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Literacy
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An Introduction to
Learning Strategies
11 Learning Behaviors That
Engage Learners and
Increase Comprehension
Activate Prior Knowledge
Getting Prepared to Read – Setting a Purpose
When I Activate Prior
Knowledge I. . .
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Preview text structure – check out titles,
book jackets, pictures, charts, book
structure or set-up.
Make connections and judgments – I’ve
seen that before. What the heck is that?
Make decisions – I am ready to start. I
need some more information.
When I Activate Prior
Knowledge I. . .
Determine how to approach the text
– with a notebook, journal, graphic
organizer, reference tool.
 Set a purpose – I am reading for
entertainment, to find a solution,
define how things are related, find
support for a position, locate a
definition, compare and contrast,
etc.

Now I am Ready to Dive In
Use Text Features
Text features and text structures help
to determine the purpose for
reading and how to approach the
task. It is like gathering tools
before starting a job.
When I Use Text Features
I. . . .
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Read book jackets
Check Table of
Contents
Read the author’s
preface.
Look at chapter or
section headings
When I Use Text Features
I. . . .
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Look at pictures,
charts, and
diagrams
Check out BOLD
PRINT
Italicized words
When I Use Text Features
I. . . .
Use all those clues to help me set my
purpose to read.
 Just for fun – entertainment
 Solve a problem
 Find an answer
 Organize information
 Define a concept
 Compare and Contrast
Determine What’s
Important
Understanding of
important details is built
word by word as we read
starting with the
comprehension of single
words, combining them to
form sentences, then
making paragraphs, and
finally complete ideas.
When I Determine
Importance I. . .
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Locate significant or important words.
Sometimes those words are in bold print.
Look for key sentences that carry the
meaning of that passage. Often those
are located at the beginning of a
paragraph.
When I Determine
Importance I. . .
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Talk over my thoughts with others.
Not everyone will agree on importance
because we all bring different life
experiences
When I Determine
Importance I. . .
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Have a conversation in my head and then
prove to myself – Yup, that is important
because…
Sift out unimportant details and only keep
the significant, vital facts.
Keep or throw away?
When I Determine
Importance I. . .
Determine the author’s purpose.
When I can figure out what the
author is trying to accomplish, then
I can determine what he or she feels
is important.
 Re-read passages and think some
more.

Ask Questions
When a mind is actively
engaged in the questioning
process it is like digging
deeper and deeper into the
text. Without selfquestions, it is like
mindlessly scratching at
the surface of the soil.
When I Ask Questions I….
Have an on-going dialogue with
myself in a continual process of
questions, answers, more
questions, clearer answers.
 Questions are used to clarify,
wonder, predict, argue with the
author or seek specific information.

When I am answering teacher
prepared questions. . .
I need to determine what kind of
question I am trying to answer.
Right There Questions
These are the easiest questions to
answer because the answer is right
there almost word for word in the
text.
Think and Search Questions
These questions are a little more
difficult because you have to combine
pieces of the information from
different pieces of the text.
Author and Me Questions
These questions can be answered by
combining information from the text
with the readers knowledge and
experiences.
On My Own Questions
These questions must be answered
strictly from the readers
knowledge.
If you don’t ask questions. . .
You will not comprehend what you read.
Your eyes will read the words, but your mind
will not make sense of them. Students who
read to just get an assignment finished often
move their eyes across the page, want to
finish quickly and therefore don’t stop to take
the necessary time to let their mind ask
questions.
Create Sensory Images
The job of an
accomplished
writer is to paint
pictures with
words. The job of
an accomplished
reader is to let
those images
unfold.
When I Create Sensory
Images I . . . .
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Use the author’s literary devices
such as similes, metaphors,
personification and creative imagery
to allow pictures to come alive in my
mind’s eye.
When I Create Sensory
Images I . . . .

I take my time.
Reading too fast
makes images
blur, details are
overlooked and the
richness of the
writing is missed.
When I Create Sensory
Images I . . . .

I should have vivid
pictures of each of
the characters in
my mind. By the
end of the book, I
should feel like I
know each one.
When I Create Sensory
Images I . . . .

