Developing Reading Skills

Developing Reading Skills

Reading is a complex skill, below are some tips on how to develop particular reading sub-skills.

• Making use of clues - learners should be able to use the titles, illustrations and the look of the text (bold, italics, paragraphing etc.) to decide what kind of text it is and to start making a few general predictions about its content. The strategy of predicting is very useful.
• Understanding gist - this is the ability to form a general overview of a text from just making use of the clues and a very quick reading. This means that learners should be skimming texts.
• Understanding relevant details - learners will be looking for the details that are relevant to the writer's reason for writing, the subject matter of the text and the reader's purpose for reading. For example, if someone is looking at a timetable of all the trains that leave from a particular station, the relevant information is just the details of the journey the reader wishes to take. This is called scanning.
• Distinguishing main points from secondary points - knowing how a paragraph is structured and how the main point is often made first and then supported by less important detail could help a learner find the information they need. Interpreting is a key strategy here.
• Distinguishing fact from comment - being able to find the comment will help with understanding the writer's opinions and attitudes and means the reader needs to interpret the text.
• Identifying relevant information - this is often done by stopping to think about the text and discussing the intended audience, the writer's attitudes and opinions, and the inferences that can be drawn from explicit information in the text. Again, interpreting is important here.
• Deriving meaning from texts that contain unknown words and phrases - this requires the learner to be able to guess meaning from context or ignore a word they don't know. This is a coping strategy.
• Using appropriate aids - reference books should be available and learners need to know how to use dictionaries and grammars etc. These will support their learning even if there is no teacher around and help the learner be more independent. Again, this is coping with difficulties and problems when learning.      

Assessing Reading Skills

Can your students                              

• Read aloud fluently, with no difficulties in pronunciation?
• Draw conclusions ?
• Find the main idea ?
• Read for specific information ?
• Sequence material ?
• Make predictions ?
• Summarize what has been read ?
• Activate and use prior knowledge ?
• Visualize information ?
• Understand and use new words ?
• Understand text read silently ? 

Plz give feedback...

Active Reading in the Classroom

Active Reading in the Classroom

The ability to effectively read is critical to the success of a student in any subject area. Yet many students experience difficulty in mastering this skill. Engaging students in active reading practices can help them become more involved in their reading, thus aiding comprehension and retention.

Structured Approaches to Active Reading

Experiment with the K-W-L (What I Know, What I Want to Know, What I've Learned) method in your classroom. Before reading, have students brainstorm everything they know about a topic. Then have them list questions they have about the topic (what they want to know). After reading, check what students have learned-see if they can answer the questions they generated, and have them identify new areas for exploration. This method could work as an entire class, small group, or individual exercise.

Response Activities Encourage Active Reading

Compile a list of open-ended, controversial questions or statements for students to explore both before and after they read. The statements should focus on opinions or misconceptions about the topic. If students answered the questions individually, consider engaging in at least a brief class discussion to examine how the reading affected students' responses.

Visually Organize Concepts for Active Reading

Implement the use of graphic organizers into student reading. These tools can help students to visually organize what they are reading and extract the main ideas. Graphic organizers are especially useful after a reading, as a reviewing tool.

Active Reading Incorporates Preview Strategies

Have students preview reading selections to improve comprehension and retention. Before students begin reading, they should read any introductions or previews and write down all headings and subheadings in the reading, organizing them in an outline form and leaving spaces for additional notes. They should also examine all graphics, noticing the titles and captions; look at all boldface words in the reading; and survey the questions and exercises at the end of the reading.

Prediction Helps Develop Active Reading

Teach students reading prediction strategies. As students are reading, have them predict the outcomes or consequences of the actions described. Ask them to make educated guesses. This will help them to develop thinking skills and become active rather than passive readers.