Reading comprehension strategies can help a student have a simpler time studying and achieving higher exam scores. Moreover, understanding what you read can help you in all areas of your life. From job applications to signing a contract, you will need to fully understand text that you read in many scenarios. Consider these five most popular reading comprehension strategies to get started improving your skills.
Make Connections With The Text
Making a connection with the text that you are reading is one of the best reading comprehension strategies you can employ. If you can draw a personal connection with what you are reading you stand a much greater chance at being able to recall the information when needed. Perhaps it is not a connection that is personal, but something you have read previously. This will also establish a better means of recalling the information later on. You can also draw a connection between the text you are reading and what is occurring in the world.
Question What You Read
One of the other most popularly taught reading comprehension strategies is to question what you are reading. Question motives of characters and historical leaders. Question the order events occurred and how they happened. Learning to ask yourself questions as you read through a text will help to more fully engage your mind while reading. This will give you a greater retention of the information overall.
Visualize The Text
Perhaps one of the most exciting reading comprehension strategies is to create a mental picture of what you are reading. This can make a movie in your mind and cement the information in such a way that it may be difficult to forget. Use your imagination and picture vivid details of what you are reading. It creates a personable and memorable experience for the reader when they engage with the text through visualizing as well. Moreover, readers will learn to adapt the images they create in their mind’s eye as they work through the reading.
Make Inferences
Though it may be more abstract, it is one of the often taught reading comprehension strategies. This means you may make conclusions, or inferences about where the story is headed as you read. This will insure you are fully engaged with the text and create a more memorable experience. Another aspect of inferring is to draw conclusions about what is happening. Finding out if you are wrong or right will drive your engagement and increase your comprehension. Finally, you should look up words that you may not know so you don’t make a wrong inference at the meaning. This will give you a deeper understanding of the text you are reading and therefore better comprehension.
Determine How Important The Information Is
This is something you can do throughout the text. If the information seems very important and you tell yourself that, part of your brain will try to hold on to it. What you’re reading for will also help to determine the importance of the text. If it’s fiction, then characters, settings and plots may all be of varying levels of importance. If it’s a history lesson then you may need to remember dates and how famous people where affiliated. Getting an idea of what you are reading for will allow you to pay particular attention as you come across the details while moving through the text.
