Making a Plan
This step in the reading process is important, though it is often overlooked. Having a clear plan for how you will read—how much, when and where-can directly your affect your reading experience. Here are some areas to consider when making a plan:
How will you read it?
Will you read it all at once or break it up into chunks? If the assigned reading is in chapters, it’s recommended that you read at least a chapter in one sitting. If it’s a long chapter or reading, you may want to break it up into chunks of 30 minute chunks. Keep in mind that most authors have already chunked the information for you into sections or chapters. The meaning the author is trying to evoke is often connected to how they chunk the reading. Be careful not to break the reading into too many chunks over a period of time as it may be difficult to maintain a general sense of the story. Doing this would be much like watching a movie only for 10 minutes each evening for several weeks. Not only would it take you more than a week to watch the movie, but, more importantly, it would disrupt the continuity of the story and make it more difficult to understand.
When will you read?
Like most students, you likely have very busy schedule. Think about the due date and set aside time in advance dedicated to reading. Be sure to clear you mind before you begin and commit yourself to the reading for at least 15 pages or 30 minutes at a time—whichever comes first.
Where will you read?
In a quiet place? Noisy? Where you read depends on your preference. Some people like to read in noisy places as it forces them to concentrate. Others prefer absolute silence. Plan ahead and pick an environment that is right for you.
What will you reread?
Experienced readers know that reading a text once is not enough to fully understand it. They also know that sometimes it isn’t possible to reread an entire text. Be sure to set aside some time to review and reread key passages.
Setting a Purpose
Students who read with a purpose tend to comprehend what they read better than those who have no purpose. This result may occur because the students are attending to the material rather than just decoding words. Purpose-setting activities can help students activate their existing background knowledge about the topic of the material. Providing specific purposes avoids presenting students with the insurmountable task of remembering everything they read and allows them to know whether they are reading to determine main ideas, locate details, understand vocabulary terms, or meet some other well-defined goals. As a result, they can apply themselves to a specific, manageable task.
Setting a purpose for reading means formulating and articulating the reason for reading. There are many different reasons for reading including:
- For enjoyment
- To perfect oral reading performance or use of a comprehension strategy
- To increase knowledge about a topic by linking new information to that already known
- To obtain information for an oral or written report
- To confirm or reject predictions
- To perform the steps in a scientific experiment or to follow a set of instructions
- To learn about the organizational patterns and authors’ techniques
- To answer specific questions
For maximum effectiveness, setting a single purpose for reading, especially for struggling readers, helps avoid confusion from the overload of multiple purposes. The purpose should be fairly broad in scope and sustained throughout the entire selection, not met after reading only a small portion of the materials. Purposes should be formed carefully, because poor ones can misdirect the students’ attention by focusing on information that is not essential to the passage. Purposes should help readers differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information. Responsibility for setting purposes should gradually shift from the teacher to the students.
Zwiers, Jeff. (2004). Building reading comprehension habits in grades 6-12: A Toolkit of Classroom Activities. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Reading Process
Another key strategy many experienced readers rely on is knowledge of the reading process. Being aware of what should happen when you read is important because it helps you monitor your reading and prevents you from getting stuck. There are three things that should happen when you read:
1. Hear a Reciting Voice
The reciting voice is the voice you hear in your head as you read silently to yourself. As you read, listen for your reciting voice. Knowing how to pronounce different words correctly can affect how well you hear your reciting voice. If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, look it up online and listen to how it should be pronounced. Test it out. See if you can hear your reciting voice when reading this excerpt from Amy Tan’s short story “Fish Cheeks”:
I fell in love with the minister’s son the winter I turned fourteen. He was not Chinese, but as white as Mary in the manger. For Christmas I prayed for this blond-haired boy, Robert, and a slim new American nose.
2. Hear an Interacting Voice
This is the voice that responds to the content as you read. This voice notes important information, asks questions, makes predictions, draws connections and challenges the ideas in the text. Experienced readers pay close attention to their interacting voice because they know that these interactions are the starting point for deeper learning and closer analysis. Most readers interact with a text multiple times on a single page. Unfortunately, some do not hear their interacting voice because they are not tuned into it. Tuning in to this voice takes some practice. One of the ways you can practice it to stop every 2-3 pages and ask yourself the following question: what stood out for me and why? If nothing stands out, ask yourself ‘do I understand what’s happening.’ A complete list of questions you might ask yourself is included at the end of this chapter in a reading strategies chart. Try applying some of them and find out which ones work best for you. Be sure to record your answers in the margins, on sticky notes or in a notebook like the reading response journal.
