A.+Reading+Short+Stories

What is an “Expert Reader”?

 * When experts read difficult texts, they read **slowly** and **reread often**.
 * They **struggle** with the text to make it comprehensible. They hold confusing passages in mental suspension, having faith that later parts of the essay will clarify earlier parts.
 * They “nutshell” passages as they proceed, **often writing gist statements in the margins**. They read a difficult text a **second** and a **third** time, considering first readings as approximations or rough drafts.
 * They **interact with the text** by asking questions, expressing disagreement, **linking the text** **with other reading or** **with personal experience**. The bigger the fish they go after, the greater the struggle in reeling it in.
 * In contrast,…students imagine that expert readers are “speed readers”…students push themselves to read faster **instead of slower**.
 * If they do not understand the text on [the] first reading, they assume that it is the teacher’s job to explain the text to them.

John C. Bean __Engaging Ideas__, 134

Reading Strategies to Become a Better Reader
1. Use the dictionary to look up words you don’t know. 2. Learn to write “What it Does” and “What it Says” statements in the margins of your INTERACTIVE READER! 3. Work the text in terms of identifying difficult passages or unfamiliar sayings. 4. Slow down! 5. Carry on a dialogue with the writer. Ask questions of them - maybe it will be answered later on in the text. Write those comments in the margins of the INTERACTIVE READER! 6. Take advantage of AUDIO and reading and following text !

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