Highly effective readers utilize seven cognitive strategies to improve their reading comprehension. These strategies, when actively employed, allow readers to engage more deeply with the text, understand complex ideas, and retain information more effectively.
The Seven Strategies of Highly Effective Readers
According to research, teachers should introduce the following seven cognitive strategies to improve students' reading comprehension:
| Strategy | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Activating | Connecting prior knowledge to the text to build understanding. | Thinking about what you already know about the topic before you start reading. |
| Inferring | Reading between the lines to understand what is not explicitly stated. | Guessing what a character will do next based on their past actions. |
| Monitoring-Clarifying | Checking understanding while reading and using strategies to resolve confusion. | Rereading a paragraph or using a dictionary to understand a difficult word. |
| Questioning | Asking questions about the text to deepen comprehension. | Asking "Why did the author choose to use this particular word?" |
| Searching-Selecting | Identifying and selecting relevant information within the text to answer specific questions or understand key concepts. | Looking for specific details or evidence to support a claim. |
| Summarizing | Condensing the main ideas of the text into a concise summary. | Writing a short summary of each chapter after reading it. |
| Visualizing-Organizing | Creating mental images or using graphic organizers to represent the information in the text and understand its structure. | Drawing a mind map to show the relationships between different characters or events in a story. |
These strategies are not mutually exclusive; effective readers often use several strategies simultaneously and adapt their approach based on the complexity of the text and their reading goals. By actively employing these strategies, readers can significantly improve their comprehension and engagement with the material.
