Over the course of the last few weeks, we have been exploring the good habits readers have when they are reading. All of them help us with building our comprehension skills…and also make sure we are reading as smoothly and accurately as we can.
The habits we have explored so far are:
- Take a sneak peek at the beginning – We should always take the time to see what we can learn about a book by looking at the title, the picture(s) on the cover, the back of the book and the pictures inside of the book. All of this can teach us something even before we start reading!
- Check your sneak peek – As we are reading, we should check what we are reading against what we predicted would be happening or what we would be learning during the sneak peek. This keeps us actively reading…and we will remember a lot more.
- Stop and study a page – We should take the time to stop and study a page. In a teaching book, this might mean looking at all the different pictures, labels, close ups, and fact boxes. If we do this, we will learn a lot more than if we simply read straight through.
- Guess what comes next – we should always predict what we think will come next…and then check to see if our prediction was correct. If we do that, we will be thinking more about what we are reading than just trying to read the words.
- Chat about a page or the book – We should always take the time to talk to someone about a page we have read or the whole book. This is something we continue to practice doing during Read-to-Someone. When we do this, we are putting what we have read into our own words. This helps us remember what we have read. A conversation can also help us understand what we have read better. If we find something confusing, talking about it with a partner will help!
- Reread so we understand – If we do not understand what we have read in a paragraph or on a page, we should go back and reread it. A lot of times, that will help us understand what is going on better.
- Use a smooth and lively voice – If we read smoothly and with expression, we will be able to understand what is going on in what we are reading better. It also makes it more interesting to whoever might be reading with us!
We continue to try and discover more habits. We have looked at the habits for reading hard words. We have also started to look at habits for writers of nonfiction. Be looking for more about these in future blog entries!