• Look at the title.
• Look at the bold words and/or illustrations.
• Think about the topic.
• Think about what you already know about the topic ... what is your background knowledge and how can that help you?
• Think about what you want to find out.
• Predict what the story will be about.

During Reading:

• Visualize! Create a picture or movie in your mind based on what you are reading about.
• If you come to a hard word...Sound it out! If you still can't get it...skip it! Keep reading and see what word would make the most sense!
• Ask questions.
• Make predictions.
• Check/modify predictions.
• Reread if parts do not make sense.
• Use context clues to help with difficult words.
• Retell parts of the story.

After Reading:

• Summarize/retell important information.  
• Link the story to your life! Does it remind you of anything you have seen or done or of anyone you know?
• Reread to answer questions.
• Think about questions you still might have.
• Look for additional information on the topic.
• Summarize the story using a topic sentence, details and a concluding sentence.