Reading strategies and techniques

Strategies for Reading Comprehension :: Read Naturally, Inc.

Comprehension: The Goal of Reading

Comprehension, or extracting meaning from what you read, is the ultimate goal of reading. Experienced readers take this for granted and may not appreciate the reading comprehension skills required. The process of comprehension is both interactive and strategic. Rather than passively reading text, readers must analyze it, internalize it and make it their own.

In order to read with comprehension, developing readers must be able to read with some proficiency and then receive explicit instruction in reading comprehension strategies (Tierney, 1982).

​ Strategies for reading comprehension in Read Naturally programs

​General Strategies for Reading Comprehension

The process of comprehending text begins before children can read, when someone reads a picture book to them. They listen to the words, see the pictures in the book, and may start to associate the words on the page with the words they are hearing and the ideas they represent.

In order to learn comprehension strategies, students need modeling, practice, and feedback. The key comprehension strategies are described below.

Using Prior Knowledge/Previewing

When students preview text, they tap into what they already know that will help them to understand the text they are about to read. This provides a framework for any new information they read.

Predicting

When students make predictions about the text they are about to read, it sets up expectations based on their prior knowledge about similar topics. As they read, they may mentally revise their prediction as they gain more information.

Identifying the Main Idea and Summarization

Identifying the main idea and summarizing requires that students determine what is important and then put it in their own words. Implicit in this process is trying to understand the author’s purpose in writing the text.

Questioning

Asking and answering questions about text is another strategy that helps students focus on the meaning of text. Teachers can help by modeling both the process of asking good questions and strategies for finding the answers in the text.

Making Inferences

In order to make inferences about something that is not explicitly stated in the text, students must learn to draw on prior knowledge and recognize clues in the text itself.

Visualizing

Studies have shown that students who visualize while reading have better recall than those who do not (Pressley, 1977). Readers can take advantage of illustrations that are embedded in the text or create their own mental images or drawings when reading text without illustrations.

Strategies for Reading Comprehension: Narrative Text

Narrative text tells a story, either a true story or a fictional story. There are a number of strategies that will help students understand narrative text.

Story Maps

Teachers can have students diagram the story grammar of the text to raise their awareness of the elements the author uses to construct the story. Story grammar includes:

• Setting: When and where the story takes place (which can change over the course of the story).
• Characters: The people or animals in the story, including the protagonist (main character), whose motivations and actions drive the story.
• Plot: The story line, which typically includes one or more problems or conflicts that the protagonist must address and ultimately resolve.
• Theme: The overriding lesson or main idea that the author wants readers to glean from the story. It could be explicitly stated as in Aesop’s Fables or inferred by the reader (more common).

​ Printable story map (blank)

Retelling

Asking students to retell a story in their own words forces them to analyze the content to determine what is important. Teachers can encourage students to go beyond literally recounting the story to drawing their own conclusions about it.

Prediction

Teachers can ask readers to make a prediction about a story based on the title and any other clues that are available, such as illustrations. Teachers can later ask students to find text that supports or contradicts their predictions.

Answering Comprehension Questions

Asking students different types of questions requires that they find the answers in different ways, for example, by finding literal answers in the text itself or by drawing on prior knowledge and then inferring answers based on clues in the text.

Strategies for Reading Comprehension: Expository Text

Expository text explains facts and concepts in order to inform, persuade, or explain.

The Structure of Expository Text

Expository text is typically structured with visual cues such as headings and subheadings that provide clear cues as to the structure of the information. The first sentence in a paragraph is also typically a topic sentence that clearly states what the paragraph is about.

Expository text also often uses one of five common text structures as an organizing principle:

• Cause and effect
• Problem and solution
• Compare and contrast
• Description
• Time order (sequence of events, actions, or steps)

Teaching these structures can help students recognize relationships between ideas and the overall intent of the text.

Main Idea/Summarization

A summary briefly captures the main idea of the text and the key details that support the main idea. Students must understand the text in order to write a good summary that is more than a repetition of the text itself.

