Strategic Reading/Viewing

Literacy researchers have developed some basic strategies for reading/viewing to learn. Here is a summary of strategic reading/viewing strategies:

Before reading/viewing, the strategic reader/viewer:

• Previews the text by looking at the title, the pictures, and the print in order to evoke relevant thoughts and memories

• Builds background by activating appropriate prior knowledge about what he or she already knows about the topic (or story), the vocabulary, and the form in which the topic (or story) is presented

• Sets purposes for reading/viewing by asking questions about what he or she wants to learn (know) during the reading/viewing episode

During reading/viewing, the strategic reader/viewer:

• Checks understanding of the text by paraphrasing the author's/presenter's words

• Monitors comprehension by using context clues to figure out unknown words and by imagining, inferencing, and predicting

• Integrates new concepts with existing knowledge, continually revising purposes for reading/viewing

After reading/viewing, the strategic reader/viewer:

• Summarises what has been read/viewed by retelling the plot of the story or the main idea of the text

• Evaluates the ideas contained in the text

• Makes applications of the ideas in the text to unique situations, extending the ideas to broader perspectives