There are so many great reading strategies to use and to also teach to your students. Some of the most effective ones might just be the ones you use yourself without even realizing it.
When reading on my own, I typically whisper read to myself, especially when I come to a confusing part in a text. Hearing it aloud brings the words alive and, with them, a deeper meaning. I also find myself rereading and using internal conversation. I will ask myself questions, make connections, and try to search for further understanding.
My top 3 reading strategies to use with my students:
*Think aloud - I use this a great deal during read aloud as a way to model this strategy. I think aloud and then I usually ask a question or two to get the students thinking and allow a few to share.
*Book Marks/Post It Notes - These are a fairly quick way for students to jot down specific things while they are reading. Maybe it is a word they don't quite understand or a question that they have. These tools can help further comprehension without the student getting stuck on a certain part of what they are reading.
*Rereading - This is probably the most common one that people use but many kids don't want to take the time to do it. They want to fly through the reading. Posing questions that the students have to use their reading to answer is a great way to get them rereading. It will be a skill that they carry on into adulthood, so it is worth taking the extra time to teach it well.
We all use strategies when we read. Most of them are done without much thought, but to a struggling reader, these strategies are lifelines.
I am glad to see I am not the only one talking to the people in my head while I read. Ha Ha. I think to myself all the time when I read as a way to keep myself from drifting away, especially if what I am reading is confusing. I have also read things aloud to myself when I get confused because hearing it makes me understand it better.
ReplyDeleteI like your analogy to a lifeline. I can so see this and I think you should make an anchor chart called Reading Lifelines. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel that we are on the same page with the 3 strategies. Great post.
ReplyDelete"Whisper reading" helps me sometimes when the words get jumbled in my head. This happens when I read books that are written in an older dialect or uses words I am not familiar with.
ReplyDelete-Darrien
I like your strategies and application of them. I thought of another idea in reference to the post-it notes. When vocab words of the week/lesson appear in their readings, they could flag it, bring it up in class, and maybe read aloud the word for students to hear it in the proper context.
ReplyDelete