​K-W-L

There are three steps in the K-W-L process (Ogle, 1986):

1. What I Know: Before students read the text, ask them as a group to identify what they already know about the topic. Students write this list in the “K” column of their K-W-L forms.
2. What I Want to Know: Ask students to write questions about what they want to learn from reading the text in the “W” column of their K-W-L forms. For example, students may wonder if some of the “facts” offered in the “K” column are true.
3. What I Learned: As they read the text, students should look for answers to the questions listed in the “W” column and write their answers in the “L” column along with anything else they learn.

After all of the students have read the text, the teacher leads a discussion of the questions and answers.

 Printable K-W-L chart (blank)

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers provide visual representations of the concepts in expository text. Representing ideas and relationships graphically can help students understand and remember them. Examples of graphic organizers are:

Tree diagrams that represent categories and hierarchies

Tables that compare and contrast data

Time-driven diagrams that represent the order of events

Flowcharts that represent the steps of a process​

​

Teaching students how to develop and construct graphic organizers will require some modeling, guidance, and feedback. Teachers should demonstrate the process with examples first before students practice doing it on their own with teacher guidance and eventually work independently.

Strategies for Reading Comprehension in Read Naturally Programs

Several Read Naturally programs include strategies that support comprehension:

Bibliography

Honig, B. , L. Diamond, and L. Gutlohn. (2013). Teaching reading sourcebook, 2nd ed. Novato, CA: Arena Press.

Ogle, D. M. (1986). K-W-L: A teaching model that develops active reading of expository text. The Reading Teacher 38(6), pp. 564–570.

Pressley, M. (1977). Imagery and children’s learning: Putting the picture in developmental perspective. Review of Educational Research 47, pp. 586–622.

Tierney, R. J. (1982). Essential considerations for developing basic reading comprehension skills. School Psychology Review 11(3), pp. 299–305.

Top 7 Reading Strategies & Techniques To Use in Class

Learning how to read is one of life's greatest pleasures. Students need this important skill to advance through each grade and eventually into college or the workplace. In the long run, they'll develop a love for reading that benefits them throughout their entire lives.

But what happens to students who wrestle with their reading skills?

Reading strategies and techniques can help students to become excellent readers during any school year. Through active reading and other methods, kids can increase their vocabulary and proficiency. Reading techniques benefit struggling students and offer them constructive ways to get a better grasp on learning how to read. 

We've outlined seven reading fluency strategies to reduce students' stress, build their confidence, increase comprehension and help them learn from older kids.

Understanding reading strategies

Reading strategies are specific procedures that help students look at printed words and interpret their meaning. Learners improve their comprehension, understand what they've read and advance their reading skills into high school and beyond.

There are several effective reading strategies designed to boost students' understanding of the written word:

1. Making connections — Connect new words with students’ prior knowledge and favorite hobbies, activities or places they've visited. Use texts that relate to world issues to provide students with another way to deepen their reading comprehension.

2. Inferencing— When reading the text, students take their past knowledge and arrive at a conclusion based on the clues they receive from what they've read.

3. Synthesizing — Students combine new information with their prior knowledge to formulate a new thought or idea.

Instructional strategies ensure students receive the best learning outcomes.

Skills required for reading comprehension

Most people look at reading as a basic skill learned in elementary school. However, reading encompasses much more than knowing how to pronounce words correctly. It involves reading comprehension skills and overall understanding.

Students who continue to struggle with comprehension difficulties may fight to cope with:

• Poor vision
• Hearing loss
• Decoding problems
• Loss of concentration
• Learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, ADD or ADHD
• The inability to understand what specific words mean on their own or when used in a sentence

There is help available to students so that they can learn how to read effectively.

