How
can we teach our elementary students to be independent readers?
The
following strategies, adapted for the Israeli EFL classroom from a book called
"The Reading Strategies Book" by Jennifer Serravallo, will help young
learners acquire reading habits that are sure
to help.
Click
here
to read the previous post on reading strategies for emergent readers.
1. Look for a perfect reading spot.
What do you think you need from
the environment to get the most reading done?
Pick a spot that will work for
you. Bright or dim light? Noisy or quiet? Hard or soft seating? Laying down or
sitting upright?
2. Vary the length of reading.
Plan stopping places and have
short breaks. You can mark your stop with a marker or a sticky note. On the
break, students can use a "look book" or another activity before
going back to reading.
3. Reread to get back to reading
When students get distracted,
they can stop, notice where their attention first started to drift, go back to
the last thing they remember really understanding and reread from there. If attention shifts very often, they should consider
changing something in the environment that is causing them to be distracted.
4. Retell and jump back in
When student mind wanders, the
student can pull his/her attention back, quickly retell what they remember
about the text and jump right back.
5. Fixing the fuzziness
It is crucial to make sense of
what we are reading. Students should often check in with themselves while
reading and ask themselves: What's happening? Do I have feelings about it? Can
I visualize what is happening? If not, then back up, reread to make sure you
are understanding.
6. Prime yourself with prior knowledge
Before starting to read, think
about the topic, and set yourself for success by thinking about what the text
will look like, what is the structure, what do you know about the topic, the
author etc.
7. "Party" Ladder
With this strategy, students set
goals while reading, draw a ladder and write each goal on the steps of the
ladder. When they get to the top, they have a little celebration.
8. Ask questions to engage with the text
Students engage their mind by
asking questions as they read. For example: what will the sisters do to
Cinderella? Why did the character do that? What do I think will happen next?
What is the reason this happened?
9. Look up more information online
In order to be engaged with the
text, students can stop and search for more videos about the topic/reviews/posts/pictures
online regarding the topic. This will enhance the reading experience and help
in deepening the understanding.
10.
Stop
and Visualize
When reading, try to create a
picture in your mind that shifts and changes. It is essential to staying
focused.
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Hili
tags: reading, english, efl
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