Steps for
Excellent
Reading
Comprehensio
n
Step 1: Read Actively
Reading Actively—
Summary
Steps in Summary:
1.
•
•
•
•
Note the subject area
prose fiction
humanities
social sciences
natural sciences from which the passage
comes by reading the heading.
Steps in Summary:
1. Note the subject area (prose fiction,
humanities, social sciences, or natural
sciences) from which the passage comes
by reading the heading.
2. Make an inference as to the genre of the
passage (
or
) by
reading the heading.
Steps in Summary:
1. Note the subject area (prose fiction,
humanities, social sciences, or natural
sciences) from which the passage comes
by reading the heading.
2. Make an inference as to the genre of the
passage (fiction or nonfiction) by reading
the heading.
Steps in Summary:
1. Note the subject area (prose fiction,
humanities, social sciences, or natural
sciences) from which the passage comes by
reading the heading.
2. Make an inference as to the genre of the
passage (fiction or nonfiction) by reading
the heading.
3. Predict the purpose (to
, to
, to
) of the passage by
determining the type of passage.
Steps in Summary:
1. Note the subject area (prose fiction,
humanities, social sciences, or natural
sciences) from which the passage comes by
reading the heading.
2. Make an inference as to the genre of the
passage (fiction or nonfiction) by reading
the heading.
3. Predict the purpose (to inform, to persuade,
to entertain) of the passage by determining
the type of passage.
Steps in Summary:
4. Read the passage, highlighting each
important detail.
5. As you read each paragraph and highlight
the details, summarize each paragraph
with a paragraph summary statement
that identifies the topic and what the
author is saying about the topic.
Reading Actively—
Question the Author
Steps in Question the Author:
Once you have your paragraph summary
statements, Question the Author with the
two important questions:
6. What does the author want me to know
(main idea)?
7. Why does the author want me to know
this (purpose)?
Step 2:
Examine the Question Stems
The question
stem is the part
of the question
that comes
before the
answer choice.
• The first part of Step 2 involves identifying
the question type.
• Before you can identify the question type,
you need to understand what the
question is asking.
• Restating the question stem in your own
words will ensure that you understand the
question.
1. The purpose of the passage
is to convey the idea that:
What is the purpose of the
passage?
2. The author believes the
sinking of the Titanic contributed
more to the safety of ocean travel
than its success would have
because:
Why did the sinking of the Titanic
help ocean safety more than its
success would have?