You can often define a familiar word by taking

it apart and finding the little words it contains.

PREVIEW means “to look before” from its

prefix pre (before) and root word view (look)

Make it a habit to review all affixes—the

prefixes and suffixes
• What clues about the story can you get from the title?
Based on the title, what do you think will happen in the
story?
• What clues about the story do you get from the front
and back cover?
--Is the book happy, sad, scary, or information
• Who wrote the book? Have I read other books by this
author?
• Did any famous people comment about the book on
the back cover? What do the comments tell you about
the book?
• Inside the jacket flaps, if any, how is the story
described?
• What does the title mean? Does it have more
that one meaning?

• What reasons could the writer have for

choosing this title?

• Based on the title, what do you predict will

happen in the story?
• Scan the table of contents

• If you are reading an article or chapter, flip the

pages, read the subtitles, and ask questions
~What will this book teach me?
~What main topic does this book cover?
~How are the topics arranged?
What will I read first, second, and so on.
• When you look at the pictures, ask yourself the
following questions?
– What different types of pictures, photos, and maps are
included?
– What do each of these visuals show?
– What mood do they convey? (cheerful/mysterious)
– Why did the writer include these illustrations? What
purpose do they serve?
– Based on the pictures, what do I think this reading will
be about?
• Most pictures, photographs, and other illustrations
have captions.

• These sentences, usually placed under the pictures

may describe what is shown in the pictures or add
additional information

• Ask yourself:
– What facts do I get from the captions?
– Based on the captions, what does this book describe?
• When you make predictions, you make educated
guesses about what’s to come.
– What I know + Story Clues = Predictions

• As you read, your brain is always trying to figure

out what is coming next.

• You make predictions before you read and while

you read. Once you find out what is coming next,
you confirm or change your predictions.
• Ask yourself these questions when reading a story
or novel:
– “Based on what I know and clues in the story, what do
I think will happen next?”

– “How accurate were my predictions?”

– “What new predictions can I make using the facts I

just read?”
• Make a prediction about the following
passage:

“Leaders of the Pack”

• Presidents?
• Dogs?
• Kings?

As you read the passage, you would confirm

your guess to see if you were on target.

Stay one step ahead by making predictions!

State you predictions in sentences like the
following:
– I predict that this book will describe_______
– I predict that the main character will_____
– I predict that I will learn that __________
– I predict that I will like this book because_
• You read for different reasons.

• Your reason for reading is your purpose for

reading

• After you preview and predict, it’s time to set

a purpose for reading.
• The main purposes for reading:
1. To confirm a belief
2. To discover opinions
3. To get facts
4. To get instructions
5. To have fun
6. To learn new information
7. To learn new vocabulary
8. To review notes
When you study:
– you read slowly to understand the materials
– Slower pace helps you to get the facts and details
that could be important
– You also take notes to record key words, dates,
and facts
– You can also highlight key words, dates, details, or
facts
When you are reading to be entertained:

– You read more quickly

– May even skim some of the descriptions because

you want to see how the story turns out
• Skimming is a very fast method of reading that
lets you glance at a passage to get its main idea
or to find a key point
• Skim a passage to get a general idea about the
passage
• Skimming makes reading easier because it helps
you focus on the important parts of the text
• When you go back and read the text in detail,
you can zero in on the parts you have to study-
you wont spend time lost in detail
Follow these steps as you skim a reading:

1. Preview the text (look at title, pictures, and

captions)
2. Make a prediction and set a purpose for reading
3. Start skimming by running your eyes across the
page-try and read as fast as you can.
4. Focus on key words (nouns and verbs)
5. Look for the facts you need-often in the first and
last sentence (read these more slowly)
6. Pause at the end of every passage to restate the
meaning in your own words (in class say the
words silently– alone say the words aloud)

**Skimming isn’t a substitute for complete reading!

Skim before you read text…not instead of
reading it!
“What’s your point?”

• A main idea is the most important point that a speaker

or writer is making

• The main idea tells what the whole passage is about

• Every detail, or small piece of information in the

passage give information to support or explain the main
idea
• When you find the main idea, you know the author’s
point

• This helps understand the whole passage more clearly

• Sometimes, the main idea will be directly stated in the

passage

• Other times you will have to figure out the main idea
from clues in the passage
The stated main idea in the paragraph is also
called the topic sentence.

To find the stated main idea in a paragraph:

1.Find the topic or subject of the paragraph
2.Look for a sentence that tells about the topic. It
will explain what the entire paragraph is about.
3.Check to see if the sentence tells what the
paragraph is about.
The stated main idea is often the first sentence,
but it can be in the middle or end of a
paragraph as well!
• Reading strategy that helps you get the most our of
your reading
• Works especially well with material you have to
study (textbooks)
Survey
Question
Read
Recite
Review
Survey
• Preview the text by reading the title,
headings, illustrations, and captions.

