Crash Course in 3 Key Reading Strategies

What can students do when they must read an unfamiliar text with new vocabulary? How can students find a way "in" to a text that seems boring or technical at first, or that was written in a different time period? Strong readers have a set of tools they can apply to a variety of situations to help them not only "get" the text, but engage with it.

In this one-time class, I teach students three key reading strategies: 
- Questioning
- Monitoring Understanding
- Making Inferences. 
These are key skills that are required for effective reading comprehension no matter what students are reading, from science textbooks to historical documents to popular media. They are components of strong cross-curricular literacy.

I teach this class using a combination of direct instruction, Socratic questioning (i.e. back and forth questioning and discussion), and shared reading of a short story out loud. We will read a classic American short story that is in the public domain. Students will get the chance to read parts of the story out loud, although this is not mandatory. As we read along as a group, we will pause to talk about the story, and to practise Questioning, Monitoring Understanding, and Making Inferences. 

Students are expected to know how to read at least at the eighth-grade level, and are expected to orally engage (at least a bit!) in discussion with the teacher and other students, by asking questions and sharing ideas. The the class will be paced somewhat quickly, and will follow this format:
- Intros and ground rules
- Demonstration of the three skills
- Reading out loud and pausing to discuss
- Wrap-up and appreciations