What Do Good Readers Do?

Use Fix-Up Strategies

Good readers slow down or stop and reread when they don't understand the text.

*Ask yourself if what you are reading makes sense or if you are learning what you need to learn.

*If you don't understand something, reread, look at the illustrations, or read ahead to see if it is explained further.

Make Connections

Good readers connect what they already know to the text they are reading.

*What does this book remind you of?

*What do you already know about the book's topic?

* Does this book remind you of another book?

Text to Self (T - S)

Text to Text (T - T)

Text to World (T - W)

Question

Good readers use questions to clarify confusion and stimulate interest in a topic.  They ask questions before, during, and after reading a selection.

*Ask yourself questions about important ideas in the story.

*I wonder why...

*What does it mean when it says...

*Why did the character...

*Why did the author...

Visualize

Good readers create mind pictures while they read.

*Put yourself in the character's shoes.

*Pretend the book is a movie and let it play in your mind.

*How does the author make the words come alive?

Infer

Good readers use what they already know about a character, author, or experience to predict or interpret the text.  This is sometimes like reading between the lines.

*Think about the title, illustrations, and what you have read so far.

*Tell what you think will happen next or what you think you will learn.

*Try to figure out things the author does not say directly.

Determine Importance

Good readers use all the information given to find the big idea.

*What was the author trying to tell us?

*What information is most needed from this text?

*Think about the characters, setting, problem, and solution.  Tell in your own words the important things you have read.

Synthesize

Good readers blend the information read from text with their own ideas to form new thoughts.

*How has your thinking changed from reading that piece?

*What was entertaining, informative, or useful about the reading selection?

*Evaluate - what did you enjoy or dislike about the piece of text?