Reading Strategies

The English 10 Guide to Reading Comprehension

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What are they?

Reading strategies are ways to enhance reading comprehension of literary text. They are educational tools that allow us to view literary text through different perspectives as well as uncover it's underlying ideas.

By learning reading strategies in English 10, we learn to better understand text so that we can eventually comprehend literature without the strategies at a higher level. Better understanding of literature and how the writer uses words promotes us to be better writers as well. Many of us have been told to read more to become better writers; the same goes for reading better.

Improve Memory & understanding

Uncover Ideas

Improve Writing

What are they?

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Strategies in Class

In English 8, 9, and 10, we have utilized different strategies to discuss and comprehend the various forms of literature we have studied throughout the years. This includes books like "The Outsiders", "The Chrysalids", "Othello", as well as other Shakespearean plays.

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Graphic Organizers

In English class, we have always utilized graphic organizers for every piece of literature we have studied. A common graphic organizer for narrative text many classrooms use is a story map. The story map visually organizes the core elements of the story (theme, characters, setting, etc.)

In Class Discussion/Questioning

Often done in conjunction with graphic organizers or other strategies, students discuss the events and ideas of the book together with the teacher doing a summary of the ideas at the end. To start discussion, the teacher may ask an open-ended question about the book.

Journaling

Students make notes, observations, or a summary of the chapter they read. In English 10, we have done a double entry journal for the "Chrysalids" every chapter. In our version of the double entry journal, we picked an excerpt from each chapter and wrote about how we reacted to it and what we thought about it. Example from readwriteprint.org below:

EXAMPLE

About

7 Different Strategies

In general, there are 7 different cognitive strategies that effective readers use:

Activating

Activating your long-term memory by actively recalling previous experiences and knowledge to create meaning from text

Questioning

Using self-questioning, question generation, and question answering with peers or teachers

Inferring

Using what is written in the text and what the reader already knows to find the unwritten ideas in text

Visualizing

Imagining a mental image of what is being conveyed in the text while reading

Organizing

Using a graphic organizer to recall and record information for the purpose of extracting meaning from text

Summarizing

Summarizing the meaning of text in your own words (paraphrasing)

Testimonials

Resources

Comprehension. Read Naturally, Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.readnaturally.com/research/5-components-of-reading/comprehension

Game, P. (2021, October 12). Top 7 reading strategies & techniques to use in class. Prodigy Education. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/reading-strategies/

McEwan, E. K. (n.d.). Teach the seven strategies of highly effective readers. AdLit. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.adlit.org/topics/comprehension/teach-seven-strategies-highly-effective-readers

Double-entry Journal. Double-Entry Journal | Read Write Think. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/double-entry-journal

Goodreads. (1977, June 28). The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Goodreads. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/826845.The_Chrysalids

Goodreads. (1997, September 1). The outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Goodreads. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231804.The_Outsiders