Page 2 More Reading Strategies

Now that you have considered some thoughts on leadership, we are going to review reading strategies with which you may be familiar. Sometimes you may have difficulty reading a text, especially one that is long or quite challenging. When you have difficulty, knowing these strategies can help you continue to read the text to the end. Good readers share certain habits.

• Good readers have strategies they use when reading.
  
• Good readers monitor understanding.
• Good readers know what to do when understanding breaks down.
• Good readers have skills that help them understand difficult words.

Knowing those habits and practising them can improve your reading skills.

Good reading strategies:

• Set a purpose for reading.
• Ask questions and try to find the answers while reading.
• Make predictions, and see if those predictions come true.
• Make connections to the text - to self, to other texts, and to the world.
• Visualize or draw diagrams and mind maps while reading.

Monitor your understanding. Check frequently to see that you understand what you read. If you are struggling,

• record observations as you read
• slow your reading pace
• re-read difficult sections
• ask questions

When understanding breaks down...
If you notice that your understanding weakens and you lose meaning, stop to fix the problem:

• Ask yourself, Where did I stop understanding?
• Then, go back to the place where you lost the thread of meaning. Reread from there.
• Review some of the links in the Reading Comprehension Skill Builder for additional strategies. Suggestions:
  
• SQ3R strategy
• Notice and Note: Signposts for Reading
• Strategies for highly effective readers