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Adapt Your Reading Approach Based on the Text

Tags

ELA: Reading ^21st Century Skills MS/HS/College Strategy

Skills

Verbal Reasoning Abstract Reasoning Processing Speed

Adapt Your Reading Approach Based on the Text

If your student reads slowly and has difficulty completing assignments or works quickly and misses key details

Teach It!

  1. Objective: Students will learn when and how to adapt their reading approach based on the complexity and purpose of the assignment.
  2. Fiction: In fiction, especially for independent reading, students can typically read more quickly as long as they grasp the main idea and key details. Have students practice summarizing the main idea and details after a quicker read. Have them go back and re-read sections as needed if they didn't grasp the main point.
  3. Non-Fiction: Have students first consider if they are reading non-fiction as an introduction to a topic, or for deeper understanding. Quicker reading to grasp main idea is usually sufficient if the purpose is for a basic introduction, not needing to focus on the details yet. Or if a student is reviewing multiple sources of information on one topic. If reading for deeper, specific knowledge, they should expect to read slowly and carefully, and re-read information multiple times. A first read for general idea, the second reading for details and understanding of key words and concepts.

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

For efficiency, students should learn how and when to use different reading approaches. The approach will depend on the type of text and purpose of the assignment. When students aren't certain, they should be encouraged to ask teachers. Students might need to be encouraged to skim and not always feel the need to read deeply.