Inter American University of Puerto Rico Guayama Campus Cooperative Title V Project Reading...

Inter American University of Puerto RicoGuayama Campus Cooperative Title V Project

Reading Strategies I

Prof. Daisy Irizarry Vázquez

© April 2007

Reading Strategies I Module Title V Cooperative Project

Buttons

You will use some buttons to navigate through this module. The buttons and their meanings follow:

use it to go back to the first

slide

use it to move to the next slide

use it to return to the previous slide


Purpose

This module aims at helping you improve your comprehension, therefore, your enjoyment of simple texts studied in your GEEN 1102, English as a Second Language II or any basic reading course.


In addition, the basic reading strategies presented in this module intend to become tools that will enable you to get enlightment and satisfaction from readings you do outside class, too.

Purpose


IntroductionReading opens windows to unknown yet wonderful

worlds! However, if you really want to comprehend and enjoy what you read, you must familiarize with some very helpful tools called reading strategies. Reading strategies can be described as any interactive process of getting meaning from connected text. In other words, they are specific actions readers take to make meaning from text.

Reading strategies will help you become a better reader. They will also make you aware of effective strategies you are already using. You will experience a sense of achievement as you work this module, learn, and practice the strategies presented because they form the basis for reading development.


General Objective

After studying this module, you will apply reading strategies to demonstrate significant improvement of reading comprehension skills.


Specific Objective

By the end of this module, you will use the following reading strategies: scanning; identifying main ideas; guessing unknown vocabulary from context; predicting; and previewing to achieve reading comprehension in improved ways.


1. When you look up a name in a phone book, you _____ the pages:

A. read

B. scan

C. write

2. The main idea of a reading text is:A. the central idea the author wants to communicate.

B. the author’s opinion about the reading text.

C. the reader’s expectation about the reading text.

Part I. Select the letter of the correct answer.


3. “The soup was pretty hot. The boy could not eat it.” The underlined word means:

A. unattractiveB. very C. attractive

4. If the sky is very cloudy and the wind is blowing, one can __________ that there is going to be a rainy period soon.

A. predictB. confirmC. deny


5. When you look at the title of a story and ask yourself questions about it; look at the pictures along the reading and make predictions; or recall what you know about the topic, you are _______the reading.

a. searching

b. previewing

c. enjoying


Fran Klaus is the owner of a coffeehouse in Beckley, West Virginia. The name of her coffeehouse is Serendipity. Until this fall, Serendipity was a comfortable place for people to drink coffee and chat

with friends.

Part II. Read the short selection and then answer the questions that follow.

Computers and coffee attract customers*That all changed when

Klaus met Cameron Taylor. Taylor is a computer expert. He wanted to bring new technology to West Virginia. Klaus and Taylor decided to turn Serendipity into a cybercafe.

Continues


"It was like a bolt of lightning hit us both at the same time," Klaus said. "When we met, we realized what a good team we would be.“

With the popularity of computers, e-mail, and the Internet, the newly opened cybercafe at Serendipity is very busy.

It was just what Beckley, West Virginia needed. Serendipity is the first cybercafe in West Virginia, but cybercafes are not unusual in other parts of the country.

Continues


In fact, the first one in the United States opened in 1984. In the early 1990s, there were fewer than 100. Today, cybercafes are popular in many places. There are now over 1,000 cybercafes in cities around the world.

Serendipity's cybercafe has four new state-of-the-art computers. Customers can use the computers to do many things.

For example, they can write business reports, do homework, or play games. They can also use the computers to access the Internet, send or receive e-mail messages, and find entertainment information. They can do all of these things in the comfort of a coffeehouse atmosphere.

Continues


"We are a favorite place for young professionals and students," Klaus said. "You see lots of people here with laptop computers. Computers and coffee cups, business and coffee beans. They just seem to go together."

The cybercafe is also perfect for travelers. "Travelers can check their e-mail, send business documents, communicate

with their office, and have a cup of coffee at the same time."

Adding a cybercafe is not the only change for the comfortable coffeehouse. In the future, Klaus and Taylor want to install video-conferencing equipment.

With video conferencing, customers can have face-to-face business meetings with people across the globe.

Continues


Serendipity's future plans also include poetry readings on Thursday nights and musical events on Saturday nights.

