As your child reads at home, no matter what the material, have them use these strategies to improve their reading skills. Part 7: Fix-up Strategies Good readers can effectively use "fix-up strategies" when they are having a problem understanding something read. This could be when they get stuck on a word or when they are confused. Some strategies are: use the context of the selection to define the word, reread to clarify meaning, and use my questions and connections to understand what I have read. Part 6: Summarize Good readers can effectively summarize what they read by deleting some information, substituting some information, and keeping some information when they read. The readers must be able to analyze the information at a fairly deep level. As you read with your child, have him.her stop now and then and discuss what is most important for him/her to remember about a story or article. Part 5: Noting Details and Main Idea Good readers are able to distinguish the difference between important and unimportant details in a selection. They are able to use the details to decide the main idea of a selection. As you read with your child, have him/her stop now and then to consider what it’s important to remember. Distinguish between facts that are interesting and those that are important. * The most important ideas are... * So far, I have learned that... * Based on my knowledge of... Part 4: Making Inferences Using information in the text and your own experiences to make decisions about the text, author and characters. Good readers use prior experiences and information in the text to help draw conclusions, make predictions, evaluating, judging and relecting on their reading. * I'm guessing that... * I predict... * It would be better if... * I really liked how... * If I were the main character... * What I didn't like was... Part 3: Motion Picture of the Mind Using sensory images to increase student comprehension Good readers create a wide range of visual, auditory, and other sensory images as they read, and they become emotionally involved with what they read. Sensory images are the cinema unfolding in your mind that makes reading 3-dimentional. As you read with your child, stop to discuss what you “see, hear, experience.” Connect the text to similar experiences of your own. Ask your child to describe what they see as they read. Help him/her make “a movie in their mind” about the text. PART 2: Why, What, Where, Who, and How????? Using questions to increase student comprehension Have a conversation with your child about the book or material he/she is reading. This will help him/her deepen understanding by: * asking questions before, during and after reading. * starting a conversation about the book being read. * encouraging your child to ask real questions. * inspiring wonder about the story. Part 1: Making Connections text to me, text to text, text to world Good readers use what they know to understand the text. * That reminds me of... * It made me think of... * I read another book where... * This is different from...