Strategies

 Making Connections

Good readers connect what they know with what they are reading.

What Good Readers Are Thinking…

• Does this remind me of something?
• Do I know someone like this character?
• Have I ever felt this way?
• What do I already know that will help me understand what I’m reading?

 Predicting

Good readers think about what’s going to happen and make predictions based on what they know and what they have read.

• What do I think will happen next?
• Since _____ happened, I think ______ will happen.
• I’m guessing this will be about ________ .
• This title/heading/picture makes me think…

 Questioning

Good readers ask themselves questions when they read.

• What is the author saying?
• Why is that happening?
• Is this important?
• This makes me wonder _______ .
• How does this information connect with what I have already read?

Monitoring

Good readers stop to think about their reading and know what to do when they don’t understand.

• Is this making sense?
• Wait, what’s going on here?
• Should I slow down?  Speed up?
• Do I need to reread?
• What does this word mean?

 Summarizing

Good readers identify the most important ideas and restate them in their own words.

• This story is mainly about…
• The author’s most important ideas were…
• What are the key words?

Visualizing

Good readers picture what is happening while they read.

• What are the pictures/scenes in my mind?
• What do I hear, taste, smell or feel?
• What do the characters, the setting, and the events of the story look like in my mind?
• Can I picture this new information?