Reading strategies kids

13 Powerful Reading Strategies for Young Readers

Written by: Angie Olson

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What’s better on a cold day than curling up with a good book? Not much. Unfortunately, not everyone can simply dig into a book, as learning to read doesn’t come easily to every child. There are many processes working simultaneously to create the miracle known as reading. Literacy experts agree on several powerful strategies that will strengthen the reading process for your lucky little learners. 

1. Reread

Students must often revisit text to clarify understanding. When a student neglects to reread, comprehension can suffer. Using passages (either printable or digital), like the one seen below, can help students practice this skill. Model rereading with your students. Our youngest readers may not know that it’s OK to reread!

2. Activate Prior Knowledge

Before reading, the student should look at the title and ask himself what he already knows about the topic. Prior knowledge can significantly improve understanding. Ask your lucky little learners what they already know about a topic. Using KWL charts (what I know, what I want to know, and what I learned) to collect knowledge before, during, and after reading is a great way to activate background knowledge. This skill can also be demonstrated during whole group read alouds too.

3. Use Context Clues

Context clues help the reader to differentiate between similar words in a passage. Using the words around the unknown word, your students are able to determine what makes sense. Try using Digital Reading Passages to help your primary readers decipher word meaning using context clues and other vocabulary strategies.

Download Digital Context Clues Toothy HERE

4. Infer Meaning

Making an inference requires higher order thinking skills. Inferencing is a necessary part of reading throughout school and is also an important skill in life in general. Tell your students that inferencing is like making a guess based on facts and evidence.

5. Think Aloud

The think aloud strategy is usually modeled by the teacher, so that students can see the meta-cognitive process. Your students can imitate this think-aloud process in order to be more transparent with their meta-cognition. This means they are actually thinking (and speaking) about their own thinking and reading processes. 

6. Summarize the Story

The point of reading is, after all, comprehension, so it’s so important for your lucky little learners to be able to effectively retell what he or she has read. Knowing the main idea and details is essential in retelling. This can be practiced using the Digital Reading Passages. Students will read the passage on the screen and then have two choices to pick the summary of the paragraph.

Download Digital Summarizing Toothy HERE

7. Locate Key Words

Finding key words is helpful when summarizing a passage. When answering questions about a selection, locating key words helps the reader use important information quickly. This is a concept that needs to be taught and modeled. The teacher will need to demonstrate and explain how to scan a passage to locate key words.

8. Make Predictions

Regardless of the media we’re consuming (video, audio, print), we are constantly making predictions. This is the same for even our young readers and viewers. This building block of meta-cognition is essential in achieving deep understanding of text. Have your students make predictions as they read passages from our Digital Reading Passages.

Download Digital Toothy HERE

9. Use Word Attack Strategies

Strong decoding skills enable fluent reading and strong comprehension. Chunking, rereading, and connecting letters to sounds are effective strategies for decoding words. The sentence scrambles bundle is one of my favorite ways to help students with sight words, decoding, and fluency!

10. Visualize

Good readers picture what they’re reading. Sometimes called a ‘mind movie’, this strategy of visualizing can help the reader in connecting to and comprehending text. I love helping my lucky little learners visualize by drawing pictures of what they are reading (or what I read aloud).

11. Use Graphic Organizers

Helping the reader arrange information is a powerful component of comprehension. Graphic organizers can be used for determining cause and effect, character traits, problem and solution, and more.  The nice thing about a graphic organizer is that they are easy for students to draw because they are typically basic shapes like squares and circles with a heading on top. Graphic organizers are great for putting into reading notebooks.

12. Ask Questions

Like inferencing, we are always asking questions – when reading, watching, or listening. Developing good questions is a foundational piece of meta-cognition in readers. Encourage your littlest readers to write down questions on sticky notes or in their reading notebooks. These questions can be revisited at the guided reading table or during independent reading time when the teachers is available.

13. Monitor and Repair Understanding While Reading

The essence of meta-cognition is realizing when you’ve lost meaning as a reader. This critical step in the reading process is what ultimately separates competent readers from word-callers. This is so important to practice in reading centers (small groups) or as a whole class. Your learners need help monitoring their own understanding before they do it on their own!

Becoming a proficient, engaged reader is a long process, and doesn’t happen by accident. Early, consistent exposure to books helps create a love of reading in children. By combining these strategies, the child who loves listening to stories can become competent and confident in reading independently! Help your lucky little learners by teaching these 13 reading strategies and using these ready-to-go reading products!

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11 Reading Strategies To Improve Your Child’s Reading Level

Children learn to walk and talk naturally, but that’s not the case with reading. Reading strategies are designed to help your child develop a strong reading foundation — one built with confidence, engagement, and joy!

As a parent, you are most likely always looking for techniques that make your child want to learn. We’re here to help you and your child on their journey as a budding reader.

Try the 11 reading-strategy suggestions below for kids who are beginning to read all the way to those reading advanced chapter books! We’ve made it easy for you to see what skill each strategy focuses on so you can help your child in a way that’s right for their reading level.

But before we get to these ideas, let’s discuss what reading strategies are and how to effectively teach them to your young reader.

What Are Reading Strategies?

Reading strategies are activities that help your child understand what they’re reading, build vocabulary, and improve their reading skills.

Think of each reading strategy as a tool your child can pull out to help them read. For example, if they get stuck on a word, they can think of all the decoding strategies they’ve learned and pick one to try.

If that one doesn’t work and they’re still stuck, they can try another one. By experimenting with different strategies, your child learns to figure out the words in front of them and continues developing their reading skills.

Since each reading strategy won’t work in every situation, your child must have a variety of methods in their reading toolbox. As they gain experience, they’ll better know which one to use when.

Additionally, knowing the words in a book is not the only reading skill. Children need to develop comprehension skills as well as the ability to get “lost” in a book. Reading strategies that promote this engagement are very valuable.

Why Reading Strategies Are Important

When your child uses reading strategies, they are actively engaged in the reading process. This helps them understand the text better and makes reading more enjoyable.

Additionally, as we mentioned above, reading strategies help your child build their vocabulary, which is essential for reading comprehension. If they don’t understand what the words are, they can’t make sense of what they’re reading.

