Reading Strategies
Dawn Withee
Multi-Program Instructional Coach
Kent Meridian High School
Dawn.Withee@kent.k12.wa.us
X4021
Cognitive Strategies
Predict
Make connections
Visualize
Ask questions
Summarize
Make inferences
Use context clues
Monitor and adjust reading
speed
Monitor and clarify for
understanding
Before Reading
Good Readers
Access their prior knowledge
Interact with portions of text
Practice sequencing, find
cause & effect relationships,
draw comparisons, make
inferences, and predict
Identify vocabulary that might
be a problem
Construct meaning before the
begin reading the text
Kylene Beers
During Reading
Good Readers
 Predict what will happen next
 Question what they don’t understand or
what is confusing in the text
 Monitor their understanding of the text
 Identify ways to fix up what has confused
them in the text
 Clarify what has confused them
 Comment on the text or their
understanding of the text
 Connect what they are reading to other
texts or personal experiences
 Visualize the text
Kylene Beers
After Reading
Good Readers:
 Question what they don’t understand or what is
confusing in the text
 Monitor their understanding of the text
 Identify ways to fix up what has confused them in
the text
 Clarify what has confused them
 Comment on the text or their understanding of the
text
 Connect what they are reading to other texts or
personal experiences
 Visualize the text
 Compare or contrast one part of the text to
another
 Summarize what they have read
 Identify main characters, major events, and
details
 Identify conflicts or main problems in the text
 See causal connections in a text
 Make inferences and draw conclusions
 Distinguish between fact and opinion
Kylene Beers
Making Connections
Activating Prior Knowledge
Building Prior Knowledge
Integrating curriculum/concepts
Types of connections
Text-to-self
Text-to-world
Text-to-text
Cause-Effect
Chronological
Comparison/Contrast
Use prior knowledge to make
predictions and inferences
KWL
What I
KNOW
What I
WANT to
Know
What I
LEARNED
KWL Example—Heat
What I
KNOW
What I
WANT to
Know
Things melt
when hot
Things turn from
solid to liquid to
gas because of
heat
Mercury
expands with
heat—
thermometer
Water boils at
212°F
Depends on
altitude
Everything has a
boiling point
Fire causes heat
What makes
heat?
If everyone in
America turned on
a blow dryer at
the same time,
would it heat up
the atmosphere?
What is the
boiling point at our
school?
Why do different
things require
different amounts
of heat to melt
them?
What I
LEARNED
Text Impression
 A Pre, during or after reading activity that arouses
curiosity and allows students to anticipate what the
reading might be about, to focus on the key words and
concepts while reading, an to connect that information
through writing after reading.
 Can be used with both narrative and expository text.
 Uses clue words as a basis for predicting content,
focusing during reading, and connecting information
after reading.
 Procedure:
 Teacher selects clue words from the reading—
between five and seven. This causes the teacher
to decide what is most important to learn.
 Teacher sequences them with arrows to form a
descriptive chain.
 Before reading, students write a paragraph based
on the chain of words. This gives students an
opportunity to connect prior knowledge to new
learning that will occur.
 While reading, students should focus on the words
(concepts while reading). This creates an
awareness on the students’ parts of important
concepts to be learned.
 After reading, students write a paragraph
(somewhat of a summary) using as many of the
clue words as possible and any other important
words found in the text. LOOK BACKS in the text
should be encouraged while writing.
Mary Spor
Text Impressions Example
Ingenious
Patriot
Invincible
Extortion
Loyalty
Peculiar
Scrutiny
The Ingenious Patriot

Ambrose Bierce
Having obtained an audience of the King an Ingenious Patriot
pulled a paper from his pocket, saying:
"May it please your Majesty, I have here a formula for
constructing armour-plating which no gun can pierce. If these
plates are adopted in the Royal Navy our warships will be
invulnerable, and therefore invincible. Here, also, are reports of
your Majesty's Ministers, attesting the value of the invention. I
will part with my right in it for a million tumtums."
After examining the papers, the King put them away and
promised him an order on the Lord High Treasurer of the
Extortion Department for a million tumtums.
