Active Reading Strategies

What connections do I make as I read?

Copyright ©2012 K12Reader - 

You read all the time. Sometimes you read just for fun. Other times you read for schoolwork. No matter what you are reading, what you read has meaning. You can connect to what you read.

Making connections is important. It’s giving your brain a place to store what you read. Your brain is like a file box. The new information is kept in a safe place. You can think about it later. When you want to use the information, it’s there in your brain. The more connections you make, the better. If you have a lot of connections your brain can work faster. If you have many ways to think about something, the information will be easier to find.

There are different ways to connect as you read. One kind of connection is self-to-text. This is when you realize something you read in a story has happened to you in your own life. Usually, this kind of connection comes with the emotions you felt at that time. It may make you feel happy, afraid, or sad. Another kind of connection is text-to-text. This is when reading a story reminds you about a story you read before. The last kind of connection is text-to-world. It reminds you of something you have seen happen to someone you know or have seen in the news.

Good readers create pictures in their minds while they read. 

     Stanley wasn’t sure if the bus driver meant for him to be careful going down the steps, or if he was telling him to be careful at Camp Green Lake. ‘Thanks for the ride,” he said. His mouth was dry and his throat hurt. He stepped onto the hard, dry dirt. There was a band of sweat around his wrist where the handcuff had been. 

     The land was barren and desolate. He could see a few rundown buildings and some tents. Farther away there was only a cabin beneath two tall trees. Those two trees were the only plant life he could see. There weren’t even weeds. 

From Holes, by Louis Sachar 

Stanley was still digging. His hole was about three feet deep, but only in the center. It sloped upward to the edges. The sun had only just come up over the horizon, but he already could feel its hot rays against his face. As he reached down to pick up his canteen, he felt a sudden rush of dizziness and put his hands on his knees to steady himself. For a moment he was afraid he would throw up, but the moment passed. He drank the last drop of water from his canteen. He had blisters on every one of his fingers, and one in the center of each palm. Everyone else’s hole was a lot deeper than his. He couldn’t actually see their holes but could tell by the size of their dirt piles. 

Find information from the text that might be clues to the answers and use these with your background knowledge for possible answers. (Become a DETECTIVE!)

Good readers look for things that help them identify big ideas and why they are important. (Becoming a Detective) (Cite Evidence)

Good readers combine new information from their reading with existing knowledge in order to form new ideas or interpretations.