Reading CarefullyReading CarefullyReading CarefullyReading CarefullyEnglish IEnglish I

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What does this mean?• Reading Carefully means that you

can read through any text easily, smoothly, expressively and thoughtfully.

• This is also called Reading Fluently.

To Read Fluently You Need to do Three Things:

• Pay attention to punctuation, especially where and how it’s used

• Use any or all of your five senses to help you experience the images created in the text

• Make generalizations, which help apply the general messages in the text to the real world and / or your own life.

Let’s look first at Punctuation

• When you see a comma, pause briefly before continuing. It’s like taking a short breath.

• When you come to a period, your pause is longer, like taking a slightly bigger breath.

Punctuation gives you time to think about what you’ve read rather than racing through a bunch of words.

No Punctuation Means No Breathing!

• Read the following passage, and since there’s no punctuation, do not slow down for a breath:

• Henry loved to hike he went hiking every weekend and sometimes after work if it wasn’t too late he was moved by the quiet of the mountains and the crunching of the rock underfoot he was soothed by the smell of the pine trees and he especially loved to feel the warm sun on his back as he climbed

Wow! Do you have any air left? Now let’s try it with punctuation.

• Henry loved to hike. He went hiking every weekend and sometimes after work if it wasn’t too late. He was moved by the quiet of the mountains and the crunching of the rock underfoot. He was soothed by the smell of the pine trees, and he especially loved to feel the warm sun on his back as he climbed.

Isn’t that better?! Now let’s take a look at the second thing we can do to help us read

fluently: use our 5 senses. Which of our 5 senses can apply to this

story?Sight

Sound

Smell

Touch

Taste

mountains

Rocks crunching under foot; quiet of the mountains

Pine trees

Warm sun on his back

(Not in this story)

Importance of using our senses

• When we use our five senses, we can imagine what this experience was like.

• We feel the warm sunshine, we smell the pine trees, and we hear the rocks crunching under our feet.

• Now we’re more connected with the text!

Making Generalizations

• The important thing about this is that it allows you to make a personal connection with the text, whether it’s to your own life or to something that has happened in the real world.

• This connection helps you to read more easily, or fluently, through the text.

Let’s take one last look at the passage:

Henry loved to hike. (hiking is good exercise) He went hiking every weekend and sometimes after work if it wasn’t too late. He was moved by the quiet of the mountains and the crunching of the rock underfoot. (spending peaceful time alone) He was soothed by the smell of the pine trees, and he especially loved to feel the warm sun on his back as he climbed. (what are the things that make you feel good?)

That’s it! • Once you learn to pause for

punctuation, apply the five senses and make generalizations, you’ll discover that you’ll be reading more effortlessly, smoothly ~ fluently! ~ and as a result, you’ll learn so much more from the texts.

• Happy Reading!