Why these? Strong readers use a small set of strategies on every text. The trick is to know which one to use and when. Each card below names the strategy, gives you a "use it when" sentence, examples, and the common pitfall to avoid.
1. Predict
Before reading, guess what the text will be about based on the title, headings, pictures, and first few lines. As you read, update your prediction.
Use it when: you're starting a new text or a new chapter. Predictions activate what you already know, so the new information has somewhere to stick.
Example:
- Title: "The Last Train Home". Prediction: this is probably a story about someone trying to get home and almost missing the last train.
- Heading: "Why Volcanoes Erupt". Prediction: this will explain the cause, probably with diagrams.
Pitfall: sticking with your first prediction when the text proves it wrong. Update as you read.
2. Connect
Link the text to your own life (text-to-self), to other texts you've read (text-to-text), or to the world (text-to-world). Connection is what turns information into memory.
Use it when: a character or event reminds you of someone or something. Stop and name the connection in your head.
Example:
- Text-to-self: "The narrator misses recess like I do."
- Text-to-text: "This wolf is like the wolf in The Hate U Give, both are scary on the outside but..."
- Text-to-world: "This story is set in 1995, the same year my parents say grunge music was big."
Pitfall: connections that distract you from the text. "This guy has a dog. I have a dog. My dog is named Max." is not useful unless it helps you understand the character.
3. Question
Ask questions before, during, and after reading. Some have answers in the text, some require thinking, some have no answer at all and that's okay.
Use it when: something doesn't make sense, a character does something surprising, or you want to dig deeper. Write the question down so you can come back to it.
Example:
- Right There question: "How old is the narrator?" (Answer is somewhere in the text.)
- Think and Search: "Why doesn't she trust her uncle?" (You need to combine several clues.)
- Author and Me: "What would I have done in this situation?" (Combines text + your view.)
Pitfall: asking only "Right There" questions. Push yourself to ask why, not just what.
4. Visualize
Make a mental picture (or smell, sound, touch) of what's happening in the text. Strong readers run a movie in their head as they read.
Use it when: you're reading a descriptive passage, a setting, or a character's appearance. If you can't picture it, you probably aren't really reading it.
Example:
- "The kitchen smelled of cinnamon and old paper." → close your eyes, imagine that smell.
- "She walked with a slight limp on the left side." → picture the walk.
Pitfall: skipping descriptive paragraphs because they're "slow". Those are usually where the author plants the most.
5. Infer (read between the lines)
Combine what the text says with what you already know to figure out what the text means but doesn't directly say. Inferring is the strategy that separates surface readers from deep ones.
Use it when: a character does something without explaining why, or a sentence hints at something more. Stop and ask "what is the author NOT saying out loud?"
Example:
- Text: "She wiped her eyes and looked away." → Inference: she's about to cry or just did. The text doesn't say "she was sad" but you know.
- Text: "He hadn't eaten since Tuesday." → Inference: he is hungry, possibly broke, possibly fasting on purpose. Context tells you which.
Pitfall: inferring without evidence. Your inference must be supported by SOMETHING in the text plus your background knowledge. "I think she's a witch because I just have a feeling" is not an inference.
6. Summarize
In your own words, in 1-3 sentences, say what the section was about. Summarizing checks comprehension and pulls out the main idea from the details.
Use it when: you finish a paragraph, chapter, or article. If you can't summarize it, you didn't fully understand it.
Example:
- After a chapter: "Hannah found out her grandmother was hiding a letter. She decided to read it tomorrow."
- After a non-fiction article: "Black holes are regions where gravity is so strong that nothing escapes, not even light."
Pitfall: retelling everything. A summary is the main idea + 1-2 key details, NOT a recap of every event.
7. Monitor and fix
Pay attention to whether the text is making sense to you as you read. When it stops making sense, STOP. Don't just push on. Fix it before moving forward.
Use it when: you get to the end of a paragraph and realize you've been reading the words but not absorbing them. Backtrack. Reread. Look up the word you skipped.
Example:
- You hit "The captain ordered the petrified passengers to disembark." Petrified? Disembark? Reread, look them up, then continue.
- You finish a paragraph but can't summarize it (see strategy 6). Go back and read more carefully.
Pitfall: pretending you understood when you didn't. This is how kids lose 30 pages and have no idea what happened. Stop early.