Please use these strategies!!!

 What are some problems people face when reading? What are some things they can do to fix these problems?

 Make your mind up that no matter what the topic is you will read the material to learn something new.  If the topic is dinosaurs and you are in no way interested in dinosaurs, keep an open mind, read the material and try to learn something new.

 Preview the text.  Look at the title.  Use context clues to define any unknown words (or use the dictionary).  Bobby was acting nonchalant about Rhonda not remembering his birthday, although deep inside he was crushed. What does nonchalant mean?

 Is it important to the understanding of the text?  Jane was sitting under the apple tree with her head in her hands. She couldn’t believe that Jeff was holding hands with Debbie. What is important to the understanding of this text?

 What is the author basically saying?  Why is this important?  How does this affect me?  Students who read at home are twice as likely to do well on the STAAR reading test than students who do not. It doesn’t matter what the student reads, the act of reading makes you a better reader.

 Making an educated guess, based on the text, about what is happening or what will happen. “reading between the lines.”  The text says: She was a bit grumpy because she was still catching up on the sleep that she lost during exam time. I know: I know exams are usually given in school, so she is probably in high school or college.

 Connecting your life experiences to the text.  Focusing on text-to-self connections: What does this story remind you of? Can you relate to the characters in the story? Does anything in this story remind you of anything in your own life?  Focusing on text-to-text connections: What does this remind you of in another book you have read? How is this text similar to other things you have read? How is this text different from other things you have read?  Focusing on text-to-world connections: What does this remind you of in the real world? How are events in this story similar to things that happen in the real world? How are events in this story different from things that happen in the real world?

 Forming sensory and emotional images of textual contents, especially visual images.  Forming a picture in your mind about what you are reading.

 Write notes outside the passage about what the write is saying or what you think the writer is saying.

 Moore, D. (20). Reading comprehension strategies. Best Practices in Secondary Education. Accessed 4/19/2012 from HBNETDownloads/Edge_Mono_Moore1.pdf HBNETDownloads/Edge_Mono_Moore1.pdf