Lots of people seem to enjoy going to Serendipity's cybercafe.

As Klaus said, "Where else can you surf the Net and enjoy a cup of cappuccino with friends?“

* Adapted from an article by Andrew Noyes

Beckley Register-Herald

SourceBlanchard, K. & Root C.

(1998). News for Now.

International Thomson: Asia ELT.


1. (Strategy: Scanning)

Taylor is A. a computer expert

B. Klaus’s cousin.

C. Cameron’s brother

2. (Strategy: Context/vocabulary)

A cybercafe is a place A. that sells computers and fresh coffee

B. sells coffee and lends computers

C. where customers can use computers and

drink coffee

Select the correct answer.


3. (Strategy: Main idea) The cyber café Serendipity fulfills the needs

of A. Fran Klaus and his family back home.B. Cameron Taylor and his neighbors.C. young and professional customers in West

Virginia.

4. According to the reading, with the help of computers, a local coffeehouse

A. gets into a lot of troubles.B. becomes more popular.C. increases its expenses.


5. (Strategy: Predicting)It is very probable that Klaus and Taylor

A. expand the services and activities

B. sell the cybercafe

C. open a coffee shop


Pre-Test Answer Key

Part I

1. B2. A3. C 4. A5. B

Part II

1. A2. C3. C 4. B5. A


10 or 9 Excellent Go to the Post Test.

8 or 7 Very Good Review the incorrect answers and go to the Post Test.

6 You need some practice

Review the incorrect answers; study the strategies presented in this module; do the assessment exercises and then go to the Post Test.

5 or less You need to work the complete module

Study the module; review the strategies carefully and do the assessment exercises. Then, you can go to the Post Test.

Pre-Test Assessment

I wish you were successful!


Now you will read information about the reading strategies in this module. Remember that these strategies are great tools that will help you become a more efficient reader.


# 1 Previewing

The prefix –pre means before.

The root view means to look.

The word preview means "to look before."


When you preview an article or a story, you look over the whole reading before you start to read.

Previewing


Previewing

Example

When you preview a newspaper article, you read the headline, look at the photos, and read the captions (Information written under a photograph).


PreviewingTo preview an article or a story, look

over the whole reading before you start to read…

look at the title and ask yourself questions about it. Then, predict answers to your questions.

look at the pictures and predict what the article or story is about.

recall what you already know about the topic.


Set a purpose for reading.

Decide what you hope to find out as you read.

Read the first paragraph and the last paragraph and try to figure out the main idea of the reading.

To preview an article or story, look over the whole reading before

you start to read…

Previewing


# 2 Scanning

Scanning means "to look quickly for specific information." Here is how you scan:

1. Let your eyes move quickly down the page. Don't read every word.

2. Slow down when you see words or phrases that might be important to you. Check (√ ) or underline them, if you think they are important.


Scanning

Scanning saves time if you are collecting specific information and ideas.

You will mainly use the scanning strategy during your reading.


# 3 Identifying Main Ideas

Main ideas are the central or most important ideas that a writer wants to communicate.

A story or essay may have many related ideas, but one or two ideas are usually the most important.


Identifying Main Ideas

Sometimes the main idea is stated directly in a paragraph.

The sentence that states the main idea is called the topic sentence.


Identifying Main Ideas

Example:

Success didn't transform J. K.'s way of life greatly. Before he became the Oscar winner star in Hollywood, he lived simply with his wife and two sons. Years later, when he earned more than $25 million per movie, he still owned his favorite three pairs of shoes. He still lived in a farm at the countryside which most people thought was too simple for such a successful movie actor.


Strategies to Help You Infer the Main Idea

Study the details and examples given in a paragraph in a reading.

Decide which sentence is the topic

sentence that expresses the main

idea.

Look for ways these ideas are related. Ask yourself what these

ideas have in common.


Example:

In 1944, only three years after arriving in the United States, J.K participated in his first Hollywood movie. After he got his first role, he stayed in that city and participated in twenty-nine other films. It was at this time that he invented the famous spy character. The character was a minor participant in a few of his movies until he jumped to stardom or fame as Agent 0077 in the early 1960s.

