Strategies You Can Use When You Read
Making Connections are links that you make when you read. A good reader will use background knowledge to make connections. The connections can be made to yourself, to the world or to another book that you have read.
Text to Self is making a connection between your experience and what you have read.
Text to Text is making a connection between a book you have read and the book you are currently reading.
Text to World is making a connection between events in the world and the book you are reading.
When you read, ask yourself these questions:
Asking Questions
Reading is like stepping in an unfamiliar world. Asking questions leads to finding answers. Ask yourself questions about how you read. Ask yourself:
"Do I understand what I am reading?"
"What can I do if I don't understand?
When you read, you can also ask yourself these questions:
Summarizing
When we summarize, we take the key ideas and the main points and put it is one paragraph. When we summarize, we find the who, what, when, where and why. It is to locate and understand key points from the chapter. It helps to take note while you read. Read the passage carefully and determine the author's purpose. Ask yourself if the passage was written to entertain, persuade or to inform.
Monitoring
When you monitor something; you watch it closely for purposes of control, to keep track of, and to check continually.
Strategies for monitoring:
~ Reread (sentence or paragraph.)
~ Read ahead, then come back.
~ Adjust rate.
~ Think about your purpose.
~ Stop and check your understanding.
~ Use context.
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Example of strategies that I have used:
Example of Connections: I recently read the book "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers. This is a book about a 16 year old who was accused of a crime he said he did not commit.
My connections are:
Text to Self: I can relate to the character Steve because his family was very worried about him when they found out that he was in trouble. My family also cares about me and worries if I do something that I should not do.
Text to Text: In the book "Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo Otis also spent time in jail for a crime that he said he did not mean to do. Steve also spent time in jail during the trial, for a crime that he said he did not commit. Both of these characters believed that they were innocent.
Text to World: In Steve's city there is a lot of crime and people are hurt because of this. This also happens in the real world. In Chicago, there is also a lot of crime and violence.
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Example of Asking Questions: I am reading the book "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. This book is about a young girl called Meg. Meg goes through time with her brother Charles and her friend Calvin in order to search for her father who has been missing. While reading the book I am asking myself some question about the main character.
Questions I asked:
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Example of Summarizing: I am now reading the book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. Here is a summary of the book: Jonas lives in a society where pain, emotions and memories were removed. When Jonas turns 12, he becomes the new Receiver of Memory. He experiences everyone's memories and learns that there is pleasure and pain. Jonas realizes that there is more to life that what he has been living, and he realized that people who are not perfect are killed. Jonas decides to run away which would release everyone's memories.
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Example of Monitoring: I recently finished reading the book "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. An example of monitoring in "The Stranger" by Albert Camus that I used was when they were going to bury Maman. The book said "The blood-red earth spilling over Maman's casket, the white flesh of the roots mixed in with it." At first I didn't understand it but I followed all the steps of monitoring and I figured out what it meant. It means that the dirt, which was probably a reddish color like blood, was covering the casket. It looked like it was spilling over as it covered her casket. The dirt had white roots mixed in, so Meursault describes them by saying they were white flesh of roots. I think that he used the word flesh, because roots and plants are alive.
Text to Self is making a connection between your experience and what you have read.
Text to Text is making a connection between a book you have read and the book you are currently reading.
Text to World is making a connection between events in the world and the book you are reading.
When you read, ask yourself these questions:
- How does this book relate to you based on what you know and on your experiences?
- How does this book relate to the world you live in?
- How does this book relate to other books you have read? Is there anything in common?
Asking Questions
Reading is like stepping in an unfamiliar world. Asking questions leads to finding answers. Ask yourself questions about how you read. Ask yourself:
"Do I understand what I am reading?"
"What can I do if I don't understand?
When you read, you can also ask yourself these questions:
- What is the book about?
- Who is the book about?
- When does the story take place?
- What does the character say and do?
- What does the character think and feel?
- How does the character look?
- What do other characters think about the character?
- How does the character make you feel?
Summarizing
When we summarize, we take the key ideas and the main points and put it is one paragraph. When we summarize, we find the who, what, when, where and why. It is to locate and understand key points from the chapter. It helps to take note while you read. Read the passage carefully and determine the author's purpose. Ask yourself if the passage was written to entertain, persuade or to inform.
Monitoring
When you monitor something; you watch it closely for purposes of control, to keep track of, and to check continually.
Strategies for monitoring:
~ Reread (sentence or paragraph.)
~ Read ahead, then come back.
~ Adjust rate.
~ Think about your purpose.
~ Stop and check your understanding.
~ Use context.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Example of strategies that I have used:
Example of Connections: I recently read the book "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers. This is a book about a 16 year old who was accused of a crime he said he did not commit.
My connections are:
Text to Self: I can relate to the character Steve because his family was very worried about him when they found out that he was in trouble. My family also cares about me and worries if I do something that I should not do.
Text to Text: In the book "Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo Otis also spent time in jail for a crime that he said he did not mean to do. Steve also spent time in jail during the trial, for a crime that he said he did not commit. Both of these characters believed that they were innocent.
Text to World: In Steve's city there is a lot of crime and people are hurt because of this. This also happens in the real world. In Chicago, there is also a lot of crime and violence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Example of Asking Questions: I am reading the book "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. This book is about a young girl called Meg. Meg goes through time with her brother Charles and her friend Calvin in order to search for her father who has been missing. While reading the book I am asking myself some question about the main character.
Questions I asked:
- Who is the book about? The book is about a girl named Meg. It also talks about Meg's family and friend.
- What does the character think and feel? I believe that Meg is scarred. She is not confident in herself and sometimes is angry and confused. Meg is also very intelligent.
- How does the character make you feel? Meg makes me feel frustrated because she does not believe in herself.
- What is the book about? The book is about Meg and her brother and friend going on search for her dad.
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Example of Summarizing: I am now reading the book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. Here is a summary of the book: Jonas lives in a society where pain, emotions and memories were removed. When Jonas turns 12, he becomes the new Receiver of Memory. He experiences everyone's memories and learns that there is pleasure and pain. Jonas realizes that there is more to life that what he has been living, and he realized that people who are not perfect are killed. Jonas decides to run away which would release everyone's memories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Example of Monitoring: I recently finished reading the book "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. An example of monitoring in "The Stranger" by Albert Camus that I used was when they were going to bury Maman. The book said "The blood-red earth spilling over Maman's casket, the white flesh of the roots mixed in with it." At first I didn't understand it but I followed all the steps of monitoring and I figured out what it meant. It means that the dirt, which was probably a reddish color like blood, was covering the casket. It looked like it was spilling over as it covered her casket. The dirt had white roots mixed in, so Meursault describes them by saying they were white flesh of roots. I think that he used the word flesh, because roots and plants are alive.