XPLORER
READING STRATEGIES TO REMEMBER!
X -EXAMINE THE TEXT
BE AN XPLORER AND LOOK FOR ALL THE INFORMATION YOU CAN FIND TO HELP YOU WITH THE TEXT! EXAMINE THE TITLE, HEADINGS, PICTURES, CHARTS, GRAPHS, CAPTIONS, MAPS, ETC. FIND ROOM ON
THE PAGE TO WRITE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION. (“THIS PICTURE IS SHOWING A GIRL WHO LOOKS SAD, THIS GRAPH IS ALL ABOUT SPORTS, THE CAPTION EXPLAINS HOW PEOPLE CAN HELP THE PLANET.”)
P - PREDICT WHAT YOU THINK THE PASSAGE IS ABOUT!
AFTER YOUR EXAMINATION OF THE TEXT, READ AND UNDERLINE THE FIRST AND LAST TWO SENTENCES OF THE PASSAGE. THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS PASSAGE IS MOST LIKELY ABOUT. NOW, FIND A BLANK SPACE TO WRITE YOUR PREDICTION. (“I PREDICT THE STORY IS ABOUT…”)
L - LOCATE ANY BOLD OR UNDERLINED WORDS!
SKIM THE PASSAGE LOOKING FOR BOLD OR UNDERLINED WORDS. WHEN YOU FIND THEM, CIRCLE OR HIGHLIGHT THEM, SO THEY’RE EASIER TO LOCATE LATER ON. DON’T FORGET TO LOOK UP, LOOK DOWN, LOOK ALL AROUND THE CIRCLED WORDS TO FIND CONTEXT CLUES ABOUT ITS MEANING.
O -ORGANIZE THE PASSAGE!
MOST PASSAGES WILL HAVE NUMBERED PARAGRAPHS. BE SURE TO CIRCLE EACH NUMBER, COUNTING AS YOU GO SO THAT YOU DO NOT SKIP ANY PARTS OF THE STORY. (SOMETIMES PAGES WILL STICK TOGETHER!) THIS WILL HELP YOU AS YOU READ THE PASSAGE, AND WHEN YOU GO BACK TO PROVE YOUR ANSWERS LATER. FOR POETRY, YOU MAY NEED TO NUMBER THE LINES YOURSELF!
R - READ, READ, READ!
BE CAUTIOUS AND CAREFUL WHEN YOU READ THE PASSAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME.
THEN, READ EACH QUESTION AND ANSWER CHOICE. DON’T FORGET, YOU WILL NEED TO RE-READ CERTAIN PARTS OF THE STORY TO FIND YOUR ANSWERS!
E -ELIMINATE & EVALUATE YOUR ANSWERS!
BE SURE TO READ EACH ANSWER CHOICE BEFORE MAKING YOUR DECISION. ELMINATE THE ANSWERS THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY NOT RIGHT! (UNRELATED, SILLY, OR OFF TOPIC) DON’T FORGET, GO BACK IN THE STORY AND SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE THAT THE ANSWER IS CORRECT! UNDERLINE OR CIRCLE THE PART OF THE PASSAGE THAT HELPS YOU SELECT YOUR ANSWER. WHENEVER POSSIBLE, WRITE THE PARAGRAPH NUMBER NEXT TO YOUR ANSWER CHOICE! (“P5, P2, OR ALL P’S”)
R - RECORD YOUR ANSWER ON YOUR ANSWER DOCUMENT
MARK YOUR ANSWER CHOICE ON THE ANSWER DOCUMENT. BE SURE THAT THE QUESTION NUMBER MATCHES THE ANSWER NUMBER – IF THEY DON’T MATCH, FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE WRONG BEFORE YOU CONTINUE! REMEMBER TO MARK YOUR ANSWERS DARK AND NEAT AND TO ONLY CHOOSE ONE ANSWER FOR EACH QUESTION!