Strategies to Help You Infer the Main Idea


Assessment Question on Main Idea

The main idea of the previous paragraph is:

a. In his first years in the United States, J.K accomplished several important things.

b. J.K invented a spy character as he participated in movies in Hollywood.

c. Shortly after arriving in the United States, J.K. was a famous actor.


Answer to the Assessment Question on Main Idea

In the paragraph, each detail and example give information about something J.K. accomplished after he arrived in the United States. The examples show that he did a lot in a short period of time.

From this, the reader might infer that the main idea is letter A.

Main idea: In his first years in the United States, J.K accomplished

several important things.


# 4 Using Context Clues to Guess Unknown Vocabulary Words

Sometimes you can figure out the meaning of a difficult word by looking at the context—the other words in the sentence or surrounding sentences. This means that you have to look for context clues.


What are Context Clues?

Oftentimes you can figure out the meanings of new or unfamiliar vocabulary by paying attention to the surrounding language. The slides that follow present the types of clues; signals to the clue; and examples for each.

Context clues are words and phrases in a sentence which help you reason out the meaning of an unfamiliar word.


1. A definition:

Before these discoveries, famines—severe shortages of food—caused many people to die from starvation.

Examples of Context Clues (to look for in a reading selection)


2. A description:

Her two sons were peddlers. The oldest sold umbrellas and the youngest sold straw shoes.


3. A comparison or contrast:

He loved the first story, but he despised the second one.


4. A series:

My grandfather was very shy, never laughed loudly, and always spoke softly.

He often noticed the boy mopping the floors, cheerfully and in good humor.


5. Cause and effect:

This house makes me miserable because it is dark and gloomy.

They have trouble getting along because they have dif ferent opinions about everything.


6. Setting (time or place):

After a late dinner, he put the toys in his bag and set out for his sister’s house. It was a full moon and he could see the path clearly.


7. Example:

At first, he made insulting remarks, such as "Hey! Wet Chicken! This is no place for a weakling!“

John is warm and gregarious. He likes to hear a good joke—and loves to tell a good story.


8. Synonym:

According to his lawyer, Abraham Lincoln was the most reticent—secretive—man that ever lived.

Synonyms


Context Clues Summary

The tables that follow summarize the types of clues; present signals for the clue; and provide additional examples of each.

Type of Context Clue

Definition Signals Examples

Antonym or Contrast

Clue

Phrases or words that indicate opposite

but, in contrast, however, instead of, unlike, yet

Unlike his quiet and low-key family, Brad is garrulous.




Definition or Example

Clue

Phrases or words that define or explain

is defined as, means, the term, [a term in boldface or italics] set off with commas

Sedentary individuals, people who are not very active, often have diminished health.




General Knowledge

The meaning is derived from the experience and background knowledge of the reader; "common sense" and logic.

the information may be something basically familiar to you

Lourdes is always sucking up to the boss, even in front of others. That sycophant just doesn't care what others think of her behavior.




Restatement or Synonym

Clue

Another word or phrase with the same or a similar meaning is used.

in other words, that is, also known as, sometimes called, or

The dromedary, commonly called a camel, stores fat in its hump.


Assessment for Context Clues

Select the word that completes the sentence.

1. The Cabrera farm is close to the United States-Mexican border. A ____is at the border. It separates the United States from Mexico.

a. restaurant

b. museum

c. fence


2. But there are _____in the fence, and a small boy can crawl through them.

a. flowers

b. holes

c. rocks


3. Tomas _____on a Friday afternoon. A U.S. Border Patrol Officer found Tomas on Saturday night.

a. disappeared

b. worked

c. changed


Answers to assessment questions

1. C

2. B

3. A

Congratulations! I am sure you

got them correct.

Now, let’s return to the

reading strategies!


# 5 Predicting

Predicting is using

knowledge of the

subject matter to

make predictions

about content and

vocabulary and

check comprehension.


Predicting

Predicting is also using knowledge about the author to make predictions about writing style, vocabulary, and content.


Predicting

What is the weather going to be like tomorrow?

What is the next paragraph in this reading going to be about?

What is going to happen to the main character in this story?

When you answer these questions, you are making predictions.


Predicting

When you make a prediction, you use what

you already know about a topic, person, or

event.

