Characteristics Of Good Readers

Characteristics of Good Readers: Things that are Never Taught, but are Somehow Learned To list all the many things good readers learn that are not taught in school is almost impossible. There are so many. But I am starting a list here on this website and hope that others will add to it. 1. Good readers learn to automatically read letter combinations at the ends of words differently than the same letter combinations that form a word. For example, a good reader reads the letters t-r-y as "tree" when it comes at the end of words such as entry, pantry, country, etc. Likewise, a good reader reads the letters t-y at the end of a word as "tee" as in party, county, jaunty, nasty, and empty. At the beginnings of words t-y is usually pronounced tie as in Tyrone, tyre (British spelling), typhoid, and typist. Tries becomes "trees" in entries, pantries, countries, etc. Ties becomes "tees" in parties, counties, and empties. 2. Good readers learn how to pronounce the -sque letter combination as sk as in Basque, masquerade, mosque, grotesque, and bisque. They learn that que at the end is /k/ as in unique, technique, and pique. View more of the specific phonic patterns that are not taught. 3. Good readers learn how to scan without being systematically taught how to scan. 4. Good readers can use a dictionary and without being systematically taught have learned to correctly pronounce any word by using the dictionary diacritics. 5. Good readers can read dialects in print. For example, the following are definitions from Dictionary for Yankees and other uneducated people by Bil Dwyer. Bad--a place for sleep or rest. Bail--this rings on Sunday mornings. Bait--What people do on "hawse" racing. 6. Good readers know the conventions cartoonists use to indicate thinking, motion, speed, dreaming, as well as talking. 7. Good readers catch satire and puns. 8. Good readers enjoy reading. 9. Good readers know how to find things in catalogs and can use telephone directories and anything with an index

Anticipate Meaning Good readers use their prior experiences and information from text to make predictions and speculations

Become Lifelong Readers By being in the continued presences of reading and writing with parents, teachers and schoolmates, good readers develop lifelong literacy habits

Choose Their Own Reading Material From the very early stages, good readers select a variety of books and literature.

Do Not Read Every Word or Letter The more the mind works, the less hard the eyes have to work as good readers focus on the larger more meaningful chunks of text.

Elaborate on Important Parts of the Text Good readers generate elaborations or embellishments during reading. This instills grater comprehension, recall and use of the material read.

Focus on Fluency by Reading One of the best ways good readers become fluent is by wide reading.

Get Books Good readers go where the books are. They use the library, brose in bookstore, borrow books from friends and give then as gifts.

Have a Purpose for Reading Good readers know that reading can serve many purposes. Reading can be informational, enjoyable, enriching and a useful tool in solving problems.

Image when They Read To facilitate comprehension, good readers make mental pictures as they read.

Just Skim Sometimes and Read Slowly Other Times Good readers shift speeds depending on their purpose and the type of book they are reading.

Know About Their Own Mental Skills Good readers continuously appraise and self monitor their comprehension as they are reading. They are aware of what they know, what they want to know and how to do that.

Listen & Enjoy Stories & Books Being Read Aloud An important factor in helping build the background for becoming a good reader is reading aloud to students of all ages.

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Make Personal Connections Good readers make links and applications between literature and their own lives.

Negotiate Meaning by Integrating a Number of Cues or Sources of Information Good readers use and cross-check four types of cues : their knowledge of the world; oral language (what sounds right); work meanings; visual information in the text (letter/sound association).

Often Self Correct Good readers use monitoring and problem solving strategies such as skipping unknown words, rereading, reading ahead and using outside sources.

Paraphrase Periodically While reading, good readers put their own words into the gist of what they've been reading.

Question Good readers ask questions and then read to seek the answers.

Respond to Literature Good readers gradually learn to make internal responses and personal reflections to literature by making external responses (reconstructions, retelling and drawings).

Share with Others God readers are always joining together to discuss and share what they are reading with others. Book habits are acquired naturally as the result of these interactions.

Take Time to Read, Read, Read ogging lots of reading mileage, good readers take advantage of many opportunities in and out of class to read.

Use Prior Knowledge Good readers use their background, knowledge, experiences and knowledge of the world to make inferences, think critically, relate new discoveries to old knowledge and construct meaning from the text.

