Strong readers utilize many skills while they read. These reading skills help readers better comprehend what they are reading. Eventually, these activities are performed automatically in the reader’s mind while the person is reading. These skills include:
Previewing a text- This includes looking at titles, subtitles, and illustrations to activate any background knowledge the reader has about a topic and anticipating what the text will be about.
Making Predictions- This is when the reader picks out clues or ideas presented by the author in the text and makes an educated guess about what they think might happen next in a story.
Visualize- This is the act of making a “mental movie” of a story. This skill requires readers to picture what is happening in the story as they read.
Infer- This skill is likened to acting as a detective. To practice this skill, readers gather ideas about a topic or character about which they are reading, combine that information with their own background knowledge, and come to a conclusion about what they are reading.
Question- As strong readers read, they are constantly questioning the text. They ask, “I wonder…” style questions as they read and then read on to locate the answers to those questions.
Connect- During this process, readers connect what is read to a life experience, to a different story, or to something that has happened in history.
Summarize- Readers pull out and reflect upon the biggest ideas about what they read.
Evaluate- During this process, readers think critically about a text.
Want to practice these essential reading skills with your child? Try out our language arts curriculum, in which all of these skills are practiced from the earliest levels of learning how to read in Level Red, to reading to learn in Level Indigo. Keep reading and keep learning!
