Teaching readers how to manipulate the text: While-reading
strategies
The aim of teaching the while-reading actions is to improve readers'
use of comprehending actions while they are reading the text in
depth. Readers use these actions to comprehend or process text units
and to self-monitor, checking and cross-referencing what they have
just read with what they already know.
The types of actions readers use at each level of the text while
reading aloud are shown in the following diagram. When first 'while
reading' a text, readers read the text aloud as independently as
possible.
Level of text |
Reading action |
sentence level strategies |
- Organise the print to be read
- Listen to themselves as they read
- Talk to one's self when reading, paraphrase
- Visualise or 'make a mental picture'
- Put your self into the context
- Re-read and monitor sentences for meaning
- Question
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conceptual level strategies |
- Think ahead, predict what might happen next
- Ask "Why did that happen?" and inferring
- Read between the lines
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word level strategies |
- use the context of the word in the sentence and its initial
few sounds.
- Read to the end of the sentence and then re-read word
- Say the sentence containing the word in own words
- Match a non-word read with a word in the student's oral
language.
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topic level strategies |
- What are main ideas so far? How have ideas changed?
- How do I skim, scan?
- Linking up ideas as I read. Readers use semantic mapping
procedures.
- Using paragraph reading strategies.
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Before or after readers read a sentence or a paragraph, you can
remind them to
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Pre-reading ideas |
While reading ideas |
Post-reading ideas |
1. Where does the story take place? |
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2. When does the story take place? |
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3. Who are the main characters? |
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4. Who are other important characters? |
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5. What was the problem in the story? |
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6. How did _____ try to solve the problem? Explain |
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7. Was it hard to solve the problem? Explain |
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8. Was the problem solved? Explain |
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9. What did you learn by reading the story? |
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10. Can you think of a different ending? |
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By using this sequence of questions, readers can gradually learn
to use them as self instruction strategies.