ACTIVE READING STRATEGIES

Active reading strategies aim to: Engage students with their reading through practical activities, increasing their reading stamina. Direct students to read for meaning.

Active reading strategies are especially useful for: Students who read superficially rather than engaging with meaning, this is a common problem for EAL students. Students who struggle to maintain concentration when reading longer texts.

Three active reading strategies for the classroom The following strategies are most effective when worked on by a pair or small group, as group discussion leads to a closer look at the text.

Text Marking Students underline a limited number of key points when reading a complex text. Students write a paragraph heading which sums up the information in selected paragraphs of a long text. Students categorise information by highlighting it in different colours.

Text Marking in History In pairs read the following information about Roman Food. Underline in different colours the foods eaten by wealthy people and those eaten by ordinary people.

Sequencing Students work in groups to reconstruct a text which has been cut into chunks.

Sequencing in Geography Re-order the sentences to make a coherent paragraph. Highlight the words which helped you do this. Give your paragraph a title.

Text restructuring Students read and remodel information in another format e.g. flow charts, maps, grids, Venn diagrams.

Re-structuring in Science  Match and sequence the given information on fossil fuels to form a diagram explaining how fossil fuels were created.

Active reading strategies develop student’s ability to Read for meaning. Extract relevant points from a long and complex text. Understand how texts are put together. Deepen their understanding by re- working what they know in a new way.