Here's a list of six reading comprehension skills that teachers can use to help their students develop these abilities:

1. Decoding is a foundational reading skill that uses phonetics to understand meaning. Students begin by pronouncing words without having seen how it's spelled. Building phonological awareness facilitates the use of rhyming, sounds, and songs, which can in turn help students use decoding strategies.
2. Building vocabulary is a key component in supporting learners as they build their comprehension skills. Practice new words with students to increase their vocabulary. Kids gain confidence in their reading abilities when they learn how to pronounce and spell unfamiliar words.
3. Reading fluency. The greatest obstacle to fluency is word recognition. It can take several tries before a student recognizes a word and knows its meaning. Encourage your students to read books often to build their reading fluency.
4. Putting words together to write a cohesive sentence remains a top skill. Frequent lessons in sentence structure and grammar reinforce reading and writing skills.
5. Memory and focused attention. Help students improve their memory and attention through classroom games and activities. Since kids love educational games, they're likely to progress much faster.
6. Background knowledge. Past experiences and prior knowledge are great building blocks in helping students to get the gist of a word or phrase. Encourage kids to build their knowledge through reading, learning more about art, watching TV shows and having meaningful conversations with parents.

Equip your students with the above skills to support their reading comprehension progress.

Best strategies for reading improvement

There are lots of reading comprehension strategies you can use to help students improve their reading skills. It's vital to each student's success to grow their reading and annotation skills as they climb each grade level. 

You can use one or more strategies and key details to enhance each student's learning experience:

1. Assign reading partners, cross-grade or peers

Pair up two kids from different grade levels to work together. They can help each other improve reading comprehension regardless of their grade level. Both older and younger students benefit from this arrangement.

Younger kids can learn something new from older students. They also get to see how much their reading can improve in higher grade levels.

Older kids who struggle with reading feel less pressure to read books from higher grades when they're partnered with little kids. It's a great way to increase reading fluency.

2. Visualize reading passages

The key ingredient for visualizing passages is to encourage students to create mental pictures or movies in their minds. They can take their prior knowledge and combine it with their own visualizations. Kids may identify with characters and the story’s world.  

Use picture books or text with descriptive language to promote the use of this technique. Be sure to ask students questions such as:

• "What did you see as you read the passage?"
• “What do you think [character] looks like?”
• “Can you draw a picture of the story’s setting?”

3. Try reading aloud

Reading aloud promotes fluency and literacy. As teachers and parents read to children, it builds their language development and communication skills.

It's easy to keep kids engaged as they pay attention to their teacher's articulation and cadence. Be sure to involve your students by inviting them to comment on the story and ask questions.

4. Follow up reading with class discussions

After you finish reading a book to your students, start a class discussion to help students retain what they've learned. By directing comments and questions to students it encourages them to participate.

Here are a few tips to consider when following up with class discussions:

• Invite students to write notes for the discussion. They may provide interesting points on why they agree or disagree with the topic.
• Encourage students to jot down the things that they don't understand so that you can clarify these points for them.
• Ask a thought-provoking question or series of questions to promote active class participation.
• Break the class into smaller groups to promote deep conversations among students.

5. Do some choral reading

Choral reading occurs when teachers and students read a passage together. Students learn how to pronounce tough words, boost confidence, increase vocabulary and improve reading fluency.

Choral reading works very well when teachers pair two students together. Each student takes turns reading out loud while the other pupil actively listens. This scenario helps struggling students when they're working with a strong reader, and a 2007 study showed that partner reading improves reader fluency.

6. Create reading quizzes

Reading quizzes show teachers where students’ strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to reading comprehension.

When creating interactive or print quizzes, you can use fill-in-the-blank, true/false or multiple choice test questions. Pose a variety of question types to challenge your students without making the quiz impossible to complete.

7. Play question the text

Use the "Question the text" method to keep kids interested in reading. Get them to ask questions, especially if they don't understand what they've read. Asking questions about the text brings meaning to the reading material. Students can also form their own opinions about the passage or text.

Track progress and seek areas for improvement

Make notes of each student's progress to gain a better sense of kids' strengths and weaknesses. This helps you address problems immediately. You can adjust lesson plans to accommodate and fix learning gaps and improve reading comprehension skills.

The digital tools outlined below simplify tracking student progress:  

• Crowdsignal helps teachers create quizzes, questions and online polls. Students finish all assignments on tablets or computers. Once completed, teachers generate reports to determine any gray areas that require attention.
• Formative allows educators to assign activities to students, receive results, and track progress in real-time.
• Biblionasium provides teachers with access to the number of books that students have read. Educators can inspire kids to read and support active discussions among students.

