FIX-UP
STRATEGIES
Thinking About How You Read
Metacognition:
Thinking About How You Think
Before you can truly improve your
reading skills, you need to
understand what happens in good
readers’ minds while they read.
You may even do these things
already. You just don’t know
it…yet.
More About Metacognition
Good readers have developed good habits
when they read. We call these habits
strategies. Strategies help readers
understand, connect to, and determine the
importance of what they are reading. They
also visualize, ask questions about, and
read between the lines of what they read.
Why Use Strategies?
 Strategies
create a plan of attack. Then
you can solve any reading problems
yourself.
 Strategies help you learn HOW to
understand. If you know HOW to
understand, then you are more likely
TO understand.
 Strategies help you realize HOW you
are thinking so that you can think more
deeply and more consciously.
Fix-Up Strategies
Make sure you are understanding
what you are reading by using
clarification strategies to help you
figure out what you don’t understand.
Signs that you are not
comprehending the text
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The pictures inside your mind stop forming or moving.
Your questions and inferences are not getting
answered.
Your mind wanders from the text; you read it but are
thinking about something else.
The current page has nothing to do with what you
thought the big picture or author’s purpose was for the
text.
You cannot summarize the last few paragraphs or
pages.
Characters appear and you cannot remember who
they are.
Two Fix-up Strategies Areas
•Word Attack strategies:
These strategies help students read
unknown words.
• Comprehension Fix-up strategies:
These strategies help students read
and understand the meaning of
unknown phrases and text.
Word Attack Fix-Up Strategies
☻Look at the pictures - use the pictures to
get information that may help you figure
out the word
☻Sound blending (look at the beginning
letters, look at the ending letters, chunking)
☻Use a Dictionary
☻Read Aloud
☻Ask for Help
Comprehension Fix-Up Strategies
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Make a Connection
Make a Prediction
Stop and Think about what you have already read
Ask a Question
Reflect in Writing
Visualize
Use Print Conventions
Retell what you’ve read
Reread
Notice Patterns in Text Structure
Adjust Your Reading Rate
Comprehension Fix-Up Strategies
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Make a Connection
 As
you read you should be thinking
about how the information fits with
what you know about yourself, what
you’ve read in other texts, and how
things operate in the real world. This
will help you remember what you read.
Comprehension Fix-Up Strategies
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Make a Prediction
 As
you read, think about what might
happen next. You will be making
inferences and drawing conclusions
about the characters and plot.
 When an event doesn’t match a prediction,
readers rethink and revise their thinking.
 Predicting keeps readers on track. It keeps
them involved so they aren’t surprised by
incorrect conclusions.
Comprehension Fix-Up Strategies
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Stop and Think About What You Have Already
Read
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Every so often as you read, you should stop
and think about what you have read. If you
don’t remember anything you have read, why
continue? Pause and summarize in your head.
Stopping and thinking gives readers time to
synthesize new information. It allows them to ask
questions, visualize, and determine what is important
in the text.
Comprehension Fix-Up Strategies
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Ask a Question
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If you ask questions as you read, you will be
more actively engaged with the text. You will
be looking for answers to your questions, and
will remember what you read.
Readers who ask questions and know where the
answers to their questions are to be found are more
likely to have a richer read, to infer, to draw
conclusions, and regain control of their reading.
Comprehension Fix-Up Strategies
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Reflect in Writing
 Writing
down what they think about what
they’ve read allows readers to clarify their
thinking. It is an opportunity to reflect.
Readers better understand their reading when
they have written about it. The writing may
be a summary or a response. Sometimes just
jotting down a few notes will clarify meaning.
Comprehension Fix-Up Strategies
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Visualize
 When
meaning breaks down, good readers
consciously create images in their head to
help them make sense of what the words are
saying. They use movies, television, and life
to help them picture what is happening. When
a reader can visualize what is happening,
comprehension improves. Encourage your
students to make a mind movie in their head.
If they can “see it”, they often understand it.
Use Print Conventions
Key words, bold print, italicized words, capital
letters, and punctuation are all used to enhance
understanding. Conventions of print help the
author convey intent. They help the reader
determine what is important and what the
author values. Conventions of print give the
reader insight into voice inflections and how the
author wants the piece to sound. Pointing out
conventions will not only improve reading
comprehension but also help students use these
same conventions to convey meaning when they
write. For expository text, the reader also needs
to be aware of pictures, illustrations, charts and
graphs.
Retell
Taking a moment to retell what has been
read helps the reader reflect. It activates
background knowledge and also provides
a check on whether the reader is
understanding. When readers can’t retell
what they read, it is an indication that
their mind has wandered and confusion
has set in.
Reread
It is OK to reread text that you’ve
already read. An important aspect to
remember is that a student doesn’t have
to reread everything for the strategy to be
helpful. Sometimes rereading a portion of
the text – a sentence, or even just a word
– can enhance comprehension. Struggling
readers tend to think that rereading
means they have to reread everything.
Notice Patterns in Text Structure
Narrative and expository texts have
specific organizational patterns.
Recognizing how a piece is organized
helps readers locate information more
quickly. It helps them determine what is
important. When meaning breaks down,
readers can stop and think how the text is
organized and see whether there is
something in the organizational pattern
that will help them understand the piece.
Adjust Your Reading Rate
Good readers adjust their rate to meet the
demands of the task. Good readers slow down
when something is difficult or unfamiliar. They
realize that in order to construct meaning, their
rate must decrease. They also know that it’s
okay to read faster when something is familiar.
Good readers select a rate based on the
difficulty of the material, their purpose in
reading it, and their familiarity with the topic.
Ask for Help
When you are not understanding
what you are reading, and you do not
know which fix-up strategy to use,
ask someone. You might ask a friend
or you might need help from a
teacher or parent.
How do you teach it?
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http://www.u46.org/roadmap/video/?vid=Fixit_Tools_1.wmv
REMEMBER:
You may be using some or all of
these strategies already. You just
may not know it. However, as you
learn to read more complicated
materials, you WILL NEED to use
these strategies purposefully.
SO PRACTICE!
“In Vygotskian terms, the
internalization of comprehension
strategies involves long-term
practice with the strategies,
including opportunities to reflect on
strategies used with others.”
~ Farstrup and Samuels