Active Reading Strategies

 

“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.” 

- Edmund Burke

 

When you read, you have to be actively thinking about what you read.  Try one or more of the active reading strategies below to increase your ability to understand and remember what you read!      

Predict  Use what you already know to make a guess about what you think might happen next. 
  

Say to yourself . . .

·             I think this title might mean . . .

·             I think this character is going to . . .

·             Since this (fill in detail) happened, I think the next thing that is going to happen is . . .

·             What I predicted doesn’t match with what I read.  Now I think  that . . .

   

Question  Ask yourself a question to check your understanding.  Sometimes, you may have to keep reading on in order to answer your question.  Sometimes, you may have to reread in order to understand.  If you don’t know a word, look it up in the dictionary or jot it down and check later. 

Ask yourself . . .

·             What does this mean?

·             Why did she do that?

·             Do I understand what I have read so far?

  

Connect   Make a connection between what you have read and people, places, and events that you know about.                  

Ask yourself . . .

·             Have I ever felt like this character?

·             Who does this character remind me of?

·             How would I act in a similar situation?

·             What does this setting remind me of?

    

Visualize  Make a picture in your mind about the setting, characters, and action in the story.                  

Ask yourself . . .

·             How does this character, setting, or scene look?

·             If this was a movie, what would it look like?

·             Where are the characters in relation to each other and their surroundings?

·             What would I feel, see, hear, or smell in this scene?

   

Comment    Let yourself react and respond to what you are reading, while you are reading.                  

Say to yourself . . .

·             I like (or dislike) this character because. . .

·             I like (or dislike) this part of the story because . . .

·             This is confusing because . . .

·             I think that . . .

   

Review    Pause every page or two to think about what you have read.  This is a good time to clarify something you didn't understand and review what you have read so far.           

Say to yourself . . .

·             So far, the following things have happened: . . .

·             Now I understand why this happened. . .

·             This part makes send to me now . . .

 

Mount Washington

Cd_powered
Admin