There are a number of terrific ways to ensure teachers can successfully track students’ progress. These digital tools make tracking and assessments a quick and efficient use of time. 

As you teach, keep encouraging students to ask questions and challenge themselves as they read. When you work with them to build comprehension, you’re also working with them to build a love of reading!

Prodigy English is a brand-new game-based learning experience that helps students build key reading and language skills in a world of their own. As they play, you'll be able to track their progress and achievement.

Strategies for meaningful reading

The problem of teaching reading is one of the main issues facing pedagogy. According to experts, the current situation in Russia can be defined as a systemic crisis in the reader's culture.

Today, reading, along with writing and computer skills, is one of the basic skills that make it possible to work productively and communicate freely with different people. But it is not enough to teach a student to read, it is not enough to form and develop his reading technique skills, it is necessary to create such conditions that the student wants to read, gradually comprehending the complex forms of the text, so that his reading competence is formed and developed, and so that he becomes a person who owns the culture of reading.

Semantic reading includes the ability to comprehend the goals and objectives of reading, the ability to find and extract information from various texts, the ability to work with fiction, popular science, official texts, the ability to understand and adequately evaluate information from a text. To do this, it is not enough just to read the text, it is necessary to understand the content of the text as accurately and fully as possible, to catch all the details and practically comprehend the extracted information, which is the purpose of semantic reading. Semantic reading is a meta-subject result of mastering the educational program of basic general education.

The current interdisciplinary curriculum, provided for by the new educational standards, is the program "Fundamentals of Semantic Reading", which has been tested in the MOU "Secondary School No. points on the Unified State Examination in Russian language and literature, etc.). The content of the program is based on the experience of students working with text in elementary school. In grades 5-6, education is based on scientific, journalistic and artistic texts.

Semantic reading, as a universal action, is formed through the use of the following technologies and forms of work by the teacher: technology of problem-based learning; interactive technologies; critical thinking technologies.

To work with text at each stage, the student must learn to choose their own strategies. Learning strategies are a set of actions that a learner takes to make learning easier and more effective.

If successful, the student remembers the ways of his actions, operations, resources used, transfers the strategy to other situations, makes it universal. The number of strategies and the frequency of their use are individual.

All existing reading strategies can be divided into three groups: pre-text activity strategies; strategies for textual activity strategies for post-textual activity. The most important, in my opinion, are the pre-text tasks, the better this stage is organized, the easier it is for the student to read the text and the higher the result achieved.

Consider some of the strategies used on the example of A. Platonov's fairy tale "The Unknown Flower".

The goal of strategy is to motivate people to read the book.

Quest: Review the illustrations and suggest your own version of the book's plot.

The goal of strategy is to update prior knowledge and experience relevant to the text.

Task: what associations do you have about the stated topic?

The purpose of strategy is to recall important information related to the topic of the text.

1. Who are the pioneers?
2. What do children do at summer camp?
3. What does it take for a plant to grow? Etc.

The goal of the strategy is a semantic guess about the possible content of the text based on the analysis of its title.

Task: read the title of the text and divide it into semantic parts. What do you think the text will be about?

• How did the flower appear in this wasteland? How did he fight hard and not die?
• Did she notice the flower? What do you think happened next?

There lived a small flower in the world. No one knew that he was on earth. He grew up alone in a wasteland; cows and goats did not go there, and the children from the pioneer camp never played there. Grass did not grow in the wasteland, but only old gray stones lay, and between them was dry, dead clay. Only one wind walked through the wasteland; like a grandfather-sower, the wind carried the seeds and sowed them everywhere - both in the black damp earth and on the bare stone wasteland. In the black good earth, flowers and herbs were born from seeds, and in stone and clay, the seeds died. STOP.

And then one morning the girl Dasha was walking past that wasteland. She lived with her friends in a pioneer camp, and this morning she woke up and missed her mother. She wrote a letter to her mother and took the letter to the station so that it would reach her sooner. On the way, Dasha kissed the envelope with the letter and envied him that he would see his mother sooner than she did. STOP.

The goal of strategy is to teach you to read the text thoughtfully by asking increasingly complex questions.

