Hi, I'm Kelsey and this is Mia! In this video,
we're going to prepare you to sharpen your reading comprehension skills before you get
started on our reading comprehension exercises. Are you ready? Let's go!
You know by now that good comprehension is based first on understanding the words and
phrases you read. As you read more and more complex text, your vocabulary grows
and you understand the meaning of phrases. You know, like if an author says that a character was
"over the moon" about something you know that phrase means the character was really happy
and you know that words and phrases are understood in context. So you understand the difference
between running around the track and running out of time. Reading takes a lot of mental power!
Reading comprehension also involves recognizing text structure, or how the author constructed the
passage. Most of the stories we read are told in chronological order. That means time order,
you know, this happened first, and then this happened next, etc. When an author is writing
an informational piece about a specific topic, sometimes they start with a central idea and
then present the details that support it or sometimes they put the details up front and
end with the central ideas. Authors sometimes present a problem and then offer solutions,
pose a question and then answer it, or write to compare and contrast two different topics.
Recognizing an author's text structure will help you comprehend the author's meaning.
While we're talking about authors it's also important to understand the author's purpose
in writing a particular piece. Did they write it to inform the reader about a certain topic,
to persuade the reader, to think a certain way, or did they write it with the purpose
of simply entertaining the reader? Are they trying to instruct the reader like how to
make cupcakes or how to build a rocket, or are they trying to describe something like
a poem about a lovely rose or a paragraph that describes a beautiful sunset? Understanding why
the author wrote a particular piece will help you comprehend the author's meaning.
To have good reading comprehension you also need to pay attention to important details and how they
might provide evidence and reasoning to support an idea. When authors are trying to prove a big idea,
they use details to help you think through the topic. Those details support the point
the author is trying to make by providing evidence and reasoning, all aimed at proving
that big idea! There's so much thinking involved in unraveling the meaning of a passage. Pay
attention to those details! Details can also help you make inferences and predictions. You know,
like if a character is always by herself kicking a soccer ball around and she watches other kids
but is too shy to approach them. You can infer, or figure out, that the kid is lonely and then
when that character happens to see that a soccer team needs one new player, you can predict that
she'll probably sign up for the team! We're always making inferences and predictions while we read.
And finally, if you want to develop good reading comprehension you need to learn how to figure out
central ideas and themes. A central idea is the main idea of a piece of writing.
For example, a passage about Abraham Lincoln might have the central idea
that although Lincoln came from humble beginnings, he worked and studied to achieve success;
however, the theme is bigger than that one story or topic.
The theme of the piece about Lincoln might be that hard work and determination
leads to success. Central ideas and themes are the biggest of the big ideas in a passage.
Throughout this course, you'll be sharpening your reading comprehension skills by answering
questions that deal with words and phrases in context, text structure, author's purpose,
details, evidence, and reasoning, inferences and predictions, and central ideas and themes.
Don't worry, you'll get lots of practice to help you become a master of reading comprehension!
Your parent or teacher will set a schedule for you to work on these comprehension exercises. You'll
be given a passage to read and after you read you'll answer six questions about the passage.
Here are some tips for getting the most out of your reading. First, read the passage carefully.
Be sure you're thinking about what you're reading and not about something else. Next, as you read,
try to imagine what you're reading about by making pictures in your mind or imagining
that you can hear the sounds, smell the smells, and feel the textures. And finally,
think beyond the words you're reading. Put clues together and figure things out that
might not be written on the page. Ask yourself questions and make predictions
about what's going to happen next. Those are tips that all good readers know and practice.
And here are some tips to help you after you've read the passage when you are answering questions
about it. First, read the questions carefully. Make sure you know what they're asking you.
Next, be sure to read all the answer choices before you select one.
And finally, go back and reread the passage if you need to.
This isn't a memory test! It's fine to go back and look at the passage again.
The goal is to work those reading comprehension muscles so that they'll get really strong!
Let's review. You're going to be reading one passage at a time and you'll answer six questions
about the passage. Your goal is to become a strong reader by practicing your reading comprehension.
All of the passages in unit 1 are at about the same level of difficulty so you'll get plenty
of practice. You are now ready to begin with your first passage. Just remember
all those tips for reading and answering questions and of course, remember to always be clever!