During-Reading Strategies

During-reading Strategies

While completing your summer reading, you should consistently check in with yourself to ensure you're reading actively, instead of simply looking at a bunch of words on a page (or a screen). There are lots of things you can do to be an active reader, and you're likely already doing some of those things. Below are some strategies you may already use without thinking about it, or may want to consider using, as you read.

1. Visualize
2. Make Connections
3. Make Predictions
4. Take Margin Notes

Visualizing means to "make a mental picture" of what's happening in the story, as you read. Because a book will likely be action-oriented, and the characters will be doing and saying things, this "picture" is really more like a movie. The more detail you're able to add to your mental movie, the more likely you are to understand what is happening in the story. Just make sure that the details you add to your mental movie (accents, background/setting, characters' facial expressions, etc.) are based on the information that the author has provided. If you find that you're unable to make a mental movie while reading, or if that mental picture is vague and not very detailed, that may be a sign that you're not really thinking about what you're reading, or that you're not understanding what's happening in the story.

Making Connections, as discussed in a previous post, is a great strategy to use in order to stay interested in what you're reading and to remember more of what you're reading. You can connect what you're reading to other things you've read in the past, movies you've seen, things that you have personally experienced, or what you know about the world around you. Making connections can also help you to visualize more clearly, and it can help you to make more logical predictions.

Making Predictions is basically just thinking about what will happen next, based on what has happened so far in a story and based on background knowledge and previous experience. Oftentimes, we have to modify predictions about what will happen, as we read and gain more information. Making predictions can keep us interested in what we're reading, and it can also give us a purpose or focus while reading; we'll keep reading to figure out whether or not our predictions are accurate!

The topic of taking Margin Notes deserves a lot more discussion and time than I'll give it right now, but in short, taking margin notes while reading is a great way to ensure that you're being active (and not just looking at the words on the page), and to show off your thought process or what's happening in your mind, as you read. I always suggest that people have something in their hand to write with, while reading. This is so you can jot down those connections and predictions you're making, as well as questions or other ideas you have, while you're reading. It is also helpful to have something to write with in your hand so you can easily underline or star important parts of the story, note down in the margins when a new character appears or when the setting changes, or when you think the author might be emphasizing a certain point over and over again. It can be a good idea to use symbols and abbreviations when taking margin notes, to save yourself some time and to make certain things pop out at you when you go back to review what you've read. For example, a star can be used to denote something you think is important; "Ch." can be written in the margin when a new character appears; you can jot down a question mark in a margin when you're confused, or an exclamation point when something surprising happens; "Set." can be written in the margin when there's a description of the setting (time and place) of the story; and, you can make up other symbols and abbreviations to show what you're thinking and what sorts of connections you're making as you read. The margins of a book, if large enough, can also be a good place to sketch out some of what you're visualizing as you read, if you think it's an important scene or page.

Happy Reading!