What you bring to the printed page
will affect how you understand what you
read,
and may be what is most important in understanding what you read
Organize yourself before you read
Strategies to activate your
prior knowledge:
Brainstorming:
Examine the title of the selection you are about to read
List all the information that comes to mind about this title
Use these pieces of information to recall and understand the material
Use this knowledge to reframe or reorder what you know, or to note what you
disagree with, for further research
Group discussions:
Group discussions in and out of class will help you to discover what you bring
to your reading, what your fellow students bring, as well as shared
experiences
If you find they have new background information, ask for more information
from them
Concept or mind mapping:
This is a type of brainstorming where you place the title/subject as the main
idea,
then develop a "mind map" around it. It can be effective either in a group or
by yourself
Pre-questions:
Often chapters in texts provide organizing questions.
You can also write out a series of questions you expect to be answered when
reading:
Examples:
Definition
What is....?
Where does ... fit?
What group does ... belong to? |
Characteristics
How would I describe...?
What does ... look like?
What are its parts? |
Examples
What is a good example of ...?
What are similar examples that share attributes but differ in some
way? |
Experience
What experience have I had with ....?
What can I imagine about ...? |
Visual Aids:
Pictures and other visual material can activate your prior knowledge.
Use the Internet to search for pictures related to your title/topic to give
you visual images of what you are about to read.
Advance Organizers:
Relate new reading material to something you already know, to your background
or experiences.
Ask your teacher for assistance in developing these.
Additional Prereading Strategies:
Overviews:
Discussing information about the selection or assignment prior to
reading must take place.
This may take the form of class discussions, printed previews, photographs,
outlines, or films. Spend enough time before the students begin the
assignment to ensure understanding of it.
Vocabulary Previews:
Unfamiliar key words need to be taught to students before reading so
that new words, background information, and comprehension can improve
together.
List all words in the assignment that may be important for students to
understand. Arrange words to show the relationships to the learning task.
Add words students probably already understand to connect relationships
between what is known and the unknown. Share information with students.
Verbally quiz them on the information before assigned reading begins.
Structural Organizers: Before reading an assignment, basic
frameworks which are included in the text should be pointed out such as
cause-effect or problem-solution. It can be beneficial to call attention
to specific plans of paragraph or text organization such as signal words, main
idea sentences, highlighted phrases, headings and subtitles. A review of
skimming techniques might also be appropriate as these various areas are
covered.
A Purpose for Reading: When students have a purpose for
reading a selection, they find that purpose not only directs their reading
towards a goal, but helps to focus their attention. Purposes may come
from teacher directed questions, questions from class discussions or
brainstorming, or from the individual student. Along with the question,
it is a good idea to pose predictions of the outcome and problems which need
to be solved. These may be generated by the student or the teacher, but
the teacher should use these to guide students in the needed direction for the
assigned selection.
Author Consideration: Depending upon the content area, a
discussion of the author of the particular work can be helpful to the
understanding of it. What is the author trying to say? What is his
point of view and his reason for writing the particular work?
KWL: This strategy consists of three steps for students
to use with expository text:
What do I Know? What do I Want to learn? What did I
Learn?
A good strategy for group discussions.
Develop a three column poster with each question in a column and list out
responses.
See also:
K - W - L
(Saskatoon Public Schools)
Adapted from
Porter, Karla, M.Ed.,
Prereading strategies, funded by the State Board of
Education from Federal Funds, Weber State University.