How To Help Your Child Become A Better Reader

Now that we’ve talked about the benefits of reading strategies, let’s take a look at how to teach them to your child.

First things first, teaching reading strategies at home doesn’t need to be complicated. You can use everyday activities to help your child practice their reading skills.

One of the best ways to teach reading strategies is to model them. This means showing your child how to use the strategy while sharing a story. For instance, if you’re showing how illustrations in a book can help you understand the text, point to the pictures as you read.

Say, “Pictures can give us more information about the story and what’s happening. I’ll look closely at this illustration to see if it helps me figure out what’s going on. ” Then, ask your child to do the same and discuss the image together.

Think aloud as you read, telling your child what you’re doing and why it’s helpful. This gives your child insight into your thinking process and helps them learn to use the strategy independently.

You might say, “I don’t know this word, so I’ll try to break it into syllables and then put them together to help me remember what each part says.”

In addition to modeling, remind your child of other strategies they can use. For example, if you see that they’re struggling to sound out a longer word, encourage them to look for smaller words inside of it.

Helping your child strategize enables them to become more confident in their reading.

11 Fun And Helpful Reading Strategies

Use these reading strategies to help your child practice important literacy skills and become a more confident reader.

1) Reread Familiar Texts

You may feel pressured to always offer your child new and different stories. While that is great, it can also be just as helpful for your child to read the same book more than once.

Rereading helps your child in two major ways. It gives them confidence by letting them choose what to read, and it improves their fluency since they are more familiar with the words in the book, which means they can really indulge in and enjoy the story!

As the text becomes easier for your little one to read, they will feel a sense of accomplishment because they are reading with the ease of a fluent reader — this is a huge step for your child!

2) Ask Questions About The Story

Reading isn’t a passive activity. Instead, your child’s brain should actively engage with the text. Teaching them to ask questions is a great way to help them connect with the words on the page.

Asking questions can also help your child keep tabs on their comprehension. They can use questions to make sure they understand what the text says.

As you’re reading to your child, stop to ask questions throughout the story. For example, if the main character just did something, you can ask, “Why did she do that?” Give your child a chance to think about it and respond.

If you’re reading a non-fiction book together, you might encounter a new word. Point to it and ask, “What does that word mean?” If your child doesn’t know, it’s the perfect opportunity to look it up together.

3) Read Aloud

Reading aloud with your child is a great way to encourage them to read. Your child adores you — you’re probably their biggest inspiration! So when you have fun reading, they’ll want to join in.

Bedtime stories are an easy way to incorporate daily reading into your busy family routine. This time gives you and your child a chance to unwind and connect with one another.

While you read together, encourage your child to read as much of the text as they can. And before turning the page, ask them what they think will happen next. This helps them connect more deeply with the story by developing empathy for the characters or appreciating the humor.

Sometimes, though, your child might be shy about reading in front of you or answering questions. They know reading is important, and they want to succeed for you. The pressure that comes with that might make reading more difficult.

That’s OK! Give them plenty of praise and encouragement, and let them know they can take it as slow as they need to.

In the meantime, encourage them to host a special storytime with a stuffed animal or a favorite toy, any item that is guaranteed to make them smile and bring them comfort.

It may take some adjusting, but this strategy will get them confident and calm about reading.

4) Act It Out

You can make books literally come alive by acting them out. This is a dynamic and exciting way to encourage your child to love reading!

There’s no need to use elaborate props, a stage, or costumes (although, if time allows, your child might love to make a family theatre production!). Simply grab a couple of stuffed animals or toys that can play the part of the characters in the story you’re reading together.

This simple addition can increase the entertainment value for your child and give them a chance to express themselves through the story.

Encourage them to do funny voices and mimic the characters’ actions in the story. Plus, if you incorporate play into your reading, they’ll start to see the connection between the words on the page and the exciting adventure you are having with your imagination.

This is a great way for your child to bring the story to life!

5) Use A Reading Finger

Young readers’ eyes find it hard to follow a line of text from right to left. They may skip around or jump lines. It can also be hard for kids to stay focused on what they’re reading.

Using a finger to track words you are reading can be very helpful. Have them use their pointer finger to point to each word as they read it. Remind them to move their finger to the next word as they go.

It can also be helpful to have an index card or a folded sheet of paper that moves from line to line. Both of these methods can help your child keep their place while reading.

If your child doesn’t want to point to words as they read, you may find it beneficial to do the pointing yourself for a while until they feel more comfortable.

6) Take A Running Start

If your child gets stuck on a word while reading, ask them to take a running start. This means going back to the beginning of the sentence and trying to read the unknown word in context.

Sometimes, this is enough to help them decode the word and keep going. But, other times, the word will continue to trip them up. If this is the case, introduce a different strategy, such as covering up the suffix or prefix of a word and focusing on the root word first.

Running starts also improve reading comprehension overall as your child reviews the text.

7) Read Things That Are Not Books

If your child seems uninterested in reading books, divert their attention to other things. Magazines, movie titles, joke books, anything you come across!

For example, try asking your child to be your little helper. Anytime you need to look something up or read something, see if they can give it a go first (with your help if they need it, of course!).

This can be searching up movie times online or having them read a recipe to you out loud while you cook. They could read road signs, check the weather, or find restaurant or store hours. They can read emails from family and friends that live in other parts of the world.

For younger kids, try asking them to sound out simple words you come across throughout the day, such as the word “stop” on a stop sign.

Having your child help in this way is all about the little, daily things that fit into your life. And the effect of these small tasks will give your child a huge confidence boost!

8) Let Your Child Tell Their Own Story

Acting as your child’s reading partner doesn’t have to start and stop with traditional bedtime stories. Letting them tell their own story is a great way to stimulate their imagination and can help with reading, too!

Every now and then, consider swapping after-dinner storytime for storytelling night. Your child can tell you a story while you write it down. Try letting your little one come up with a different scene each day (or, if time allows, all at once).

If they’re old enough, they can also work on the story on their own, drawing pictures to go along with the text or designing a book cover. Once the story is finished, you can read it together!