Validate Predictions Good readers verify their predictions as they read. Comprehension equals confirmed predictions.

Write Engaging in writing as it relates to reading is a good way for readers to enhance both reading and writing abilities.

Expect Reading to Make Sense As a priority, good readers have a meaning orientation to print, always seeking to make sense when they read.

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Yearn to Read Always having a book and choosing to engage in reading during leisure time is a hallmark of a good reader.

Zero in on Learning Strategies When They Need Them As they need strategies and skills to communicate with an author, good readers learn them in the context of reading.

Good readers read daily and read a variety of texts. They do not keep choosing the same types of material to read. Good readers determine how much they know about the subject before they read. They know if this is something they are interested in or not interested in. Good readers take chances and relate their own experience to the text. They do this by using what they know about the world, what they have read before and what they already know about themselves to relate to the words on the page and to make meaning. Good readers figure out what the difficult words mean, by looking for whole meanings instead of just looking at individual letters or words. They are able to make inferences; by using sentences before and after, or paragraphs before and after to draw conclusions about what they are reading. Good readers guess at words they are not sure of. Sometimes they have to skip words and then go back and say the sentence again. Or sometimes by the time they finish the paragraph they have already understood what the skipped word meant. Good readers instinctively know how to adjust their reading rate and vary it to match purpose and difficulty. They know when they are stumbling and will stop and restart. They re-read to make sure they are on the right track. Good readers are active readers who think about what they are reading and use their reading experiences for support. They bring their own knowledge of the world to the material they are reading. Good readers ask themselves questions as they go along. They may use sticky notes to mark the places they were wondering about. They know when their mind begins to wander and are able to get back on track. Good readers create mental pictures as they read descriptive passages. They visualize and create mental pictures as they read. Good readers expect the material to get easier and read on, using the context to make sense or help them make meaning of what they read. Good readers know how to use pictures, graphs, marginal notes, bold words, titles and other text supports on the page to figure out the meaning of the difficult or long passages they are trying to read. Good readers try not to read too slowly and are able to change their approaches for special materials depending on the purpose of their reading. They understand that they read the newspaper differently than a non-fiction selection.

Good readers know reading for meaning is a process that requires active participation from the reader- whether when reading for pleasure, to complete an assignment, or to find information to help with questions they may have. Good readers recognize when what they read is difficult; they identify parts of the text that confuse them. They use I'M Stuck-fix-up strategies such as rereading, changing their reading rate, or go for a dictionary. They work to correct the difficulty. They don't just give up. Good readers know if they liked what they have just read, why or why not it appealed to them, and whether or not they would recommend it to anyone else. Good readers use story details to support their opinion. Good readers use Comprehension Strategies to draw conclusions, analyze, synthesize, and to compare and contrast. (Bloom's Taxonomy) They may use strategies such as predicting, summarizing, questioning the text, and questioning author's purpose in order to make sense of what they read.

What Do Good Readers Do?

In the 1980's researchers were able to identify the specific thinking strategies that are used by all proficient readers when interacting with text. These important strategies have unlocked the mystery of how we can help kids understand what they read. Teaching these seven key strategies is essential for children to reading with meaning: Create Visual Images- Good readers make movies in their mind as they read. They can create a wide range of sensory images while they read. A child that creates pictures in their mind while they read is emotionally involved with the story- she may even laugh or cry out loud while reading! Use Background Knowledge- Good readers activate their schema. Schema is all of the readers relevant prior knowledge which helps them relate to the story. Ask Questions- Proficient readers are always wondering while they read. They wonder what will happen next or why a character acted the way they did. Questioning helps a reader focus in on what's important in the text.

Make Inferences- All good readers make predictions while they read. Inferring is how readers go beyond what is on the written page. Readers who infer are able to personalize what they read to build deeper meaning. Determine Importance- Proficient readers can distinguish between important and unimportant information in the text. Synthesize- Good readers make sense of what they read with synthesissummarizing important information and adding their own unique thinking and experiences. Fix It Up- Good readers know when they don't get it. Proficient readers have a variety of tools to help fix-up their reading when they are struggling.