Task for the group: read the first paragraph and ask questions, the rest of the group must answer them.

While reading the passage, the student makes notes in the text:

• V - already knew;
• + - new;
• - - thought otherwise;
• ? - I do not understand, there are questions.

4. Reading (alternate aloud)

Our task is to read with understanding, the task of the listeners is to ask the reader questions to check whether he understands the text being read.

The purpose of this strategy is to test the reader's knowledge of the text of the work.

• Did the unknown flower smell?
• When did the flower open its corolla: at the beginning, middle or end of summer?

The purpose of strategy is to draw attention to the linguistic features of the text that characterize the character.

Quest: Match the hero's name with the quote from the book.

The goal of strategy is to teach text interpretation.

Quest: mark the traits that the hero of the book possesses.

4. Review, feedback on the text

Plan.

1. Where and when events take place.
2. Theme and main idea of ​​the work.
3. Highlight the places in the work that made the greatest impression.
4. Characteristics of the heroes.
5. The language of the work.
6. Opinion and its rationale.

The purpose of this strategy is to show one's attitude to the text.

1. Topic (word, concept)

FLOWER

2. Two adjectives showing relation to the topic

BEAUTIFUL, STRONG

3. Three verbs

BREAKING, FLOWERING, REBIRTHING

4. A four-word sentence

TOMORROW WILL BE A NEW LIFE

5. Synonym for the concept or emotional attitude to the topic

FIGHTER

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that semantic reading forms cognitive interest, activates the imagination, develops speech, thinking, and also teaches how to work with information. The introduction of semantic reading strategies and technologies by teachers of various academic disciplines will make students full members of the information society.

4 methods of quick reading of educational and scientific literature

People have been reading for hundreds of centuries, but only in our time the question of increasing the speed of reading has become so acute. The main reason is the increase in the volume of information as a result of the development of science, its integrativity and the need to significantly accelerate the development of information. Organize daily workouts for your brain and the result will not be long in coming.

In Russian, reading is interpreted in several meanings:

1. reading as a process of perception of texts arranged in various ways:

2. reading as pronunciation, recitation of texts, including for educational purposes;

3. reading as an oral presentation to an audience of educational (lecture) or scientific material (report).

4. reading as a process of perception, processing, recoding, understanding and memorization of various symbols and texts with the help of a visual analyzer.

In-depth is a way of reading in which the reader pays attention to details, analyzes and evaluates them. It is also called analytical or critical.

For example, this way of reading is best used when studying academic disciplines.

Quick reading - continuous reading of the text, in which the process of analyzing facts and synthesizing individual concepts quickly proceeds.

For example, this way of reading is suitable for reading scientific, technical, economic, etc. literature.

Selective reading is a reading method in which individual sections of the text are read selectively.

For example, this method is used for secondary reading of an information source after its preview.

Reading-browsing is a way of reading in which there is a preliminary acquaintance with the source of information.

For example, we pick up a book, skimming through the preface, looking for the author’s most important provisions from the table of contents, according to which we can presumably judge the main content of the source, look through the conclusion and draw a conclusion about the usefulness and value of the text.

Reading-scanning is a method of reading a source in which it finds only factual information (numbers, words, surnames, etc.).

For example, to prove his point of view, the reader looks for this or that statistical information in books.

Thus, the considered methods of reading show the need not only to master them, but also the opportunity to choose the appropriate method each time, depending on the nature of the text and the time budget.

Regression - involuntary, mechanical, repeated eye fixations of the same section of the text (phrases, words, sentences). With such reading, the eyes move back, but not to the starting point of reading, but limiting themselves to the near zone.

Speaking is the movement of the lips, tongue and other organs of speech when reading to oneself. When reading slowly, internal speaking occurs, proceeding at the same speed with which we read the text aloud.

Small field of vision — coverage of the text by the eye during one fixation of the gaze. A person perceives letters, words, at best a few words, therefore, the eyes make several fixations, which is called splitting the gaze.

Absence of a reading strategy - absence of a goal, task and topic that moves the reader.

Lack of attention - switching thoughts to extraneous sounds, thoughts, objects reduces interest in reading and slows down the perception of the text.