This is a great way to encourage accomplishment in your child, too. They will have made something of their own creation and can see the imaginative, fun, and personal finished product.

Plus, learning how to tell a story will help immensely with your child’s reading comprehension. They will begin to inherently understand the ebbs and flows of a story as they create their own.

A cute bonus: You’ll have a keepsake to treasure for years to come!

9) Make A Prediction

Predicting is another vital reading strategy that can help your child figure out what will happen next in the story and make sense of the text overall, which builds comprehension.

When they come to a natural stopping point in their reading, ask them to pause for a moment. Then, ask your child what they think will happen next.

After they’ve made their predictions, encourage them to keep reading to see if they were right. If they weren’t, that’s OK! Remind them that authors have different ideas, so stories can sometimes turn out differently than we think they should.

For a more fundamental-level reading strategy, try letting your child predict the next word rather than what happens in the story next.

10) Retell The Story

After your child reads a book, ask them to retell the story to you. This reading strategy helps your child practice their comprehension skills.

As they tell you about the story, pay attention to the details they include. Does your child remember the main parts? Did they have a beginning, middle, and end in their retelling?

If not, practice the retelling strategy by using some fun activities. For example, ask your child to look back through the book and find pictures to help them tell the story.

You can also ask them to draw small pictures on different pieces of paper to represent the different phases — beginning, middle, and end.

Then, put these pictures into a stack and shuffle them up. Spread them out and ask your child to put them in order. Once they’re correctly in place, have them retell the story using the pictures.

When retelling, some kids have trouble with adding too many details. If your child wants to share all the things about the book they read, help them focus on the main events.

Modeling is a good way to reinforce this concept. Spend 10 or 15 minutes quietly reading. Then, when the time is up, take turns retelling what you read. Your child will see how you focus on the key points and quickly sum up the story when you share.

11) Make Pictures In Your Mind

As your child reads aloud, encourage them to visualize the story. This means using the words as clues and picturing the story in their mind.

At first, you might have to help them with this reading strategy. After reading a paragraph or two of a descriptive piece of text, stop and ask your child to describe the scene. If they aren’t sure, model the process for them.

Show them how to go back in the text and look for adjectives and other descriptive words. Then, discuss what type of mental image you have.

Take time to draw what you’re seeing in your mind and have your child do the same. Putting the mental image onto paper can help some kids better process what is going on in their brains.

Compare pictures, but first, remind your child that it’s OK to have different images because we look at things in our own unique way.

This strategy is beneficial when your child outgrows picture books because it helps them understand what they’re reading when they don’t see any illustrations to offer clues.

How Reading Strategies Build Different Skills

All of the different skills that go into reading can be a lot for kids (and parents!) to take in. Although learning to read may feel like a distant memory to us, kids are in the thick of grasping everything reading requires.

But what does reading require? And how do the strategies we mentioned help? Here are a few examples of the skills some of these strategies promote.

Rereading Helps With Decoding

We hinted at it above, but it’s important to get a clear understanding of decoding.

Decoding is the process of sounding out words. Children (and adults!) use this skill to break down words to specific sounds and then blend the sounds together to form the word correctly.

Decoding goes beyond understanding what sound each letter makes. Specifically, decoding involves becoming familiar with the relationship between letters and sounds (and their patterns).

The rereading strategy is helpful here because the more times your child sees a word the easier it will become for them to decode it and words like it. Removing the effort leaves a child free to really get lost in a story.

The HOMER Learn & Grow app is another tool your child can use to practice essential decoding skills.

Reading Things That Are Not Books Builds Fluency

Once your child can instantly recognize words on the page (even ones they don’t know), then they are considered fluent!

It’s important to note that there are different levels of reading fluency. For example, your child may be able to fluently read a first-grade book but not a ninth-grade book. The good news is that fluency grows the more your child reads!

Building fluency is a big end goal for children. We want your child to achieve this goal so they will know that reading can be fun and rewarding. The stronger reader they become, the more likely they are to love reading!

Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a fluent reader. It may take your child some time and practice to build their confidence and fluency!

In terms of reading strategies, reading things that are not books is one that can help build fluency. So can taking a running start. After all, the more your child reads, the more fluent they will become.

Reading Aloud Helps With Vocabulary

Words, words, words! The more words your child is exposed to, the more they will learn. And children who have a good vocabulary are at an advantage when it comes to reading.

A growing vocabulary develops from conversation and from hearing books read aloud. Additionally, children who read a lot learn more new words than those who read less because they get introduced to vocabulary in context.

All of the reading strategies we mentioned can be helpful with expanding vocabulary, but we especially recommend reading aloud and varying the kinds of books you read with your child. This will increase their exposure to all kinds of words!

Letting Your Child Tell Their Own Story Encourages Executive Function

This may sound technical, but executive function is really just an umbrella term that deals with your child’s working memory, attentiveness, and their ability to think about different things one after another.

These things influence your child’s attitude and how they learn. That’s part of why we always encourage reading strategies and materials that create a fun, relaxed learning environment for your little one.

A good strategy for working on this skill would be letting your child tell their own story! You can also encourage them to use the Learn & Grow app from HOMER. They’ll practice important executive function skills as they play.

Make Reading Strategies Work For Your Family

Incorporating reading strategies doesn’t need to be difficult, and you can start to feel confident about your child’s improvements when you see the purpose behind these strategies.

No matter what reading strategy you choose — rereading, asking questions, reading aloud, acting it out, reading things that aren’t books, letting your child tell their own story, or any of the others — you can achieve at-home learning that fits into your life in a fun and easy way.

And if you’re looking for more resources, our kid-powered, personalized Learn & Grow App is the perfect place for your child to get in some safe, fun, and quality reading practice. Just 15 minutes a day is proven to increase reading scores by 74%!

Author

Techniques for teaching the strategy of semantic reading and working with text

The global processes of informatization of society, the increase in the amount of textual information every year, the presentation of new requirements for its analysis, systematization and processing speed have put theorists and practitioners of education in front of the need development of new approaches to teaching reading.

