Introduction:
- We integrate these seven strategies when we read. However, for young and inexperienced readers, parents and teachers need to model them more explicitly.
- These strategies are most effective when the parent/teacher focuses on one and moves to the next when the child/student has mastered it (independently apply the strategy).
Strategy 1: Making connections
- Meaningful connections are the most important and effective connections to make. These include those that connect to the bigger ideas in the story.
- The three kinds of meaningful connections are text-to-self (“This reminds me of the time I…”), text-to-text (“This character reminds of the character in this book because…”), and text-to-world (“This reminds me of something I heard on the news…”)
Strategy 2: Making predictions
- This requires readers to use the clues given by the story, tap into their previous knowledge, and make an educated guess on what might happen next.
- Ask questions to further your student’s/child’s thinking.
Strategy 3: Making inferences
- Have your students/children “read between the lines” and infer the settings of the book, the character’s feelings, etc.
Strategy 4: Asking questions
- Having your students/children ask themselves questions encourages them to continue reading.
- Make sure your students/children are asking good questions (questions that require additional reading and thinking).
Strategy 5: Making mental images
- Visualizing helps the reader experience the text in ways that make it more personal to him/her.
- Imagery and figurative language can also help your student/child form these mental images and connections.
Strategy 6: Determining importance
- Have your student/child focus on more important details.
Strategy 7: Synthesizing
- Encourage your student/child to be open to new ideas that might contradict his/her prior knowledge.
- Holding onto original and contradictory knowledge/predictions can make the text harder to comprehend.
For more examples of these strategies, visit the original source listed below.
