How to Repair a Break Down in

Reading Comprehension

•Make a connection between the

text and your life, your

knowledge of the world, or

another text.

•Make a prediction. Think about

what the author is going to

discuss in the next section or

chapter before you continue.

• Stop and think about what you have

already read. Do not hurry through

your reading. Make sure you break

and reflect on what you have just

read before continuing.

•Ask yourself a question related to

the reading and try to answer it. If

you can’t then go back and reread

for the answer.

•Reflect in writing on what you have

read. When you have completed

a section or chapter, stop and

write about what you have just

read.

•Visualize. Make the words into

pictures in your head. This type of

engagement with the text, allows

you to “see” the material and

understand the material in a new

way.

•Use print conventions as clues for

meaning- how do things like

punctuation, CAPITALIZATION,

italicized and bolded words or

larger text give meaning to the

reading?

•Retell what you’ve read. Restate

the main ideas of the text you just

read to a friend, family member,

or maybe just aloud to yourself.

•Reread. Do not be afraid or

too lazy to take the time to

reread a text if you are having

difficulty with comprehension.

•Notice patterns in text structure. A technique to help with comprehension is to notice repetitions in the words, sentence and paragraph structures, and sections of the reading that can help you as you continue to read.

•Adjust your reading rate: slow

down or speed up.

• “Academic Support Guides: Reading Comprehension.” Cuesta

College.

http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/as/300INDEX.HTM

• Krieg, Elaine G. Strategies for College Readers. New York:

Longman, 2008. Print.

• “Study Skills Activities: Reading as a Study Skill.” Montana

State Literacy Resources: A Service of the National Institute of

Literacy.

http://www.nwlincs.org/mtlincs/pilotproject/studyskills/studyskills

index.htm