Problems:

- children have low reading speed, as a result of which they spend a lot of time doing homework,

- they often do not understand the meaning of what they read due to reading errors and incorrect intonation,

- they cannot extract the necessary information from the proposed text, highlight the main thing in the read,

- they find it difficult to briefly retell the content,

- when performing independent work, tests of different levels, students make mistakes due to misunderstanding of the wording of the task,

- rarely refer to cognitive texts.

That is, a serious contradiction arises: on the one hand, the modern world brings down a huge amount of information on us, on the other hand, our children do not read much, do not have the skills of semantic reading, and do not know how to work with information.

It is not so important to read a lot, it is much more necessary to process what you read in your mind in a quality manner. Having comprehended and structured the text in a certain way, it is much easier to convey its content and learn the main thing.

The current interdisciplinary curriculum, provided for by the new educational standards, is the program "Fundamentals of semantic reading and working with text." The program is aimed at forming and developing the foundations of reading competence necessary for students to implement their future plans, including continuing education and self-education, preparing for work and social activities. Today, reading, along with writing and computer skills, is one of the basic skills that allow you to work productively and communicate freely with different people. Reading is a universal skill: it is something taught and something through which one learns. As scientists have established, about 200 factors affect student performance. Factor #1 is reading skill, which has a far greater impact on academic performance than all of them combined. Research shows that in order to be competent in all subjects and later in life, a person needs to read 120-150 words per minute. This becomes a necessary condition for the success of working with information. Reading is the foundation of all educational outcomes.

Federal standards include in the meta-subject results of OOP mastering as a mandatory component "mastering the skills of semantic reading of texts of various styles and genres in accordance with the goals and objectives."

Semantic reading is a type of reading aimed at understanding the semantic content of the text by the reader. For semantic understanding, it is not enough just to read the text, it is necessary to evaluate the information, respond to the content.

In the concept of universal educational activities (Asmolov A.G., Burmenskaya G.V., Volodarskaya I.A., etc.) actions of semantic reading associated with:

- understanding the purpose and choosing the type of reading depending on tasks;

- definition of primary and secondary information;

- by formulating the problem and the main idea of ​​the text.

For semantic understanding, it is not enough just to read the text, it is necessary to evaluate the information, respond to the content. The concept of "text" should be interpreted broadly. It can include not only words, but also visual images in the form of diagrams, figures, maps, tables, graphs.

Since reading is a meta-subject skill, its constituent parts will be in the structure of all universal learning activities:

- personal UUD includes reading motivation, learning motives, attitude towards oneself and school;

- in the regulatory UUD - the student's acceptance of the learning task, arbitrary regulation of activity;

- in cognitive UUD - logical and abstract thinking, working memory, creative imagination, concentration, vocabulary volume.

- in communicative UUD - the ability to organize and implement cooperation and cooperation with a teacher and peers, adequately convey information, display subject content.

The diagram shows groups of meta-subject results related to semantic reading.

To work with the text at each stage, the reader chooses his own strategies. Learning strategies are a set of actions that a learner takes in order to facilitate learning, make it more effective, efficient, faster, more enjoyable, aim and bring learning activities closer to their own goals.0007

The term "reading strategies" was born at the dawn of psycholinguistics, and its appearance is associated with the work of Kenneth Goodman and Peter Kolers (70s). (slide 14) The most general definition of J. Bruner became fundamental for all subsequent works: “A strategy is a certain way of acquiring, storing and using information that serves to achieve certain goals in the sense that it should lead to certain results. ”

In case of success, 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.

Purpose: to form the ability to purposefully read the educational text. Ask questions and lead group discussions.

1. Update. Reception "Associative Bush": the teacher writes a keyword or title of the text, students express their associations one by one, the teacher writes down. The use of this technique allows you to update knowledge, motivate subsequent activities, activate the cognitive activity of students, set them up for work.

2. Pupils silently read a short text or part of a text, stopping at the indicated places.

3. The teacher asks a problematic question on what has been read.

4. The answers of several students are discussed in class.

5. The students make an assumption about the further development of the event.

Purpose: to form the ability to highlight the main thing, summarize what was read in the form of a thesis, ask problematic questions.

1. The students silently read the text or part of the text chosen by the teacher.

2. The teacher puts the students in pairs and gives clear instructions. Each student alternately performs two roles: speaker - reads and summarizes the content in the form of one thesis; the respondent listens to the speaker and asks him two substantive questions. Next comes the role reversal.

3. The teacher invites all students to the discussion.

Purpose: to form the ability to work independently with printed information, formulate questions, work in pairs.

1. Students silently read the proposed text or part of the text chosen by the teacher.

2. The students work in pairs and discuss which key words should be highlighted in the reading. (Which words appear most often in the text? How many times? Which words are in bold? Why?

If you read the text aloud, how would you make it clear that this sentence is the main one? It is about highlighting the phrase voice, which hides an unobtrusive but reliable memorization.)

3. One of the students formulates a question using key words, the other answers it.

4. Discuss key words, questions and answers in class. Correction.

Goal: to form the ability to ask questions while reading, critically evaluate information, compare what is read with one's own experience.

1. The teacher instructs the students to divide the notebook into two parts.

2. In the process of reading, students should write down on the left side the moments that struck, surprised, reminded of some facts, caused any associations; on the right - write a concise commentary: why this particular moment surprised you, what associations it caused, what thoughts it prompted.

Purpose: to form the ability to read thoughtfully, evaluate information, formulate the author's thoughts in your own words.

The teacher gives the students the task to write information in the margins with icons according to the following algorithm:

• V Familiar information
• + New information
• - I thought (thought) otherwise
• ? This interested me (surprised), I want to know more

The essence of semantic reading strategies is that the strategy is related to choice, functions automatically at the unconscious level and is formed in the course of the development of cognitive activity. Teaching reading strategies includes the acquisition of skills:

- Distinguishing types of message content - facts, opinions, judgments, evaluations;

- recognition of the hierarchy of meanings within the text - the main idea, theme and its components;

- own understanding - the process of reflective perception of the cultural meaning of information.

Mastering strategies occurs mainly in groups or pairs, which allows students to develop not only speech, but also communicative competence.

