Post #4

So, what is a good reader?  Well I believe that it is someone who can read and comprehand what they are reading.  You do not have to read at a fast pace, because reading quickly is no good if you have no idea what the words said and meant.  A good reader is also someone who uses a variety of techniques when reading.  For a chapter in a textbook, you may read from heading to heading and then summarize what that section was talking about.  And it also can help to look ahead at all of the pictures, tables, and figures in the chapter.  For a short novel, you may find it easiest to sit down and read it in one whole sitting, that way you can let the story really stew in your brain while it is still fresh.  For a longer novel, you may find it best to read chapter to chapter, or speaker to speaker (however the book is constructed, depending on the author) to really let the scene develop.  For a procedural text, you may find it easiest to read it quickly at first to have a general idea of the procedure, and then go back and slowly read it, going step by step.  With any text, you should try to make connections within it itself and between the text and yourself.  "Oh, I know exactly what she means", "Yep, been there, done that", "Oh hey, I've done that before", "Almost like the time I.....", "Why did this character just do that? <thinking> Oh yeah!"

Now, am I a good reader?  Yes, yes I am.  All of the methods I just described are mine.  I use these different techniques when reading.  I have been reading for quite a while now.  I would read National Geographics when I was younger, 10yo-about 14yo and after that mostly short science fiction novels, and as I got older, the novels got longer and longer.  At least until I had kids.....

I believe that the best way to teach kids to be good readers is to model it.  Keep a couple novels (age approprite, of course) on your desk, some on a bookshelf, maybe one in your purse for you ladies, unless you men are very sure of your manhood, in which case, good luck with that.  Ask about what they are reading, not directly as part of the class time, but as an aside, like when waiting for the bell, or in between classes.  Show an interest in what they are reading, even if you have to fake it.  You parents know exactly what I an talking about.