Reading methods differ in the speed of their implementation, which is defined as the number of characters read per unit of time. Important is not only the speed of reading the text, but also the coefficient of understanding, the productivity of reading.

In different countries and languages, both the names and meanings of reading standards differ (see table).

Our country also has reading speed standards for adults (see table).

Of course, each person's reading speed is individual and depends on many factors: the activity of neuropsychic processes, features of thinking, attention, genetic predisposition. But each person, training daily, can change his own indicators.

Reception 1. Disable regression.

It is necessary to force yourself not to return to the previously read text. To do this, you can wear headphones while reading or use a special reading algorithm. This algorithm assumes sequential extraction of information on key issues.

Special reading algorithm

TITLE (books, articles) - AUTHOR (authors) - SOURCES AND ITS DATA - TOPIC (what the book, article is about) - FACTUAL INFORMATION - DISPUTE ISSUES - NOVELTY OF THE MATERIAL AND THE POSSIBILITY OF ITS USE.

Reception 2. Disable internal articulation (pronunciation).

Since our speech is a rhythmic pattern, to increase the speed of reading it is necessary to use the technique of arrhythmic tapping.

Arrhythmic tapping reception

While reading to himself, a person taps out a rhythm with his hand that does not correspond to the rhythm of Russian speech. For example: one-two-three-four-six-seven-eight. This rhythm breaks the usual mechanism of speech movements when reading a Russian text, that is, it interferes with internal pronunciation.

Reception 3. Expanding the field of view.

The untrained eye is forced to make 12-16 stops while reading, which takes time and tires the eye muscles.

Vertical reading technique

The table contains numbers from 1 to 25. Look at the center of the table from a distance of 30-40 cm, trying to see the entire table. You must find all the numbers in ascending order from 1 to 25 in 25 seconds. If you have lost any purely, then look for it by moving the eye only vertically. Using the same pattern, you can make tables for yourself with a large number of numbers. Exercise 3-5 minutes daily.

Reception 3. Improving attention.

In psychology, it is customary to distinguish the following qualities of attention: concentration, volume, switching, distribution, and stability. Fluent reading skills require the development of all qualities.

To improve all qualities, a series of exercises must be performed daily.

Exercise example.

You have two tasks. Each of which you must close with a piece of paper immediately after reading. Read assignments very quickly. Then you should answer the questions.

Task 1. The wife asked her husband to buy oil, soap, meat, and cabbage. Husband bought: cabbage, soap, oil, lard. What did your husband forget to buy? What did he buy extra?

Task 2. In room 235, in the right drawer of the cabinet, which stands next to the desk, there is a book of Wormsbereha and the Cabin “One Hundred Pages an Hour”. Bring her. Where exactly is the book? Were you asked to enter room 325, 235, 435? Where is the closet? Where is the book? Who are the authors of the book?

The online Schulte table is one of the most effective simulators for developing attention, memory and speed reading skills.

Lumosity - online version has more than 40 games for training attention, multitasking, short-term and long-term memory, focus (concentration), stress management, etc.

PEAK - contains 25 puzzles divided into several categories. Focus - a series of exercises on interacting with shapes: sorting, matching and isolating them. Dexterity - puzzles that require quick decision making and cause a certain amount of brain confusion. Problem Solving is a series of puzzles in which special emphasis is placed on working with numbers and geometric shapes. Memory - 7 exercises to train memory and work with cards. Language - provides for the development of skills for the rapid selection of words, pairing, searching for words among the letter grid (support for English only).

"B-trainika" — daily selects 5 exercises for you, focused on the comprehensive improvement of the basic cognitive functions of the brain.

Learn more

• 
  Waiting is not easy read aloud
• 
  Reading levels 1st grade
• 
  Dramatic plays for preschoolers
• 
  Short tongue twisters for adults
• 
  Videos for four year olds
• 
  Wheels on the bus go up and down
• 
  Games for learning letters
• 
  Fun ways to teach letter sounds
• 
  Activities preschool learning
• 
  Wheels on the bus go round and
• 
  Identifying emotions for kids