The strategy of semantic reading provides understanding of the text by mastering the techniques of mastering it at the stages before reading, during reading and after reading. Working with any text involves three stages: pre-text activity, text and post-text activity

Stage 1. Work with text before reading.

1. Anticipation (anticipation, anticipation of the upcoming reading). Determining the semantic, thematic, emotional orientation of the text, highlighting its heroes by the title of the work, the name of the author, key words, illustrations preceding the text based on the reader's experience.

2. Setting the objectives of the lesson, taking into account the general (educational, motivational, emotional, psychological) readiness of students for work.

Purpose of stage 1: development of the most important reading skill, anticipation, that is, the ability to guess, predict the content of the text by title, author's name, illustration.

Techniques of pre-text activity:

If earlier, according to the traditional method, only one task “Read the text” was given at the stage of pre-reading the text, and the main attention was paid to control of reading comprehension, now we know that the better organized the stage of pre-reading, the easier it is for the student to read the text and the higher the result achieved by him.

Pre-text orienting techniques are aimed at staging reading and, consequently, at choosing the type of reading, updating previous knowledge and experience, concepts and vocabulary of the text, as well as creating motivation for reading.

Most common techniques:

• Brainstorming
• Glossary
• "Landmarks of anticipation"
• Preliminary Questions
• "Dissection questions".

Brainstorming, headline prediction.

The goal is to update previous knowledge and experience related to the topic of the text.

The question is asked: what associations do you have about the stated topic?

Associations are written on the board.

The teacher can add various information.

Reading text. Comparison of information with that learned from the text.

"Glossary"

The purpose of is to update and repeat the vocabulary related to the topic of the text.

The teacher says the name of the text, gives a list of words and suggests marking those that may be related to the text.

Having finished reading the text, they return to these words (this will be a post-text strategy) and look at the meaning and use of the words used in the text.

"Landmarks of anticipation"

The purpose of is to update previous knowledge and experience related to the topic of the text. Students are given judgments. They should mark the ones they agree with. After reading, they mark them again. If the answer has changed, then the students explain why this happened (post-text strategy)

“Dissections of the Question”

The goal of is a semantic guess about the possible content of the text based on the analysis of its title. It is proposed to read the title of the text and divide it into semantic groups. What do you think the text will be about?

"Preparatory questions"

The purpose of is to update existing knowledge on the topic of the text.

Detailed reception algorithm:

1. Scan the text quickly. (Review reading.)

2. Answer the question asked in the title of the text.

Stage 2. Working with text while reading.

Purpose of stage 2: understanding of the text and creation of its reader's interpretation (interpretation, evaluation).

1. Primary reading of the text. Independent reading in the classroom or reading-listening, or combined reading (at the choice of the teacher) in accordance with the characteristics of the text, age and individual abilities of students. Identification of primary perception (with the help of a conversation, fixing primary impressions, related arts - at the teacher's choice).

2. Rereading the text. Slow "thoughtful" repeated reading (of the entire text or its individual fragments). Text analysis. Statement of a clarifying question for each semantic part.

3. Conversation on the content of the text. Summary of what has been read. Identification of the hidden meaning of the work, if any. Statement of generalizing questions to the text, both by the teacher and by the children. Appeal (if necessary) to individual fragments of the text.

Text activities include:

• Read aloud
• "Reading to yourself with questions"
• Stop Reading
• "Reading to yourself with a mark"

"Reading aloud"

The goal is to check the understanding of the text read aloud .

1. Reading text paragraph by paragraph. The 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.

2. Listeners ask questions about the content of the text, the reader answers. If his answer is incorrect or inaccurate, the listeners correct him.

“Reading to yourself with questions”

The goal is to teach you to read the text thoughtfully by asking yourself increasingly difficult questions .

1. Reading the first paragraph. Questions are being asked.

2. Reading the second paragraph to yourself. Work in pairs. One student asks questions, the other answers.

3. Reading the third paragraph. They change roles. They ask questions and answer.

Stop Reading

Goals - managing the process of understanding the text while reading it.

Reading the text with stops during which questions are asked. Some of them are aimed at testing understanding, others - at predicting the content of the following passage.

“Reading to yourself with notes” (“Insert”)

The goal is to monitor the understanding of the text being read and its critical analysis . This strategy is most often used to work with complex scientific texts. It is used to stimulate more careful reading. Reading becomes an exciting journey.

1. Individual reading.

While reading, the student makes notes in the text:

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

2. Reading, the second time, fill in the table, systematizing the material.

Records - keywords, phrases. After completing the table, students will have a mini-outline. After the students fill in the table, we summarize the results of the work in the conversation mode. If the students have any questions, then I answer them, having previously found out if one of the students can answer the question that has arisen. This technique contributes to the development of the ability to classify, systematize incoming information, highlight the new.

“Creating a question plan”.

The student carries out a semantic grouping of the text, highlights the strong points, divides the text into semantic parts and titles each part with a key question

Stage 3. Working with text after reading .

Purpose: correction of the reader's interpretation in accordance with the author's intention

1. Conceptual (semantic) conversation on the text. Collective discussion of the read, discussion. Correlation of readers' interpretations (interpretations, evaluations) of the work with the author's position. Identification and formulation of the main idea of ​​the text or the totality of its main meanings.

2. Acquaintance with the writer. Story about a writer. Talk about the personality of the writer. Working with textbook materials, additional sources.

3. Work with the title, illustrations. Discussing the meaning of the title. Referring students to ready-made illustrations. Correlation of the artist's vision with the reader's idea.

4. Creative tasks based on any area of ​​students' reading activity (emotions, imagination, comprehension of content, artistic

Techniques for post-text activities.

• "Relationship between question and answer"
• "Time out"
• "Checklist"
• "Questions after the text"

"Relationship between question and answer"

The goal is to teach understanding of the text . One of the most effective post-text techniques. It differs from the rest in that it teaches the process of understanding the text, and does not control the result (understood - did not understand), shows the need to search for the location of the answer.

The answer to the question can be in the text or in the reader's word. If the answer is in the text, it can be in one sentence of the text or in several of its parts. To answer the question, you need to find the exact answer in one sentence of the text. If it is contained in several parts of the text, such an answer must be formulated by connecting them.

