Strategies to Achieve Reading Success

Finding Main Idea

• Good readers find the main idea by figuring out the most important idea in a reading passage.

• You already know about main idea because you think about what is most important in the things that happen to you every day.

Recalling Facts and Details

• Good readers recall facts and details in a reading passage by thinking about the main idea.

• They know that facts and details tell more about the main idea.

• You already know how to recall facts and details because you do it everyday.

Understanding Sequence

• Good readers understand sequence by recognizing the order in which things happen or things are done.

• You already know about sequence because the things that happen in your life happen in a sequence or time order.

Recognizing Cause and Effect

• Good readers know how to recognize cause and effect in a reading passage by thinking about what happens and why it happens.

• You already know about causes and effects because they are part of your daily life.

Comparing and Contrasting

• Good readers compare and contrast by thinking about how things are alike and different.

• You already know about comparing and contrasting because you experience these in your everyday life.

Making Predictions

• Good readers make predictions by using details in the passage, along with their background knowledge, to make a guess about what will happen next.

• You already know about making predictions because you make many guesses about what is going to happen next every day.

Finding Word Meaning in Context

• Good readers know that they can find word meaning in context by using other words or phrases in the reading passage as clues.

• Whenever you figure out the meaning of a word without looking in a dictionary, you are finding word meaning in context.

Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences

• Good readers draw conclusions and make inferences by using what they read, along with their own background knowledge, to figure out something that is suggested but not directly stated in a reading passage.

• You already know how to draw conclusions and make inferences because you often figure

Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion

• Good readers distinguish between fact and opinion by thinking about whether a detail can or cannot be proved. You already know about facts and opinions because you hear and tell them every day.

Identifying Author’s Purpose• Good readers identify an author’s purpose by asking themselves

whether to entertain, to explain, or to persuade. • You already know about author’s purpose because you recognize

it in video games, newspaper articles, and other things that you read and watch in your daily life.

• Each author’s purpose provides you with a different perspective.

Interpreting Figurative Language

• Good readers interpret figurative language by using other words and phrases in the passage as clues.

• You already know about figurative language because it is all around you.

• You use it in your favorite expressions, hear it in movies, and see it in books.

Summarizing

• Good readers summarize by looking for the most important information in a passage.

• You already know about summarizing because you do it in your daily life.

• When you briefly tell someone the most important ideas about something that happened, you are summarizing.

Enjoy Reading