I use all of my
sense – not just
my sense of sight.
My sense of smell,
taste, touch and
sound should
come alive as well.
When I Create Sensory
Images I . . . .
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I should begin to have
an emotional
connection to my text,
almost as if I am
experiencing
everything along with
the characters. As
the connection
becomes stronger, the
reading experience
becomes more real.
If I Don’t Use Sensory
Images . . . .
Reading becomes
like a long car ride
where the
passenger stares
mindlessly out the
window and
cannot recall one
detail of scenery.
Sensory Images are Important for
Expository Writing, Too!

Authors of
newspaper articles,
biographers, science
texts, and all sources
of non-fiction writing
rely on their readers’
use of sensory
images to make
sense of expository
or true-life as well.
Make Inferences
Which Include:
 Making Judgments
 Forming Interpretations
 Outlining an Analysis
 Developing Evaluations
 Making Predictions
 Drawing Conclusions
When I Make Inferences
I ...
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Connect what is in
the text with what
is in my mind and
I form an educated
guess.
When I Make Inferences
I Combine:
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Definable facts
Logical
interpretation of
those facts
Personal wisdom
Life experiences
Creativity
Personality
Think Time
When I Make Inferences
I ...
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I bring a more 3dimensional
understanding to
what I read.
This increases the
personal value and
application of the
reading to my own
life.
Make Predications
Sharing what you think will happen
based upon evidence you have
gathered from the text.
When I Make Predictions. . .
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I sort through facts,
important details,
essential knowledge.
I make decisions
about author’s
purpose or intent.
I make predictions
that are logical with
those facts, the
author’s intentions
and my own
knowledge and
understanding.
Summarize
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To tell your
audience – in
writing or orally,
what you read.
That’s all folks!
When I Summarize I. . .
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Take events in a
story or the main
ideas of an
expository writing
Line them up in
correct order
Organize them into
an abridged or
shortened version
of the text.
Synthesize
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Extending the reading
experience to create
something new – a
new perspective, a
new understanding
Like summary it
begins with thoughts
and pieces of the
story, but it goes
deeper.
When I Synthesize I. . .
Am constantly changing and
reorganizing information in my mind
 As new information presents itself I
drop in new pieces of information,
discard old ones, and rearrange
others to new locations.
 This is a high level of thinking.
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When I Synthesize I. . .
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I take all the new
information I am
getting from the text
and combine it with
my own experiences
and understandings.
I am like a giant file
cabinet, constantly
reorganizing
information until I am
satisfied and
comfortable with my
understanding.
When I Synthesize I. . .
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Come to new
understandings
Have “Aha” moments
Create something
greater for myself
than just the author’s
intention.
Create a reading
experience unique for
just myself.
When I Synthesize I. . .
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Return to passages or
parts of the text long
after the reading is
complete.
I rework the synthesis
of one text as I gain
new information.
I replace a simplified
version with a more
complex
understanding.
I clarify
misunderstandings.
Make Connections
Text –Text
 Text – Self
 Text - Real World

When I Make Text-Text
Connections I . . .
See relationships between the plot
of this book and another one I have
read.
 I see similarities in characters.
 I connect data, facts or information.
“This is just like what I read about in
science.”
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When I Make Text-Self
Connections I . . .
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Recognize common
experiences shared
between story
characters and
myself.
Identify with similar
emotions.
Share common
problems or
weaknesses.
Accept or incorporate
character growth as
my own.
When I Make Text-World
Connections I . . .
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See relationships
between what is
happening in the text
and what is going on
in the world.
I understand the
world around me
better because I have
made those
connections.
I have a better
understanding of my
place in the world.
Clarify and Use Fix-it
Strategies
I can’t claim that I have read
something until I understand it, so if
I do not “get it”, I need to fix that
problem.
Hmmm – Where do I
go from here?
When I Use Fix-it Strategies
I...
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Re-read
Do some research
Get more
background
information
Look for key words
Look up unfamiliar
words
When I Use Fix-it Strategies
I...
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Ask an expert.
Talk to others
Share ideas
Putting it All Together
Reading
becomes the
doorway to
knowledge,
adventure,
enjoyment.
Reading Becomes. . .
A way to make
sense out of our
lives, to connect
us to those who
have come before,
and those who
now share our
planet.