If the answer is in the reader's head, then in one case the reader constructs it by connecting what the author says between the lines or indirectly and how the reader interprets the author's words. In another case, the answer is outside the text and the reader is looking for it in his knowledge.

"Time out"

Objectives - self-test and assessment of understanding of the text by discussing it in pairs and in a group.

Reception implementation algorithm:

1. Reading the first part of the text. Work in pairs.

2. Ask each other clarifying questions. They answer them. If there is no confidence in the correctness of the answer, questions are submitted for discussion by the whole group after the completion of the work with the text.

Checklist

This strategy is quite flexible. It lays down the conditions for the qualitative performance of any task. The “checklist” is compiled by the teacher for students at the first stages of applying the strategy.

Checklist "Brief retelling":

1. The main idea of ​​the text is named. (Yes / No.)

2. The main thoughts of the text and the main details are named. (Yes/No.)

3. There is a logical and semantic structure of the text. (Yes/No.)

4. There are necessary means of communication that unite the main ideas of the text. (Yes/No.)

5. The content is presented in one's own words (language means) while preserving the lexical units of the author's text. (Yes/No.)

“Questions after the text”

The classification of questions, known as the “Taxonomy of questions”, involves a balance between groups of questions to:

- the factual information of the text, presented verbally;

- subtext information hidden between lines, in subtext;

- conceptual information, often outside the text.

These three groups of questions are now being supplemented by a fourth one - a group of evaluative, reflective questions related to the critical analysis of the text.

"Thin" and "thick" questions

After studying the topic, students are asked to formulate three "thin" and three "thick" questions related to the material covered. They then quiz each other using tables of "thick" and "thin" questions.

Question Tree

Crown - what? where? when? Barrel - why? How? Could you? Roots - how to relate the text to life? With current events? What is the author trying to show?

"Bloom's Cube" (Benjamin Bloom is a famous American teacher, author of many pedagogical strategies = technician).

The beginnings of the questions are written on the sides of the cube: “Why?”, “Explain”, “Name”, “Suggest”, “Think up”, “Share”. The teacher or student rolls the die.

It is necessary to formulate a question to the educational material on the side on which the cube fell.

The “Name” question is aimed at the level of reproduction, that is, at the simple reproduction of knowledge.

The question "Why" - the student in this case must find cause-and-effect relationships, describe the processes that occur with a particular object or phenomenon.

"Explain" question - the student uses concepts and principles in new situations.

Question Tree

Options for working with text.

"Questions to the text of the textbook"

The strategy allows you to form the ability to work independently with printed information, formulate questions, work in pairs.

• Read the text.
• What words occur most often in the text? How many times?
• Which words are in bold? Why?
• If you were to read the text aloud, how would you make it clear that this sentence is the main one?

We are talking about highlighting a phrase with your voice. Here lies an unobtrusive but reliable memorization.

Cluster

I use clusters for structuring and systematizing material. A cluster is a way of graphic organization of educational material, the essence of which is that in the middle of the sheet the main word (idea, topic) is written or sketched, and ideas (words, pictures) associated with it are fixed on the sides of it.

"Keywords"

These are words that can be used to compose a story or definitions of some concept.

"True and False Statements"

has a universal device, which contributes to the actualization of students' knowledge and the activation of mental activity. This technique makes it possible to quickly include children in mental activity and it is logical to proceed to the study of the topic of the lesson. Reception forms the ability to assess the situation or facts, the ability to analyze information, the ability to reflect one's opinion. Children are invited to express their attitude to a number of statements according to the rule: true - "+", not true - "-".

"Do you believe..."

It is carried out in order to arouse interest in the study of the topic and create a positive motivation for independent study of the text on this topic.

Conducted at the beginning of the lesson, after the announcement of the topic.

Sincwine

Develops the ability of students to highlight key concepts in the reading, the main ideas, synthesize the knowledge gained and show creativity.

Sinkwine structure:

• Noun (subject).
• Two adjectives (description)
• Three verbs (action).
• Four-word phrase (description).
• Noun (paraphrasing of the topic).

"Mental maps" (graphic technique for organizing text),

Mind Mapping is a mind visualization technique. The applications of mental maps are very diverse - for example, they can be used to fix, understand and remember the content of a book or text, generate and write down ideas, understand a new topic for yourself, prepare for making a decision.

In the center of a landscape sheet, one word indicates the subject, which is enclosed in a closed outline. Branches are drawn from it, on which keywords are located. Sub-branches are added to branches until the topic is exhausted.

Mind maps activate memory. Lists, solid text, trees, and diagrams are the same. Mind maps, on the other hand, use every possible means to activate perception through diversity: different line weights, different colors of branches, precisely chosen keywords that are personally meaningful to you, the use of images and symbols. The technique of mental maps helps not only to organize and organize information, but also to better perceive, understand, remember and associate it.

5. Diagnosis of educational outcomes using semantic reading techniques

The network project "Techniques of Semantic Reading" [1] describes the model of V.V. Pikan, in which all cognitive levels are illustrated by exemplary examples of key questions and tasks that make it possible to diagnose the quality of mastering knowledge and ways of students' activities. Each of the cognitive levels (knowledge, understanding, application, generalization and systematization, value attitude) is assigned the number of points received for completing the tasks of the mastered level. The table below shows examples of questions and tasks, assessment criteria.

Cognitive levels and assessment criteria	Examples of key questions and tasks (beginning of formulations)
Knowledge - 1 point	Name. .., Define..., Formulate... . Retell ... List .... Choose the correct answer…. Complete the word…. Show…, Find out...etc.
Comprehension - 2 points	As you understand... Explain the relationship. Why ... Connect in semantic pairs .... Show on the graph...
Application - according to sample 3 b. in a changed situation - 4 b. in a new situation - 5 b.	Make an offer…. Identify Traits character…. Apply the appropriate rule.... Compare…. Draw conclusions.... Present your point of view...
Generalization and systematization 6-8 b. 6 b. – local; 7 b. intrasubject; 8 b. interdisciplinary, ideological	Make a summary…. Make a table. Classify…. Give arguments for and against.... Make a report…
Value attitude - 2-10 b.	What does it matter…. What do you think…. Do you like…. Describe the advantages and disadvantages…. What role does the...