"And here," said the Ingenious Patriot, pulling another paper
from another pocket, "are the working plans of a gun that I have
invented, which will pierce that armour. Your Majesty's Royal
Brother, the Emperor of Bang, is anxious to purchase it, but
loyalty to your Majesty's throne and person constrains me to
offer it first to your Majesty. The price is one million tumtums."
Having received the promise of another check, he thrust his
hand into still another pocket, remarking:
"The price of the irresistible gun would have been much
greater, your Majesty, but for the fact that its missiles can be so
effectively averted by my peculiar method of treating the armour
plates with a new -"
The King signed to the Great Head Factotum to approach.
"Search this man," he said, "and report how many pockets he
has."
"Forty-three, Sire," said the Great Head Factotum, completing
the scrutiny.
"May it please your Majesty," cried the Ingenious Patriot, in
terror, "one of them contains tobacco."
"Hold him up by the ankles and shake him," said the King;
"then give him a check for forty-two million tumtums and put him
to death. Let a decree issue declaring ingenuity a capital
offence."
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/IngPat.shtml
Preview and Predict
Preview and Predict is a comprehension strategy that causes the reader to activate prior
knowledge by using clues about the content.
Procedures:
 Preview the text in a short period of time (3-5 minutes) by viewing and discussing
various aspects of the text such as:
 Narrative Text:
 Title
 Title Page
 Front and back cover
 Author & Illustrator information
 Pictures
 Chapter Titles (and layout)
 Opening Paragraph
 Prologue, forward, afterward, epilogue
 Any other unusual features
 Expository Text
 Table of contents
 Index
 Chapter titles
 Headings & subheadings
 Captions
 Charts, graphs, tables
 Typographic features
 Glossary, appendices, index
 Any other unusual features
 Encourage students to predict what the text may be about. When working with the
whole class, the teacher can write the students’ predictions on an overhead
transparency or on the chalk/white board.
 Students should be able to justify how aspects of the preview supported their
predictions.
 Students then read a portion of the text, stopping at critical points to discuss whether
their predictions were or were not confirmed by the text or story. If predictions were
supported by the text, students make new predictions and read on. If predictions were
not supported by the text, the predictions should be modified or changed to reflect the
text.
 When using chapter books or expository texts, the preview may also include
summarizing previous chapters. The first paragraph may be read for additional clues
about what will happen next.
Mary Spor
Anticipation Guide
 Teacher writes a few (2-10) generalizations
that relate to the main ideas or themes of the
text. Choose statements that are
controversial, or that might be commonly
held, but will be challenged by the text.
 Before reading, students mark agree or
disagree for each statement.
 As a class discuss the statements and
students’ responses.
 Read Text. Students may want to take notes
on the anticipation guide when they get to
parts of the text relevant to each statement.
 After reading, students mark agree or
disagree on the guides a second time.
 In a class discussion, and/or in writing,
students explore how their opinion changed
based on what they read.
 You might also have students revisit the
guide answer as a particular character,
historical figure, etc.
Kylene Beers and Mary Spor
Anticipation Guide Example
Before Reading
Agree
After Reading
Disagree
Agree
1. True love can
overcome any
hardship or affliction.
2. The more
beautiful a woman
is, the more she is
worthy of true love.
3. Women in power
are morally corrupt.
Disagree
Have You Ever…
 Similar to an anticipation guide
 Generate a list of experiences that are
relevant to the text
 Have students mark a check by anything
they have done
 Possible activities for processing the list
 As a class go through the list and make tally
marks to see collective class experience
 Have students share anecdotes about their
experiences
 Have students pick 1 to 3 experiences to write
about
 After reading
 Have students write, comparing their
experience to the text
 Have students pretend they are a character
from the text and check the expereicnes
accordingly. Then have them reflect on how
the character’s experiences compare to their
own.
Have You Ever… - example
Life of Penguins
Have you ever…
__ Been in a life and death
situation?
__ Had to hunt for food?
__ Gone swimming in freezing
water?
