Reading Skills

http://www.wvup.edu/academics/learning_center/sq4r_reading_method.htm
http://www.studyskills.soton.ac.uk/studytips/reading_skills.htm
http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/9SixComprehension.pdf

COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES

Making connections	Forming and testing hypothesis about texts	Asking questions
Creating mental images or visualising Inferring	Comprehension strategies	Identifying the  main idea Summarising
Evaluating ideas and information	Identifying the author's purpose and point  of view	Analyzing and synthesizing

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Readers make connections between what they know and what they read.

CREATING MENTAL IMAGES OR VISUALISING

Readers use the ideas in texts together with their prior knowledge to create images in their minds.

INFERRING

Readers use text content as well as background knowledge to come to conclusions that are not stated explicitly in the text.

EVALUATING IDEAS AND INFORMATION

Readers make judgments about what the author is saying.

FORMING AND TESTING HYPOTHESES

Readers form and revise hypotheses or expectations about texts.

IDENTIFYING THE AUTHOR'S PURPOSE AND POINT OF VIEW
Readers identify and reflect on the author's purpose or reason for writing, and on their particular point of view or perspective.

ASKING QUESTIONS

Readers ask and attempt to answer questions for, and of, themselves

IDENTIFYING THE MAIN IDEA

What is the main idea?

It may be helpful to first explain what the main idea is not. It is not the information obtained during the introduction to the text when the title, headings, illustrations etc. are briefly considered, and linked to background knowledge, prior to reading. Although these text features are often useful in scaffolding readers towards finding the main idea, on their own, they are not enough. Readers need to explore the text at a deeper level in order to confirm or put aside any tentative thoughts about the main idea that the text introduction may prompt.

It is also important to note that the main idea is not simply what the text is about. To paraphrase Gerald Duffy (2003), "Charlotte's Web" is a story about a spider called Charlotte and a pig called Wilbur, but the main idea is more to do with the things that give life meaning: friendship, love, birth and death. The main idea then, is what the author wants readers to understand is important and valued in the text, i.e., across the whole text, not just within sections of it.

If you intend to use one of the Main Idea assessment resources available in the English bank and are not familiar with teaching the main idea comprehension strategy, it would be useful to read the "Teaching and learning" section of the resource prior to administering the task. The more you understand about the concept of main idea, the clearer you will be when you introduce the task to your students.

Finally, because the main idea is hardly ever explicitly stated by the author, and because readers can't get inside the author's head to find out exactly what they want readers to understand is important and valued in the text, readers can only ever make an informed guess about what the main idea is. Consequently, readers often disagree about the main idea. Any disagreement is best seen as a valuable opportunity for discussion.

How do you find the main idea?

When determining the main idea the reader uses text details, in conjunction with their prior knowledge, to think about what the main message of the text might be. As they read, they begin to tentatively group related details, constantly asking themselves where the author is placing emphasis or value. At various stages throughout the reading the reader may decide to reject very small groups of related details as not being particularly valued by the author. However, as they read on, gathering and grouping more details, they may reverse such a decision. Finally, the reader combines all the evidence, including their prior knowledge, and decides what is most important and valued in the text.

1 Identify the important information.

2 Group the important information.

3 Combine the groups to get the main idea.

SUMMARISING
Readers briefly retell a part, or a whole text.
ANALYSING AND SYNTHESISING
Readers analyze information and combine it in ways that transform it.