory?

MAKE CONNECTIONS TEXT TO WORLD Relate the text to events in history. Are the events or characters similar to anything that has happened in the world in the past?

MAKE CONNECTIONS TEXT TO TEXT Relate the text to another text. TEXT = written word, movies, tv, music, etc.

VISUALIZE Make pictures in your head as you read. There should be a movie playing in your head as you read. Pay attention to descriptive passages. What do the characters and setting look like?

ASK QUESTIONS Who, what, when, where, why, how? After reading a story you should be able to answer most, or all of these questions.

ASK QUESTIONS Read between the lines What are the characters movitations, emotions, feelings, etc? What are the conflicts? What are the themes?

What if you STILL don’t understand? Re-read what you don’t understand. Identify what is confusing. Read ahead to look for meaning. Write down questions and highlight or mark confusing parts. If all else fails, ask someone for help.