6. Implementation of semantic reading technology techniques

1. Work with text before reading. Reception dissection question.

It is proposed to read the title of the paragraph "Compound sentence", the title of the scientific style text, and divide it into semantic groups; answer the question: what do you think the text will be about?

2. Working with text while reading.

Primary reading . Review reading or introductory reading:

• How many paragraphs of the text?
• Pay attention to the words in thinned and bold type.
• Write out keywords.

1. Compound

2. Communication

• Coordinating conjunctions
• Intonation

3. Additional communications

• general minor member
• Explanatory words

4. Punctuation marks

• Comma
• Semicolon
• Dash
• No comma

Learning reading . Rereading text

• Reading 1 paragraph.
• We ask questions to the reader, he answers them.
• Reading in pairs to yourself 2 paragraphs, one student asks a question - the other answers.
• Reading 3, 4 paragraphs - students change roles.

3. Work with the text after reading.

Work in groups: 1 group, using keywords, makes up a story about a compound sentence; Group 2, based on the plan for syntactic analysis of a simple sentence, draws up a plan for characterizing a complex sentence.

General job:

• Give an example of a compound sentence, give a description according to the plan, draw up a diagram;
• make a mind map.

Fig.1. Mind map "Compound sentence" of a 9th grade student Samara D.

7. Conclusion

Semantic reading forms cognitive interest, the ability to compare facts and draw conclusions, activates the imagination, develops speech, thinking, and also teaches how to work with information. The active implementation of semantic reading strategies, technologies by all teachers of various academic disciplines will make our graduates full members of the new information society.

References and references

1. Project "Techniques of semantic reading" Auth. Dozmorova E.V., Director of the Center for Innovations in Education, FPC and PC TSPU, Ph.D. - https://www.planeta.tspu.ru/files/file/doc/1464065663.pdf
2. Federal State Educational Standard for Primary General Education // http://standart.edu.ru/catalog.aspx?CatalogId=959.
3. Variable learning technology / under. ed. Pikan V.V. / Teaching aid.: UTs Perspektiva, 2008
4. Dozmorova E.V. Development of creative thinking of students in mathematics lessons. Methodological guide for teachers of mathematics - Tomsk 2008.
5. Rozhdestvenskaya L., Logvina I. Formation of functional reading skills. A guide for the teacher. – https://slovesnic.ru/attachments/article/303/frrozhdest.pdf
6. Fisenko T.I. Development of semantic reading skills when working with various texts in classes in grades 5–11 - https://www.kreativ-didaktika.ru/bailainer-obuchenie/didakticheskii-tramplin/razvitie-navykov-smyslovogo-chtenija.html
7. Sapa A.V. Formation of the foundations of semantic reading within the framework of the implementation of the Federal State Educational Standard of basic general education.

strategies for reading and understanding texts

Content

1. What are the strategies for reading and understanding texts?
2. How do parents of children with dyslexia find support?
3. Are there reading programs in kindergartens?
4. At what age should a child learn to read?
5. How does reading affect the worldview?
6. Is the so-called “SMS language” a danger or an alternative?

Alexander Nikolayevich Kornev, Doctor of Psychology, Candidate of Medical Sciences, answers questions. A person who has been studying the meaning of texts for many years.

What are the strategies for reading and understanding texts?

Alexander Nikolaevich: Despite the fact that reading is an important and significant area in our lives, one cannot fail to say that this is a serious work that requires considerable effort. An adult becomes able to read, loves to read after he, while a child, has been learning this for quite a few years. We can say that reading is the art of penetrating the text. What we understand by reading is a synthesis of the information contained in the text and our knowledge. Each of us has accumulated our own life experience and, reading the text, we give rise to individual associations. These associations and depth of immersion in the text vary greatly from reader to reader. It is a mistake to think, as they often say in school, that the author laid down some content, and the task of the student is to learn how to extract it. In fact, everything is more complicated: in the process of reading, a kind of dialogue between the reader and the text takes place, which gives rise to the result .

In order to penetrate into the process of reading and understand it, a number of studies were carried out using the eye-tracking procedure - tracking eye movements during reading. Research has shown that adults have different strategies for scanning text.

Continuous fast reading

Continuous fast reading strategy, when the eye goes through all the lines, one by one. This strategy is not the most efficient, and it is also quite time consuming. The study was conducted on a sample of students and it was determined that 10-15% of them have only this strategy. And, accordingly, even when it is not needed, they still spend a lot of effort and time using it. The school has different priorities, so the use of a variety of reading strategies is not taught there.

Selective reading

Another strategy is selective reading, where the reader selectively reads what interests him and skips the rest. It is more economical than the previous one. It is often used by competent readers.

Diagonal reading

The extreme expression of selective reading is called "diagonal reading". Skimming through the text, the reader chooses the key points of the content of the text and synthesizes the whole. This strategy is the most economical, but requires special training. Although some master it on their own.

It is also impossible not to say that there are children who, having quite sufficient mental abilities, intellect, spending many years at school cannot learn the full skill of reading. For some children, this concerns mainly reading technique, for others, understanding also complements the problem.

Many of these children are invisible, and their difficulties are invisible not only to teachers, but also to parents. This was shown by recent mass surveys, which were initiated by the Association of Parents of Children with Dyslexia. These children experience enormous hardships, but often do not receive help. Studying them is just one of our tasks. In Russia, this problem, unfortunately, has not been actively studied for many years. And now the Laboratory of Neurocognitive Technologies of the National Research Center and the Department of Logopathology of the St. Petersburg Pediatric Medical University in Russia are perhaps the most active in such studies.

Representatives of different sciences participate in these studies, because reading requires the use of resources of a very different nature: cognitive, physiological, linguistic. And psychologists, linguists, psychophysiologists and doctors are participating in the study of this issue. Interdisciplinarity for the development of this problematic is very important.

How do parents of dyslexic children find support?

