The What , Why ,How of Reading - Art of Reading [ 1 ]

1- ] Art of Reading .

Chapter Five .

The Art Of Reading .

The What ,Why And How Of Reading .

Skill & Strategy .

1-] Preview [ What is it ? ]

Previewing is looking over a selection before you read .

Why It’s Important .

Previewing let’s you begin to see what you already know and what you will need to know . It helps you set a purpose for reading .

How To Dolt .

Look at the title , illustrations , headings , captions and graphics . Look at how ideas are organized . Ask questions about the text .

2-] Skim .

Skimming is looking over an entire selection quickly to get a general idea of what the piece is about .

Skimming will tell you what a selection is about . If the selection you skim is not what you are looking for , you will not need to read the entire piece .

Read the title of the section and quickly look over the entire piece . Read headings and captions and may be a part of the first paragraph to get a general idea of the selection’s content .

3-] Scan .

Scanning is glancing quickly over a selection in order to find specific information .

Scanning helps you pinpoint information quickly . It saves you time when you have a number of selections to look at .

As you move your eyes quickly over the lines of a text , look for key words or phrases that will help you locate the information you are looking for .

4-] Predict .

Predicting is taking an educated quest about what will happen in a selection.

Predicting gives you a reason to read . You want to find out if your prediction and the selection events match . As you read adjust or change your prediction if it does not fit what you learn .

Combine what you already know about an author or subject with what you learned in your preview to guess  what will be included in the text .

5-] Summarize .

Summarizing is stating the main ideas of a selection in your own words in a logical sequence .

Summarizing shows whether you have understood something . It teaches you to rethink what you have read and to separate main ideas from supporting information .

Ask yourself : What is this selection about ? Answer who , what , where , why and how ? Put that information in a logical order .

6-] Clarify .

Clarifying is looking at difficult selections of text in order to clear up what is confusing .

Authors will often build ideas one on another . If you do not clean up a confusing passage , you may not understand main ideas or information that comes later .

Go back and reread a confusing section more slowly . Look up words you do not know .

Ask questions about what you do not understand . Sometimes , you may want to read on to see if further information helps you .

7-] Questioning

Questioning is asking yourself whether information in a selection is important . Questioning is also regularly asking yourself whether you have understood what you have read .

When you ask questions as you read , you are reading strategically . As you answer your questions , you are making sure that you will get the gist of a text .

Have a running conversation with yourself as you read , keep asking : Is this idea important ? Why ? Do I understand what this is about ? Might this information be on a test later ?

8-] Visualize .

Visualizing is picturing a writer’s ideas or descriptions in your mind’s eye .

Visualizing is one of the best ways to understand and remember information in fiction , nonfiction and information text .

Carefully read how a writer describes a person , place or thing . Then , ask yourself : What would this look like ? Can I see how the steps in this process would work ?

9-] Monitor Comprehension .

Monitoring your comprehension means thinking about whether you are understanding what you are reading .

The whole point of reading is to understand a piece of text . When you do not understand a selection , you are not really reading it .

Keep asking yourself questions about main ideas , characters and events . When you can not answer a question , review , read more slowly or ask someone to help you .

10-] Identify Sequence .

Identifying sequence is finding the logical order of ideas or events .

In a work of fiction , events usually happen in chronological [ time ] order. With nonfiction , understanding the logical sequence of ideas in a piece helps you follow a writer’s train of thought . You will remember ideas better when you know the logical order a writer uses .

Think about what the author is trying to do . Tell a story ? Explain how something works ? Present information ? Look for clues or signal works that might point to time order , steps in a process , or order of importance .

11-] Determine Main Ideas .

Determining an author’s main idea is finding the most important thought in a paragraph or in a selection .

Finding main ideas gets you ready to summarize . You also discover an author’s purpose for writing when you find the main ideas in a selection .

Think about what you know about the author and the topic . Look for how the author organizes ideas . Then , look for the one idea that all of the sentences in a paragraph or all the paragraphs in a selection are about .

12-] Respond .

Responding is telling what you like , dislike , find surprising or interesting in a selection. 

When you react in a personal way to what you read , you will enjoy a selection more and remember it better .

As you read , think about how you feel about story element or ideas in a selection . What is your reaction to the characters in a story ? What grabs your attention as you read ?

13-] Connect .

Connecting means linking what you read to events in your own life to other selections you have read .

You will get into your reading and recall information and ideas better by connecting events , emotions and characters to your own life .

Ask yourself : Do I know some one like this ? Have I ever felt this way ? What else have I read that is like this selection ?

14-] Review .

Reviewing is going back over what you have read to remember what is important and to organize ideas so you will recall them later .

Reviewing is especially important when you have new ideas and a lot of information to remember .

Filling in a graphic organizer , such as a character , diagram , as you read , helps you organize information . Thee study aids will help you review later.

15-] Interpret .

Interpreting is when you use your own understanding of the word to decide what the events or ideas in a selection mean .

Every reader constructs meaning on the basis of what he / she understands about the world .

Finding meaning as you read is all about you , interacting with the text .

 Think about what you already know about yourself and the world . Ask yourself : What is the author really trying to say here ? What larger ideas might these events be about ?

16-] Infer .

Inferring is when you use your reason and experience to guess at what an author does not come right out and say .

Making inferences is a large part of finding meaning in a selection . Inferring helps you look more deeply at characters and points you toward the theme or message in a selection .

Look for clues the author provides . Notice descriptions , dialogue , events and relationships that might tell you something the author wants you to know .

17-] Draw Conclusions .

Drawing conclusion is using a number of pieces of information to make a general statement about people , places , events and ideas .

Drawing conclusions helps you find connections between ideas and events . It is another tool to help you see the larger picture .

Notice details about characters , ideas and events . Then , make a general statement on the basis of these details . For example , a character’s actions might lead you to conclude that he / she is kind .

18-] Analyze .

Analyzing is looking at separate parts of a selection in order to understand the entire selection .

Analyzing helps you look critically at a piece of writing . When you analyze a selection , you will discover its theme or message and you will learn the author’s purpose for writing .

To analyze a story , think about what the author is saying through the characters , setting and plot to analyze nonfiction , look at the organization and main ideas . What do they suggest ?

19-] Synthesize .

Synthesizing is combining ideas to create something new . You may synthesize to reach a new understanding or you may actually create a new ending to a story .

Synthesizing helps you move to a higher level of thinking . Creating something new of your own goes beyond remembering what you learned from someone else .

Think about the ideas or information , you have learned in a selection . Ask yourself : Do I understand something more than the main ideas here ? Can I create something else from what I now know ?

20-] Evaluate .

Evaluating is making a judgement or forming an opinion about something you read . You can evaluate a character , an author’s craft or the value of the information in a text. 

Evaluating helps you become a wise reader . For example , when you judge whether an author is qualified to speak about a topic or whether the author’s points make sense , you can avoid being misled by what you read .

As you read ask yourself questions such as : Is this character realistic and believable ? Is this author qualified to write on this subject ? Is this author biased ? Does this author present opinions as facts ?