Independent Readers
Overview
This is a mini lesson that provides tips for independent readings.
Choosing a Book
When it comes time to read independently, we want to choose a book that we will enjoy so that we do not get discouraged reading by ourselves. When choosing a book to read we should consider our purpose, interests, and skill levels so that we have an enjoyable reading exprience.
- Purpose: What are you wanting to gain from a book? Do you want to learn a new skill? Are you wanting to read for fun? Do you want to inform yourself about a topic?
- Interest: What interests you? Do you like adventure stories? Are you interested in a sport? Do you like cooking?
- Skill Level: What is your reading level? Make sure to choose a book that is your appropriate reading level. If you choose something too advanced, you will struggled and be discouraged in reading. If you choose something to simple, you can get bored of reading.
New Words
Sometimes when we read, we come across words we do not recognize. Learning these words can help us better understand stories or information in books. Follow these tips to learning new words as you read:
- Sound out the words. If you come across a word you do not know how to pronouce, try sounding out the word or using a text to speech tool. Sometimes hearing the word, you can recognize it.
- Use context clues. Context clues are hints within a sentence that you can use to better understand a word.
- Look it up. If there are no context clues or you still do not understand the word, use a dictionary to look it up. Here, you will find the definition and how to pronounce it.
- Write it down. Write down new words you learn to better remember them for next time!
Ask Questions
Asking questions about a story or information in a book is a great way to engage with the text. Sometimes there are new topics that we have not heard of. Other times, plots of stories can have confusing endings. It is okay to not understand something and ask questions.
If you are reading a nonfiction book and you come across a concept you do not understand. Ask yourself questions about it. You can take it further and look up your questions online by doing a safe search.
When reading a fiction book, you can run into questions about the plot or characters. Think of questions you would ask the author. Ask these questions to your teacher, they might have understood the author's ideas better.
Connecting
The last step in independent reading is connecting the book. We can connect the story or information in a book to our own lives. By doing this, we are engaging with the text and are able to better understand it.
For nonfiction books, think about how the information is connected in your life. Have you seen or interacted with the topics? Have you visited or made the topics before?
When reading fiction books, think about the characters and plot and if you can connect with them. Does a character have similar traits to you? Would you have acted differently in the situation? Have you had similar conflicts in your life?