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The Language Arts Enrichment class focuses on helping readers develop a back of reading strategies to interpret and analyze various forms of text. The following strategies were designed to help students be more metacognitive about their reading:
Making Connections
When readers do their best thinking as they read non-fiction and fiction text, they use what they know, their background knowledge or schema to understand what they read. While reading the text, the reader can be reminded of a personal experience (text-to-self), another book (text-to-text) or a larger topic from life (text-to-world).
When trying to make a connection, think about:
Prior knowledge
Compare/contrast
Author’s style
Cause and effect
Fact vs. opinion
Visualizing
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they may create pictures in their minds before, during and after reading. Readers use the pictures in their heads to understand the text.
Questioning
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they will ask questions before, during and after reading to help them understand. Readers might find the answers to their questions in the text, or by using their own background knowledge or schema. Sometimes readers can also use their questions to research information from other sources.
Cause and effect
Prediction and confirmation
Guess and check
Determining Importance
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and non-fiction text, they must decide what information is important to remember. Before, during and after reading a reader can use his or her own schema and purpose for reading to help them decide what is important.
Theme
Main idea/supporting details
Predicting
Text features
Author’s purpose
Story elements
Sequence/chronological order
Summarizing
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they will think about the “big ideas” of what they are reading to better understand the entire piece. After the reader has finished reading, the big ideas of the reading are connected and compiled into a short description called a summary.
When summarizing, think about:
Sequence/chronological order
Story elements
Cause and effect
Main ideas and supporting details
Synthesizing
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they think about the different ideas and combine the ideas into new understandings. Readers synthesize during and after their reading to help them understand what they read and to gain a new insight or idea.
When trying to synthezise, think about:
Generalizing
Drawing conclusions
Cause and effect
Inferring
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they will use what they know (their schema) and what they have read to understand the text. The reader uses their knowledge and what the author has written to interpret the author’s ideas before, during and after reading.
When trying to making inferences, think about:
Predictions
Fact vs. opinion
Drawing conclusions
Cause and effect
Literary devices
Fix-Up Strategies
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they will think about the words, phrasing and expression as they read.
Words
Readers will think about words and decide if they make sense based on what they mean, the letters in the word and if the word sounds correct within the sentences. As a reader determines that a word doesn’t make sense, he or she will find a way to “fix-up” or correct the word.
Phrasing and Expression
Readers who are doing their best thinking will also think about the phrases and expression they use and decide if the text makes sense the way it was read. If the phrasing or expression doesn’t sound or feel correct a reader doing his or her best thinking will correct/fix it to help them understand the text.
To understand what is being read, a reader must “fix-up” any error that interrupts the meaning of what is read.
Making Connections
When readers do their best thinking as they read non-fiction and fiction text, they use what they know, their background knowledge or schema to understand what they read. While reading the text, the reader can be reminded of a personal experience (text-to-self), another book (text-to-text) or a larger topic from life (text-to-world).
When trying to make a connection, think about:
Prior knowledge
Compare/contrast
Author’s style
Cause and effect
Fact vs. opinion
Visualizing
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they may create pictures in their minds before, during and after reading. Readers use the pictures in their heads to understand the text.
Questioning
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they will ask questions before, during and after reading to help them understand. Readers might find the answers to their questions in the text, or by using their own background knowledge or schema. Sometimes readers can also use their questions to research information from other sources.
Cause and effect
Prediction and confirmation
Guess and check
Determining Importance
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and non-fiction text, they must decide what information is important to remember. Before, during and after reading a reader can use his or her own schema and purpose for reading to help them decide what is important.
Theme
Main idea/supporting details
Predicting
Text features
Author’s purpose
Story elements
Sequence/chronological order
Summarizing
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they will think about the “big ideas” of what they are reading to better understand the entire piece. After the reader has finished reading, the big ideas of the reading are connected and compiled into a short description called a summary.
When summarizing, think about:
Sequence/chronological order
Story elements
Cause and effect
Main ideas and supporting details
Synthesizing
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they think about the different ideas and combine the ideas into new understandings. Readers synthesize during and after their reading to help them understand what they read and to gain a new insight or idea.
When trying to synthezise, think about:
Generalizing
Drawing conclusions
Cause and effect
Inferring
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they will use what they know (their schema) and what they have read to understand the text. The reader uses their knowledge and what the author has written to interpret the author’s ideas before, during and after reading.
When trying to making inferences, think about:
Predictions
Fact vs. opinion
Drawing conclusions
Cause and effect
Literary devices
Fix-Up Strategies
When readers do their best thinking as they read fiction and nonfiction text, they will think about the words, phrasing and expression as they read.
Words
Readers will think about words and decide if they make sense based on what they mean, the letters in the word and if the word sounds correct within the sentences. As a reader determines that a word doesn’t make sense, he or she will find a way to “fix-up” or correct the word.
Phrasing and Expression
Readers who are doing their best thinking will also think about the phrases and expression they use and decide if the text makes sense the way it was read. If the phrasing or expression doesn’t sound or feel correct a reader doing his or her best thinking will correct/fix it to help them understand the text.
To understand what is being read, a reader must “fix-up” any error that interrupts the meaning of what is read.