Using what you already know helps youto make a logical prediction.


Predicting

Example

The title of the article I am going to read is From Russia to America in 1980. From the title, I predict that the article is about someone who came to America from Russia.

Based on what I already know about Russia and America in 1980, I predict that the article might be about the problems this person had leaving Russia and coming to America.


Predicting

Making predictions helps you to focus on the material you are reading. You make a prediction, and then you read to check if your prediction was correct.


Instructions for the Post Test

1. Observe the picture at the beginning of the selection.

2. Scan the selection to get an idea about it.

3. Read the entire selection.

4. Answer the multiple choice questions about the reading.

Success!


Observe this picture.


Part I. Answer these questions about the picture.

Why don’t these people have any hair?

Why are they touching or pointing at the man in the center of the group?

Why do you think the story is titled: Fifty Good Friends?


Read the story.

Manuel García had stomach cancer. The doctors told him, "You need chemotherapy to stop the cancer." Manuel went to the hospital for chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is strong medicine. After a few weeks of chemotherapy, Manuel's hair began to fall out. Soon he had no hair.

Manuel was depressed. He looked strange without hair. He didn't want people to see him. Manuel's brother and three other relatives visited Manuel in the hospital. Manuel was surprised when he saw them. They had no hair! "You shaved your heads!" Manuel said. Manuel began to laugh.

Fifty Good Friends


The other men laughed, too. "Please be quiet," the nurse said. But the nurse was smiling.

Manuel came home from the hospital. Friends and relatives came to visit him. "We want to shave our heads," they said. "We want to look like you." Manuel shaved their heads. He also shaved his sons' heads. In one day he shaved 50 heads. Manuel's wife wanted to shave her head, too. "No!" said Manuel.

At the hospital Manuel was depressed because he had no hair. Now he is not depressed. "I'm ready for anything," he says. ◙


Part II. Select the correct answer.

4. Manuel’s brother and three other relatives visited him in the hospital.

a. family membersb. friends from schoolc. school teachers

5. They have no hair because Manuel shaved their heads. Now, they all look alike.

a. different b. bald c. similar


6. In one day, Manuel shaved______ heads. a. 500 b. 50 c. 5

7. Manuel’s hair began to fall after a _________.

a. penicillin treatmentb. chemotherapy treatmentc. strict diet


8. Manuel García was depressed because he _______.

a. had cancer b. had chemotherapy c. lost his hair

9. Manuel’s friends showed their _______ when they shaved their heads.

a. solidarityb. surprisec. happiness


10. Manuel said, “Now I am ready for anything”. His words meant that he had the strength to______.

a. make more friends

b. go on with his treatment

c. become a famous singer.


Strategy and Item Identification

Strategy Post-Test ItemsPreviewing /

Predicting Items 1-3

Using context clues to guess unknown

vocabulary words

Items 4 and 5

Scanning Items 6 and 7

Main Idea Items s 8-10

Be wise, read twice!


Post-Test Answer Key: Part I

Answer Key*1. They shaved their heads or they lost their hair because of an illness.2. He is a special person for them: a relative or a friend.3. They are a group of people who love and respect each other.

* The answers to these questions about the picture may vary a little from answers given above.


Post-Test Answer Key: Part II

4. A

5. C

6. B

7. B

8. C

9. A

10. B


Post-Test Assessment

10 or 9 Excellent You master the reading strategies in this module.

8 or 7 Very Good

Review the reading strategies and work the Post Test again.

6 You need practice

Study the strategies presented in this module; do the assessment exercises and then go to the Post Test.

5 or less You need to study the module again

Study the complete module again. If you still have questions about the content of the module talk to your professor or to the English Lab technicians.


Feedback

Congratulations!

You have finished the module!

I am sure that you are ready to start controlling your reading experience, and gaining

confidence in your ability to read English as a second language. However, if you still have

questions about the strategies, I suggest you review the module again. Keep in mind that

you can count on your professor to assist you.


Feedback

Remember, reading is like a conversation between an author and you. The author makes decisions about how to effectively communicate through a piece of writing. You use specific strategies to help yourself understand what the author is trying to communicate.

Inter American University of Puerto Rico Guayama Campus Cooperative Title V Project Reading...

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