IALT: develop my reading comprehension skills
Recently I took an asTTle reading test. I read a number of texts and answered a range of questions to check my understanding and comprehension. The aim is to take a test at a level where I will make some errors so that I can identify what I need to work on to be a more successful reader.
I have looked at the results of my test and identified 3 goals for this term.
My reading goals are:
[1] Consistently read to understand the meaning of a text
[2] Make a conclusion or an assumption
[3] Know what different words mean
# 1 and 2 are about understanding the text, especially by thinking about the text more ‘deeply’.
# 3 is about developing my vocabulary and being able to use the information around a difficult word to make sense of it.
You can help me with [1] and [2] by asking me about the book I am reading at home;
- about the characters, setting, plot and resolution (fiction)
- Get me to explain why I believe the characters have acted in certain ways and how this influences the plot and outcome of the story
- Ask me to make a conclusion about different aspects of the story and encourage me to make assumptions about characters, events, moods and what might have happened in the text if the character [s] acted, behaved, made different choices.
You can help me with [3] by;
- encouraging me to explain in my own words what I think a word means
- helping me to identify parts of a word that might help explain its meaning (e.g., in submarine the ‘sub’ means under so that will help with making an educated guess about the meaning of the word
- encourage me to come up with words that have a similar meaning, or look in a thesaurus for words with similar (synonyms) and opposite meanings (antonyms).