Alexander Nikolaevich: This question is very topical and difficult. I would divide parents into 2 categories: the first, not very numerous, those who try to find help, do their best, literally devote themselves to helping the child. And, most importantly, they treat him sympathetically, condescendingly, psychologically support him.

And another category is parents, who, alas, underestimate the seriousness of this deficiency and the severity of the child's experiences. Often, they see the reason for the child's lagging behind in negligence, bully the child, forcibly force him to read a lot. As a result, they exacerbate the child's feelings, but do not help.

It turns out that actually far fewer parents seek help than needy children, and also because at the moment there is no network of centers where dyslexics would be helped effectively.

That's why we go forward ourselves. We go to schools, because often such children remain unidentified. And we are starting to move towards providing assistance, including with the help of a specially developed digital methodology hosted on the SLOGY.RU online platform. The creation of a digital methodology has made it possible to make a breakthrough in the provision of effective and affordable assistance. Because anywhere in Russia, anyone who has access to the Internet can get help, even if there is no speech therapist nearby.

Are there reading programs in kindergartens?

Alexander Nikolaevich: Of course, there is. There are several such recommended lists in preschool education programs. They contain works that are read to children. And they are sorted by age. But the fact is that reading aloud to children is an art. Being a reader does not mean just reading. And when it comes to children, this is especially important.

First, the reading must be expressive and artistic. Secondly, it should not be formal.

For example, this is what is called reading-dialogue, when the reading of a fairy tale is interspersed with a conversation, a dialogue with children. When they are invited to give their opinion. Not the one that is imposed on them, but their own impression that arose when listening to a fairy tale. Unfortunately, many institutions do not pay serious attention to this. This kind of reading, fairy tales, narratives allows, if it is done correctly, to infect the child with an interest in stories. First, an adult reads them, and then the child wants to do it himself. Of course, the family plays a huge role here.

Studies have shown that the more parents are interested in reading, the more often they read, the more likely that the child will develop an interest in reading. And it helps a lot if the child has difficulties. That is, a lot depends on the attitude of adults to the book, on the value position of reading.

Unfortunately, in our society, this is not as good as we would like. And adults began to read less often, and children are much less likely to reach for a book. In other words, this is a social problem, and not just a methodological one.

At what age should a child learn to read?

Alexander Nikolaevich: if we talk about the average figures that are known, then this age coincides with the beginning of schooling - 6. 5-7 years. It takes about three years to master the technique of reading. And then the child feels more free in the space of the text and begins to enjoy, he develops interest. He reads of his own free will, and not because he was told at school. But there are many exceptions: there are children who, at the age of three or four, learned to read on their own. However, it is difficult to predict the likelihood of such an early reading acquisition. It is partly genetically determined, but the contribution of the environment is also great: at the end of 19- At the beginning of the 20th century there was a tradition of family reading, when adults read aloud to each other. The kids got into it too. Alas, this tradition has died out and is very rare now, and this infects the child - children have well-developed imitation, and if they see that adults are interested, they become interested too. And they are trying to get into this world. Therefore, the value position of reading, in my opinion, is very important.

How does reading affect the worldview?

Alexander Nikolaevich: When a person reads a book, he creates an imaginary world, forms his own "text image", reflects and draws his own conclusions. By thinking, he develops his brain. Figuratively speaking, it builds a kind of processor in the brain that can process texts and extract meanings. On the other hand, literary texts enrich the child's personality. Because in fiction we are given a colossal layer of experience that we are deprived of in real life. And it helps personal growth. This contribution is, of course, invaluable. I'm not talking about the benefits for the development of speech and the enrichment of vocabulary.

Is the so-called “SMS language” a danger or an alternative?

Alexander Nikolayevich: Regarding the language of communication on the Internet and embedding it in our everyday communication, speech, there are different points of view, but they can rather be called opinions - this topic has not yet been seriously studied not only in Russia, but also in the world . In my opinion, cause and effect are often confused here. That is, it's not about the Internet, not about SMS, but about the language poverty of a considerable proportion of the population.

If a child or an adult has a need to communicate with a book, he will not replace it by flipping through pictures or something like that. But if there is no gravity, then the void can be filled with anything.

It is impossible not to say about the change in culture and oral language, which, alas, is not growing in our country, but rather falling. Thus, a vicious circle is created - the poverty of the dictionary makes it difficult to understand the text, and little reading experience limits the growth of vocabulary. And we see this clearly and concretely. Children, reading texts of literature, especially classical ones, sometimes do not understand up to a third, or even half of the full meaning of words. A colleague will add to my words.

Ingrida Balciuniene: I am Associate Professor of the Department of Logopathology at the Pediatric Medical University and Vytautas Magnus University (Kaunas, Lithuania). I study reading problems both there and here. I would like to draw attention to the frequent complaints from parents and teachers that the child does not want to read and does not like the book. He is happy to “sit in a laptop or phone”, but does not want to take up reading. Often in response to this complaint, advice is given: give him an e-book, download it to the tablet, and let the child read and develop. I don't think this is an option. Digitizing a book when the child is presented with the same material on a tablet screen will not help. Book speech is complex, it is characterized by long complex sentences, low-frequency and therefore unfamiliar words to the child. In order for the e-book to really help and the child to read with pleasure, additional technological solutions must be taken. For example, interactivity, intertextuality - so that the child can click on any word that he did not understand, and with this click he would open a definition, an explanation. Such active meaningful and meaningful reading can partially help solve this problem.

Alexander Nikolaevich: And I would add that the contribution of parents can be very large. Alas, in my experience, this happens quite rarely. Reading aloud to children usually ends at the age of 2-3 years and rarely, rarely reaches the beginning of schooling. And when a child has learned to read, parents for some reason think that since he can do it himself, now he no longer needs to read aloud. In fact, it is only after three or four years that the child will begin to understand in any depth what he is reading. This emphasizes the fact that reading aloud by an adult is also necessary for a child at school age. And in many countries this is cultivated: there is even an international society of narratologists, which specifically shares its experience and develops appropriate methods for reading and telling stories to children. You need to make time and spend it reading aloud to your child. Of course, every adult has his own life and his own troubles, but this contribution can hardly be overestimated, because it is a contribution to the formation of the child's personality.

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