DESCRIPTION OF INTERACTIVE

Monitoring Comprehension. 

Checking in with yourself to make sure you understand what you're reading, or identifying why you may not understand what you're reading and choosing a fix-up strategy.

Seek clarification when the text doesn't make sense.

How: Re-read: If you didn't understand something, try re-reading it, possibly out loud.

Use context to help you find meaning.

How: If you don't understand a word or phrase, use the surrounding words and ideas (context) and see if you can make an educated guess about the meaning.

Setting a purpose for your reading.

How: Ask yourself questions: Are you reading for information? To analyse the writer's style? To develop an opinion? If you know why you're reading a text, you will be able to focus on more important pieces of information.

Activating prior knowledge.

How: Scan the text for clues in the title, headings, sub-headings and pictures. Ask yourself what you might already know about the topic or author. Use this information to make predictions about what you will discover as you read.

Visualizing.

Creating a mental picture of what you're reading.

Spontaneously and purposefully create images during and after reading being aware that the images will be connected with the five senses.

How: pay attention to any adjectives and adverbs in the writing that suggest actions, sensory information and emotions.

Imagine order of events, or steps in a procedure.

How: Sketch-noting: Sketch noting is a note-taking technique that relies on doodles and sketches to make the information you're reading or listening to more visual. Watch this video for more information.

Determine an overall impression from the writing based on the tone and 'colour' in the writing.

How: Pay attention to powerful adjectives and adverbs and the impression they give. What feelings or ideas do certain words make you think about?

Extend your understanding by visualizing the relationships between the ideas in the piece you read. 

How: Mind-mapping: This is a strategy you might use after reading to consolidate your knowledge about what you read.

The five essential characteristics of Mind Mapping:

1. The main idea, is placed in the center of the map.
2. The main themes radiate from the center as 'branches'.
3. The branches comprise a key image or key word drawn or printed on its associated line.
4. Topics of lesser importance are represented as 'twigs' of the relevant branch.
5. The branches form a connected structure. Have a look at this video.

Making Connections. 

Identifying similarities (or differences) between what you're reading and something else you've seen, read, heard, or experienced.

Focusing on text-to-self connections.

How: Ask yourself questions such as:

1. What does this remind you of?
2. Can you relate to the characters in the story?
3. Does anything in this text remind you of anything in your own life?

Focusing on text-to-text connections.

How: Ask yourself questions such as:

1. What does this remind you of in another text you have read?
2. How is this text similar to other things you have read?
3. How is this text different from other things you have read?

Focusing on text to world connections.

How: Ask yourself questions such as:

1. What does this remind you of in the real world?
2. How are details in this text similar to things that happen in the real world?
3. How are details in this text different from things that happen in the real world?

Annotating the Text.

How: Break up the text into chunks. You can determine how big this chunks should be. At the end of each chunk write down a connection that you can make.

Inferring 

Reading between the lines to draw conclusions that are not obvious.

Figure out what any pronouns used are referring to.

How: Track the pronouns (he she, it, they) and then look back in the sentence—or perhaps the previous sentences—to find the original source for the pronoun (a name or a specific object)

Determine the intention of the author and the purpose of the text.

How: Ask yourself:

1. Is there something that the author wants me to do or believe?
2. Do I agree with the author?
3. Do I share the author's point of view?

Make interpretations about the meaning of the text.

How: Ask yourself:

1. What are the important ideas I should take away from this text?
2. What conclusions can I draw? Do I have an opinion about what I read?
3. Do I need to take further action like find out additional information?

Determining Importance.

Figuring out which of the details are essential to the main idea and which ones aren't.

Finding the main idea.

How: In most written texts the main idea is found in the first paragraph and repeated at the end of the text. The main idea is not the same is the topic: e.g., The topic of a text might be "tiny houses" but the main idea might be "tiny houses are economical and environmentally friendly." To check if something is the main idea, as you read, ask yourself if this information is directly related to what you thought the main idea was. You can also look for clues like words or ideas that are repeated or emphasize. Sometimes the title also gives you a clue. Check out this video for more information.

Finding the most important supporting details.

How: First determine the main idea. Draw a circle around it or highlight it. Then, as read each supporting detail, ask yourself, is this detail essential to understanding the main idea? Could I explain the main idea without including this detail? If the idea is not essential, cross it out.

Make decisions about what is important in the text on the word level (e.g., what are key words in the text?), sentence level (e.g., what are key sentences, such as topic sentence or thesis statement, in the structure of the text?) and the text level (e.g., what are overall themes and messages?)

How: Highlight key words, phrases, and sentences which contain more "weight" than others. These would be words, phrases and sentences that you think would be essential to use if you were to explain the main ideas of the text to someone else.

Questioning. 

Asking questions about what you're reading.

Be attuned to questions that are coming to mind during and after reading.

How: KWL Chart. Before reading, fill out the Know (K) column with everything you think you currently know about the subject. Then fill out the Want to Know (W) column with questions that you hope will be answered by your reading. At the end of your reading, fill out the Learned (L) column but jotting down any answers that you got.

Take a problem-solving approach during reading.

How: Ask yourself:

1. What questions are being raised in this text?
2. Am I finding answers to these questions as I read further?

Developing different types of questions.

How: Different types of questions will lead to different types of understanding. This chart, Q Chart, will help you develop different types of questions about what you've read.

Annotating the Text.

How: Break up the text into chunks. You can determine how big this chunks should be. At the end of each chunk write a question about what you read in the margin. Examples of things you could ask questions about are word choice, author's purpose, content, and style.

Synthesizing. 

Combining information from the text with your own ideas to come up with new ideas.

Identify how your thinking has changed as a result of your reading.

How: "I used to think". Make a note with two columns. Label the first column "I used to think…" and label the second column, "Now I think…" In the first column you will write down your assumptions about the subject matter of the text you're about to read. In the second column, you will write down whether these assumptions stayed the same, or changed based on what you read.

Have a discussion about what you read.

How: Summarize the main idea and supporting details to a friend. Put the information in your own words. Then tell that person what you think about what you read. Ask them what they think. Did your ideas about what you read change based on this conversation?