Sometimes readers reread to fill in gaps in their understanding. They use the strategy of summarizing to keep track of what they are reading and to focus their minds on important information. Summarizing helps readers track all of the most important events and details and focus on the main points in the text.

A summary contains only the most important events and details from a text and should be stated in the reader’s own words. As they read, students should stop periodically to summarize at the ends of paragraphs, chapters, or sections.

An effect is what happens in the story and a cause is what makes that event happen. Looking for causes and effects can help readers understand why a story’s characters act the way they do or why certain actions have certain outcomes. It also helps readers relate events and predict what will happen next.

Explain that certain words and phrases, such as because, since, so, therefore, and as a result, will signal cause-and-effect relationships.

Tell students that readers constantly ask questions about the information presented as they read a text. Asking and then answering questions allows readers to monitor their understanding of the text. Good readers also ask questions that may prepare them for what they will learn.

Explain to students that readers use the question words who, what, where, when, why and how to ask questions as they read a text. They also ask questions that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.

The questions readers ask may be answered by rereading or reading further in the text for more details or evidence, by making inferences, or even by doing research in another text.

Sometimes readers reread to fill in gaps in their understanding. They use the strategy of summarizing to keep track of what they are reading and to focus their minds on important information. Summarizing helps readers track all of the most important events and details and focus on the main points in the text.

A summary contains only the most important events and details from a text and should be stated in the reader's own words. As they read, students should stop periodically to summarize at the ends of paragraphs, chapters, or sections.

The main idea is the most important point in a paragraph or section of text. Details support or explain this main idea. Details describe why, what, when, where, and how. When readers understand a main idea, they can better understand a section of text.

The main idea can be found anywhere in the paragraph. Sometimes it is an actual sentence from the paragraph, but sometimes it has to be inferred from the paragraph.

Predicting is "telling beforehand". Making predictions means thinking about what will happen next in a story. Predicting helps readers think about the story and focus on what they are reading. When readers make predictions, they use what they know, along with clues in the text, to predict what might happen in the story. Emphasize that predictions are not simply guesses. As readers progress in a story, they consider predictions they have made and then either confirm or revise them.

Readers need to stay alert for and address difficulties as they read. This is called clarifying, which means making something easier to understand. Explain that clarifying involves watching for unfamiliar vocabulary or confusing concepts and recognizing loss of concentration while reading. It also involves pausing and rereading, asking questions, and possibly seeking more information. Good readers address these problems in order to gain a better understanding of the text.

Stop after each paragraph or page and have students identify whether anything confused them. If they identify a problematic word or idea, then reread the text aloud, while emphasizing that part of clarifying is using context to confirm or self-correct. Alternatively, have students read on to see if the confusing item is explained or have them look up an unknown word's definition. In addition, have them try making connections to prior knowledge in order to clarify a confusing concept.

Inferences is an idea or conclusion made from clues in the story combined with what the reader already knows. When readers make inferences, they use information provided in the text along with their own knowledge to understand details the author does not include in the story. Readers make inferences about characters and events to gain a deeper understanding of the text.

Events in a story usually happen in a certain order, or sequence. Authors often use words that clarify the time and order of events. These are called temporal words. Readers can look for these signal words to identify sequence, which will then help readers understand how a story develops and how events are related to one another.

Temporal words: as, next, Thursday, today, first, then, yesterday, next day, after, later, last week, tomorrow

Separating people, animals, and objects into different groups is called classifying and categorizing. This strategy can help readers better understand a text by identifying important traits of individual groups and the distinctions between groups. It also helps readers organize information so they can make comparisons, make connections, and remember content.