The Big 7 Literacy Strategies:
A "strategy" is a plan developed by a reader to assist in comprehending and thinking about
texts, when reading the words alone does not give the reader a sense of the meaning of a text.
1. Monitoring Comprehension – Proficient readers don’t just plow ahead through text
when it doesn’t make sense – they stop and use “fix-up” strategies to restore their
understanding. One of the most important “fix-up” tools is rereading, with teachers
demonstrating a variety of ways to reread text in order to repair meaning.
2. Making Connections – This involves activating prior knowledge of a concept in order to
connect new knowledge to old knowledge (schema). Assist students in making
connections to previous learning, their daily lives, their community and world issues.
For students who have no schema for a concept or have misconceptions, it is important
to build background knowledge for them before they begin reading the text.
3. Questioning – Good readers are always asking questions while they read. Some ways
readers use questioning are: to clarify meaning in the text, to help understand
vocabulary, to find specific information in the text, to connect to an idea, to understand
the author’s choices when writing the text, to help understand text features, and to
summarize what was read.
4. Inferring - Proficient readers use their prior knowledge about a topic and the
information they have gleaned in the text thus far to make predictions or a hypothesis.
Teachers model inferring by “thinking aloud” as they read to show how and why
inferences are necessary to good thinking while reading.
5. Determining Importance – In the sea of words that is in any text, readers must
continually sort through and prioritize information. Teachers assist readers in analyzing
everything from text features in nonfiction like bullets and headings, to finding clue
words that indicate important ideas. Looking for these clues can help readers sift
through the relative value of different bits of information in a text.
6. Visualizing – Visualizing is the process of creating mental images in the mind based on
information from a text. Good readers constantly create mind pictures as they read.
Visualizing is a way for readers to check their understanding of information and a useful
tool to assist the recall of information.
7. Synthesizing Information – Synthesis is the most sophisticated of the comprehension
strategies and the ultimate goal of learning. With this strategy, students move from
making meaning of a text, to integrating their new understanding into their lives and
world view.