Reading Strategies Developing a Plan to Implement Reading Skills

Reading Strategy: Introduction So far the modules of this course have focused on building READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS. It is time to turn to developing and using some READING STRATEGIES. But before launching into that new reading territory, let’s review some of what we have learned so far. We will be using the concepts under review to develop our reading strategies and become more successful students.

We learned ways to increase your vocabulary base through use of CONTEXT CLUES and ANALYSIS OF WORD PARTS. We learned the importance of identifying the relationships- or the connections- between broad, GENERAL IDEAS and narrow, SPECIFIC IDEAS. We learned that paragraphs are the basic building blocks for textbook information in college classes.

We learned that paragraphs focus on specific topics- some specific point. The paragraph has a TOPIC SENTENCE that expresses the broad, general idea of that paragraph. The Topic Sentence is the MAIN IDEA of the paragraph. We learned that the Topic Sentence is developed, or explained, with MAJOR SUPPORT DETAILS. In turn, the Major Support Details are often extended with MINOR SUPPORT DETAILS, which do not directly develop and explain the author’s Main Idea.

And finally, we learned that paragraphs in college textbooks often are structured to present information in specific PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATION. When readers identify the Pattern of Organization and TRANSITION SIGNALS, they are better able to comprehend the ideas of the paragraph, store the information in organized long term memory, and recall the new knowledge from long term memory more effectively. In other words, the student who masters these reading comprehension skills gets better grades on tests, projects, reports, and other college work.

Reading Strategies: Active Reading This module focuses on finding and using a READING STRATEGY. You will learn to use your reading skills in a specific plan of attack on your reading task, or a specific strategy. Reading skills are what you do with text; Reading strategy is how you go about the task. Having a reading strategy simply means that the reader has a method for using his or her reading skills to master the information to be learned in a reading assignment. Specifically, this means multiple interactions, activities, with the text.

Simply parading words, sentences, and paragraphs past your eyes will not result in good learning. Successful students gain knowledge through implementing Reading Strategies with multiple exposures and interactions with the texts. Using a Reading Strategy to learn from college textbooks is called ACTIVE READING. All Active Reading Strategies use reading comprehension skills in three distinctively different stages of the reading-learning process.

Reading Strategies: Pre-Reading The first stage is PRE-READING. Before diving into that reading assignment, before your “reading for learning” starts, several strategies can help prepare your brain for new information. The first purpose of the PRE-READING activities is activating your Prior Knowledge on the topic you are about to read. The second purpose is to evaluate the text you are about to read. Do you need to break the reading task into smaller segments? Does this text seem to have many unfamiliar words? Do I need background?

The third purpose of Pre-Reading is to prepare yourself for learning. Do you have a comfortable, distraction-free environment with good lighting for reading? Do you have a highlighter to mark key ideas and a pen to jot ideas, questions, notes, pictures, and arrows? Do you have paper or tablet or laptop or sticky notes or something to write on? You are good to go; you are ready for stage two of this launch.

Reading Strategies: During Reading The second stage of the “reading to learn” process is DURING READING. This is the point in which readers absorb the sentences, paragraphs, sections, and chapters of the reading assignment. The students’ purpose at this stage is the reason he or she is enrolled in college. The reader is creating meaningful interactions with the text; she is taking ideas and information from the text, moving them through short-term memory, and organizing the important information for storage in the brain’s long-term memory until recalled for a test, report, or other useful purpose.

Reading Strategies: After Reading When students complete reading the assigned text, there is usually a big sigh of relief, a banging of book covers, and an exit toward something entertaining. But Wait! There’s MORE! The third stage of the reading process is AFTER READING. This stage is often the most neglected (see previous point!) This stage is just as critical to good learning as the other two. However, since the actual reading task is completed, the implementation of reading comprehension skills is not the point.

This is the stage in which readers implement Study Skills, which include reading skills but add a range of learning strategies. The purpose of the activities- the strategies- in the After Reading stage is to consolidate and solidify the learning, the taking in of new knowledge, gained through study of the text. The purpose is to take the bits and pieces of new information and add them properly and accurately to the big picture of the subject under study.

If learning biology, economics, computer code, or any learning task is like building a house, each reading assignment is like adding a little bit onto the house. You don’t want a house without a door, upside down windows, or a shower in the living room. The After Reading stage is when the student checks to make sure the new pieces are built onto the house correctly and the house is prepared for the pieces that will be added tomorrow in the instructors’ lecture or the next reading assignment.