1. READING STRATEGIES Ten Tips to Improve Reading In Freshman English By
Mary Bennett, GEAR UP
Macon Middle School and Franklin High
Reading must have a meaning to you. Reading must have a purpose.
What makes a “good reader”?
GOOD READERS ASK QUESTIONS!!
GOOD READERS ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER THEY READ.

2. A Good Reader ASKS QUESTIONS
Strategy 1
ASK YOURSELF:
What is your reason for reading?
Are you reading to understand a procedure?
To inform yourself about current events?
Are you reading for leisure?
Are you reading to be able to answer
questions at the end?

3. My purpose for reading is to pass a test….
Strategy 2
If the purpose of the reading assignment is required as part of a final exam:
You may find it helpful to read some of the question prompts first. This will give you a guide to think about while you read and a specific answer to look for while reading.
Don’t waste time reading all the multiple choice answers at this point.

4. Reading Style Think about how you feel about reading.
Are there any emotions that come up before you start to read? Are you feeling fear, dread, excitement?
Ask yourself if you have a positive or negative attitude toward reading.
If you are constantly feeling against the need to read then it will be more difficult for you to understand what you read.

5. Strategy 3 Aim to adopt a POSITIVE attitude toward reading.
Create a purpose for reading! Read leisure material, short novels, newspaper funnies and magazines to support a positive attitude toward reading.

6. Reading Speed How fast do you read?
Determine your reading rate. Read a passage for one minute. Count up the words. This is your words per minute reading speed.

7. Strategy 4
Use a small card or book mark to help keep your eyes on track. This increases hand–eye reading coordination.
Placement of card is important. Place the card under the first 3-4 words of a sentence and push it along as you read. This helps guide the eye and move it smoothly along the sentence. It may also improve reading speed.

8. Behaviors that slow reading rates
Do you read aloud or quietly mouth the words?
This actually slows down your reading speed.
Using your finger may slow down reading because it only underlines one word at a time.

9. Strategy 5
Strive to read silently, especially on long passage reading.
Reading the question and answer choices very softly is okay.
DURING READING
Reading quickly is important when faced with lengthy reading passages. HOWEVER…
COMPREHENDING WHAT YOU READ IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT!!
We must understand what we read for it to have meaning and purpose.

10. A good reader keeps track mentally of what is happening in the passage
Strategy 6
Good readers ask themselves:
What is the main idea of this passage?
Where is the main idea or topic sentence located?
What are the supporting details?
Where are the facts that contribute to the main idea?
Are examples given to provide specific details?
Where are they located in the passage? Underline them.
A good reader asks questions while they are reading.
For example, in reading a news article, we expect to be able to identify the following fairly easily:
WHO – Who is the article about?
WHAT – What happened?
WHERE- Where did it take place?
WHEN- When did it occur?
HOW- How did the events happen?

11. Using Context Clues to Figure out Words
Strategy 7
What do you do when you come across a word that you do not know? Circle it.
Can you figure out what it means by the other words surrounding it?
Read the sentences before and after the sentence it is in
Can you figure out what is intended by re-reading the sentence it is in? Can you think of a synonym for it that makes sense?

12. The Pause
Strategy 8
After reading 2 or 3 paragraphs, PAUSE. Stop and ask yourself, Do I know what’s going on?
If not then you better re-read it or at least look back and skim over the material to get the “jist’ of what’s happening.

13. Good Readers Ask Questions
Strategy 9
Once you have read something,
Ask yourself what you got out of it?
What was the main idea?
Who did what? What happened?
How did it happen?
What was the “THEME”?

14. The Author’s Purpose Strategy 10 What was the author’s purpose?
To Inform, Persuade, Narrate, Humorous
Did the author seem to have an opinion about the situation?
What would the author have to know to write about this subject?

15. What makes a Good Reader?
Good readers ask questions.
Good readers ask questions before, during and after they read.

16. Bibliography Margaret Uhar, Reading Specialist
Department of Education, Texas High School WASL Reading Item Analysis
Reading Skills and Strategies page 125 of the Middle School Literature Text
Study Guides and Strategies