What Good Readers Do

Did you know that good readers are built from the ground up? Learning to love reading and being good at it is not an accident. Here are the things that good readers learn to do:

Activate their Schema- Good readers think about what they already know about the topic that they're reading. Life experiences can help us make meaning of what we read.

Determine the Most Important Details- Good readers ask themselves what the Big Picture is about what they're reading.

Ask Questions- Good readers have an inner voice that asks lots of questions about what they're reading before, during, and after their reading session.

Visualize- Good readers visualize what they read by painting a picture in their head.

Infer- Good readers use their schema (prior knowledge) and add clues from what they read to make inferences. An inference is like reading between the lines; the message that's not said but is there. ie. Schema (You probably know about Italian food) + Clue (My favourite meal has cheese, tomato sauce and meat on it) = Inference (If you thought that my favourite meal is pizza, that's a pretty good inference)

Synthesize- Good readers synthesize. This means that they can sort through the ideas and make meaning. Good readers also connect and reflect on what they've read and compare it to their own experiences.

Use Fix Up Strategies- Good readers monitor their reading, realize when they're stuck or don't understand something and use strategies to get unstuck.

Source: What Good Readers Do  eworkshop.on.ca