__ Eaten raw fish?
Probable Passage
 A brief summary of the text, with key
words omitted.
 Keys words presented separately in a list
 Defined
 Classified as to their function within the text
 Students write the words in the blanks,
predicting how they will fit into the text
 Students read text
 Students look back at the probable
passage to see how their prediction
matched up with the text
 Teachers should emphasize making valid
predictions, and de-emphasize being
“right.”
Kylene Beers
Probable Passage - Example
Vocabulary
Australia
Crust
Icebergs
Islands
Ocean
Poles
Water
What
Where
Passage:
_____ are giant formations of frozen _____. The form
at the earth’s _____. They are different from _____
because they float on top of the _____, and are not
connected to earth’s _____. They can be as big as
_____.
Tea Party
 Teacher writes sentences, phrases,
and/or words (directly quoted from text)
on note cards.
 1 note card per student
 Repeat phrases 2-3 times (1/2 as many
phrases as students is a good rule of
thumb)
 Students move around the house sharing
and discussing their phrases (they
should activate prior knowledge and
make predictions)
 Students form small groups and discuss
what they think the text will be about
 Groups write a paragraph beginning with
“We think this selection is about…”
 As a class, groups share and explain
their ”we think” statements.
 Read the selection
Kylene Beers
Say Something
 Students take turns reading in
groups of 2-3
 Students occasionally pause
reading to say something
Make a prediction
Ask a questions
Make a connection
Comment on what is happening in the
text
Clarify a confusion
 Group members comment on what
student said
 Another student continues reading
Kylene Beers
Think Aloud
A Think Aloud* is a comprehension monitoring strategy that helps
the teacher and the reader to recognize the text-based and
schema-based strategies he/she uses while reading text aloud.
This can serve as an intervention tool or an expansion of reading
power activity. For a Think Aloud to be successful, the teacher
and the students must be cognizant of effective reading
strategies, the role of schema in comprehension, and the
structure and content of the text being read.
Text-based strategies include connections with previous reading, pointing out main ideas,
translating information into one’s own words, pointing out lack of understanding, using strategies to
make sense out of text not understood, recognizing the internal structure of text (sequence,
cause/effect, comparison/contrast, description, problem/solution).
Schema (according to cognitive Psychology) is an organized network of concepts, experiences,
and data. Schema-based strategies include making connections to prior knowledge (life
experience, previous reading and learning, prediction, elaboration, inference).
Procedures:
Choose both easy and difficult text to read aloud.
Model how to use a Think Aloud.
Provide students with an easy and difficult text.
Ask students to read aloud and note in the margins (or if working
individually with a teacher or partner, tell orally) what they are thinking as
they read the text.
Compare and contrast the strategies used with easy and difficult text.
Are they schema-based, text-based, or a combination of both?
What additional strategies could this student use to build comprehension
of this particular text.
Mary Spor
It says, I say and So
Question
It Says
I Say
And So
Read the
Questions
Find
Information
from the
text that will
help you
answer the
question
Think about
what you
know about
that
information
Combine
what the
text says
with what
you know
to come up
with the
answer
Kylene Beers
Question
It Says
I Say
And So
Why did he
Wicked
Witch hate
Sleeping
Beauty?
The Mirror
said
Sleeping
Beauty was
the fairest in
the land
Women can
get really
jealous of
one another,
especially
when looks
are
involved.
The witches
jealousy
drove her to
homicidal
rage.
Graphic Organizers
Make Graphic Organizers
Using:
Inspiration
PowerPoint
Word
Publisher
Web Sites such as ReadingQuest
Sociograms
 Have students create a visual
charting relationships between
people (or countries, animals,
concepts, etc.)
Use shape/color to represent different
people
Use lines and distance to represent the
relationships between people
Double Bubble Map
Venn Diagram
Chronological Map
T Chart
Cycle of Events
EVENT
EVENT
EVENT
EVENT
EVENT
H Chart
Cause-Effect
Cause-Event-Effect
Cause
Cause
Cause
Cause
Effect
Effect
Event
Effect
Effect