What Good Readers Do When They Read

What Good Readers Do When They Read

• Good readers are active readers.
• From the outset, they have clear goals in mind for their reading. They constantly
evaluate whether the text, and their reading of it, is meeting their goals.
• Good readers typically look over the text before they read, noting such things as the
structure of the text and text sections that might be most relevant to their reading
goals.
• As they read, good readers frequently make predictions about what is to come.
• They read selectively, continually making decisions about their reading—what to read
carefully, what to read quickly, what not to read, what to reread, and so forth.
• Good readers construct, revise, and question the meanings they make as they read.
• Good readers try to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words and concepts in the
text, and they deal with inconsistencies or gaps as needed.
• Good readers draw from, compare, and integrate their prior knowledge with material
in the text.
• They think about the authors of the text, their style, beliefs, intentions, historical
milieu, and so forth.
• Good readers monitor their understanding of the text, making adjustments in their
reading as necessary.
• Good readers evaluate the text’s quality and value and react to the text in a range of
ways, both intellectually and emotionally.
• Good readers read different kinds of text differently.
• When reading narrative, good readers attend closely to the setting and characters.
• When reading expository text, good readers frequently construct and revise summaries
of what they have read.
• For good readers, text processing occurs not only during “reading,” as we have traditionally
defined it, but also during short breaks taken during reading…[and] even
after the reading has ceased.
• Comprehension is a consuming, continuous, and complex activity, but one that, for
good readers, is both satisfying and productive.