3. Visualize
While hearing the two voices described above, most readers see images in their mind as they read. Rather than seeing a full continuous movie, however, readers tend to see snapshots or short video clips. The images a reader sees are usually based on an author’s description of concrete things like objects, settings, and characters and even actions and events. It is also based on images from the reader’s own life experiences. The clarity of the image readers visualize depends on the level of description the author provides and the reader’s general knowledge, life experiences and vocabulary. When reading the Amy Tan excerpt above, for example, you probably visualized blonde hair. The other features of the boy were likely a little blurry as the author offers no description beyond the hair. It is possible that you may have supplemented the visual with an image of a boy from your past experiences. The image of Mary in the manger and Christmas also lacks description, but this is intentional as the author assumes the reader is familiar with these two references. Readers who are familiar with them likely recalled images from their own life. Readers not familiar with these images likely did not visualize anything at all. For those who did not see anything, this would be a good place to stop and research the meaning of the references. As you read, pay close attention to the images you visualize, especially when the author provides detailed description. If you encounter an unfamiliar word or reference, be sure to look it up as you may be missing an opportunity to visualize an image important to the meaning the author is attempting to convey.
Getting Stuck and Unstuck
In addition to knowing the reading process, it’s also helpful to be aware of some of the common ways readers get stuck and the strategies they use to get unstuck. Knowing these will reduce your chances of getting stuck and help you when you are. Some readers review these strategies before they begin reading and even keep a list of the ones they find most helpful next to them as they read. If you get stuck frequently, you might want to consider doing the same.
You don’t hear a reciting voice.
Try reading the text out loud to yourself. If you are still having problems, you can follow along with your finger or underline the text as you read. If none of these methods work, revisit your reading plan. You may need to change the environment or address some other concern, like feeding a hungry stomach.
You don’t hear an interacting voice.
Ask yourself what stood out and why? If nothing stands out, ask yourself ‘do I understand what’s happening.’ If neither of these questions work, try applying one of the reading strategies from the chart at the end of this chapter.
You stop visualizing.
When you stop visualizing, chances are you stopped understanding what’s happening. If the images in your mind are unclear, then either your reciting or interacting voice isn’t working, the text includes too many unfamiliar words or it makes references to something you don’t know. Be sure to look up words you don’t know and reread the parts of the text where you stopped seeing images. If it’s a reference to someone or something like a famous figure, place or event, do a little research. You might even look up some images of the reference.
Your mind begins to wander.
Every reader’s mind wanders from time to time. If this happens frequently or for too long, you might find yourself stuck. Check your reading plan and make sure the timing and environment are suitable. If you’re bored, try reading the text out loud to yourself and/or taking notes about what happens. This will not only keep you from getting bored, but it will also help you remember more. Another thing to keep in mind is to make sure your interacting voice isn’t becoming a distracting voice. While making connections between your life experiences is important and can sometimes allow you to discover deeper meaning in a text, thinking about those experiences outside the text for too long and interfere with your understanding of the reading.
You can’t remember what you just read.
If you find yourself unable to remember something you just read, try rereading the section out loud and taking notes. Be sure to write down information about people, places, things and events you encounter. You can make a character chart, a map of the events or even make a quick sketch of the setting.
Taking Notes while reading
In addition to having a reading plan, understand the reading process and having some strategies to get unstuck, experienced readers also have a system for annotating the text and taking notes as they read. Developing a consistent way to track your thinking is likely something that you have struggled with. You’re not alone. Many students struggle to find a system that works for them. Some students change how they take notes each time they read. Deciding how to take notes before you read will not only save you time, but it will also allow you to take notes more consistently and make retracing your thoughts much easier. This latter part is especially important as it will help you when it comes time to discuss the reading in class and write about it. Consider the following question before you begin reading.
How will you take notes?
Will you stop and take notes as you read or mark areas of interest and return to them later? If you struggle a bit with reading or if it’s a challenging text, then you might want to consider stopping every 1-2 pages to take a notes. If you’re a more experienced reader, you may choose to mark key excerpts as you read and take more detailed notes once you finish the chapter—depending of course of the length of the chapter.
How many notes will you take per chapter or section?
Everyone knows that stopping too often to takes notes can interfere with the reading experience. If you have time, you might consider reading the assigned section or chapter one time and only mark the areas that you find interesting. You can then read it again and write more detailed notes. This would mean, of course, setting aside more time to passages and If you struggle a little bit with reading, you should plan to note something every page.
Do you have a system for marking the text?
Will you use stickies? Will you use different color stickies to represent different ideas or aspects of literature? For example, will you use yellow for person responses and purple for passages that evoke theme? If you can write in the text, will you different color highlighters instead of stickies? Will you circle key literary devices and underline especially important passages ? Will you circle passages related to conflict?
Will you use graphic organizers?
Graphic organizers can be especially helpful when starting to read as the beginnings of texts tend to contain a lot of information. Will you make a list of key ideas and concepts? Or a chart to show how the ideas and concepts are related? Will you create a list of themes? Will you use a Venn diagram to compare concepts?
“Understanding the Reading Process” & “Getting Stuck and Unstuck” were adopted and modified from Tolvani, Cris. I Read It, but I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers. Stenhouse Publishers: New York, 2000.