Helpful Reading Strategies For Close Reading

Before Reading:

1. Set a purpose for reading – Ask yourself if you will you be reading to find out what happens in a story or to learn specific information
2. Preview the text – Look at the title, pictures, captions under pictures, headings, bold-faced print, and other graphics – These are important guides that will help to aid your reading comprehension
3. Activate background knowledge – Think about what you already know about the content of what you will read
4. Predict – Think what might happen in the story, what words may be used, or what information the text might contain

During Reading:

1. Cross-check – Check one cue with another. Ask yourself, "Does this word look right, sound right, and make sense?"
2. Reread – When problems occur, return to the beginning of a sentence or paragraph and read it again.
3. Predict and confirm – Ask yourself, "What word do I expect to see?", "What do I think will happen next?", "Did that make sense?" or, "Am I finding the answers to my questions about this topic?"
4. Skip, read on, and go back – Sometimes you can skip an unfamiliar word and read to the end of the sentence or paragraph

After Reading:

1. Retell and summarize – Tell someone or write what happened in the story, including characters, plot, and important events. If you read a nonfiction piece, review what information was presented
2. Use a graphic organizer – Use a story map, biography wheel, Venn diagram, or other way to show what was included in what you read
3. Draw conclusions – Think about what predictions you made before and during reading. Look back and think about what you have read. Consider how the information you read relates to what you already knew about the topic
4. Think about whether or not your questions were answered. Do you have more questions about the subject?
5. Reread the text or a section of the text to help you understand it better
6. Discuss and respond – Talk with someone about what you have read. Ask each other questions. Look back at the book to defend your opinions
7. Write to support understanding – Write about what you have read, telling what it made you think of or what you learned

http://www.paec.org/david/reading/general.pdf