• Make predictions about the contents

• Skim the passage to get the overall

meaning
Question
• As you survey and skim, ask yourself questions
about the material and what you find.

• Start by turning the title into a question

• As you read, look for the answer to the question

Read

• Read the passage and continue making and

revision predictions

• Try to find the main idea by looking at the

topic sentence and details in each paragraph
Recite
• After you finish reading, look back over the passage

• Focus on the title, headings, and topic sentences

• Summarize the material in your head, reducing what

you read to a few sentences

• Then recite or say the summary out loud

Review
• Review by looking back at your predictions
• Were they on target?
• If so, find the details that you used to make
them
• If not, figure out where and why you guessed
incorrectly
Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe (1888-1953 was a member of the 1912 US Olympic Track and
Field Team. He later played professional baseball and football.

In 1950, 400 American sportswriters and broadcasters selected him Thorpe as

the greatest all-around athlete and football player of the first half of the 20 th
century. A Sac and Fox Indian, Thorpe was born in Oklahoma in 1888.
Although he was a very good high school athlete, he stunned the entire world a
the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm when he won gold medals in both the
pentathlon and the decathlon. To date, no other athlete has ever duplicated his
amazing achievement. A year later the International Olympic Committee
learned that Thorpe had accepted money in 1911 to play baseball. The
International Olympic Committee took away Thorpe’s amateur status, took
back his gold medals, and erased his achievements from the record books.
Many people feel that Thorpe had been treated unfairly. In 1982, the
International Olympic Committee restored Thorpe’s amateur status and returned
his medals.
Survey
Based on reading the title and
heading, I predict that this
paragraph will tell about the
track, baseball, and football star
Jim Thorpe.
Question
Turn the title into questions:
Who is Jim Thorpe?
Why is he important?
Read
I’ve read about half way.

I now predict that Jim Thorpe will

get his medals back because he
deserves them
Recite
Here’s my summary:
Jim Thorpe was an amazing athlete who got
cheated out of his medals because he played
baseball for money. Olympic athletes have
to be amateurs, so they can’t accept money
for playing. Jim’s medals were taken away
because he broke the rules, but in 1982, his
medals were returned to him.
Review
I guessed correctly: Jim’s medal
were returned to him. I used details
about his amazing athletic abilities
to make my guess. Someone that
good can’t get cheated.
• SMRR combines powerful reading techniques
to give you a study boost, just like SQ3R
• SMRR is especially good when you’re
studying a text, because you highlight
important details.
Skim
Mark
Read
Reread
Skim

– Preview the passage by scanning the title, heading,

art, and captions

– Then read the passage as quickly as you can

Mark
• Using a highlighter, pencil, or pen, mark the
topic sentence and key details

• NEVER mark a text that doesn’t belong to

you!!
Read
Read the text slowly and
carefully, checking that you
correctly identified the main idea
and important details.
Reread
Go back over the text,
checking that you understood
the main idea
• When people say “I can’t read well,” what they
sometimes mean is that they get stuck on the hard
words.

• Writers leave hints, called context clues, in their

stories to help readers figure out the difficult words

• Three main types of context clues:

1. Definition Clues
2. Contrast Clues
3. Common Sense Clues
Definition Clues
• The writer includes the definition right in the
passage.

• The definition is a synonym (word that means

the same)

• It may come before or after an unfamiliar word

Tsunamis, or seismic sea-waves, are gravity
waves set in motion by underwater
disturbances associated with earthquakes.

**seismic sea-waves is a synonym for the

unfamiliar word tsunamis
Contrast Clues
• The writer tells you what
something isn’t rather than what it
is
• Contrast clues are often set off
with unlike, not, or instead of
Then arrange a handful of mulch,
not fresh leaves, on top.
***********
Mulch must be the opposite of fresh
leaves.
It must mean decayed leaves.
Common Sense Clues

• Use what you already know to

define the word.
• One way is to break the
unfamiliar word into smaller
words.
Airplanes and balloons make daily
ascents to gather data.
*******************************
********
Since airplanes and balloons go into
the air, ascent must mean to rise.
Common Sense Clues
• Watch for idioms, phrases that don’t
have literal meaning.

• The idiom “It’s raining cats and dogs”

means it’s raining hard, not that cats
and dogs are flying through the sky!
Strategy Checklist:
 Read more slowly
 Reread any parts that confuse you
 Look back at the pictures, charts, illustrations,
and photographs
 Use the details to visualize or imagine the
scene you’re reading
Strategy Checklist:
 Restate what you’ve read in your own words
 Ask yourself, “What’s the main idea?” reread
the story for details and clues
 Get some help! Use a dictionary to define
unknown words. Ask teachers, parents, or
friends to help you interpret a passage.