Reading Strategies, Part 2From Test-Taking Strategies and Study

Skills for the Utterly Confused by Laurie Rozakis, Ph.D.

PowerPoint and Some Activitiesby Mary F. Ciccone-Cook

Meaning Matters

Good Readers

• Draw meaning from identifying the main idea and key details that support the main idea

• Read between the lines to find unstated information in a text

Identify Key Details

• Like the poet Rudyard Kipling, readers can learn by asking important questions

• Good readers are like detectives: they look for clues to support their conclusions

I kept six honest serving menThey taught me all I knewTheir names are What and Where and WhenAnd How and Why and Who

--Rudyard Kipling

Identify Key Details

Details in a text fall into these six main categories:

1. Examples—illustrate a writer’s point; help readers understand a general statement by giving specific information that represents one part of the whole concept.

For example: There are many fruits that are perfect for a sack lunch. These include apples, oranges, pears, and plums.

Identify Key Details

Details in a text fall into these six main categories:2. Facts—statements that can be proven

For example: “John F. Kennedy was the first Catholic president of the United States” is a fact that can be verified.

Identify Key Details

Details in a text fall into these six main categories:3.Statistics—numbers used to give additional information; can be presented as charts, graphs, lists, percentages, and decimals

For example: The majority of print newspaper readers are sports fans. In fact, 63% of the reader responses to the survey indicated that they read the sports section.

Identify Key Details

Details in a text fall into these six main categories:4. Reasons—explanations that tell why something happened; may also explain the cause of someone’s beliefs or actions

For example: Frank was not only an outstanding athlete, he was also an excellent student. Both his parents had excelled at school and sports when they were in high school. His dad was captain of the soccer team and his mother was the pitcher for her softball team. They both earned academic scholarships to college as well.

Identify Key Details

Details in a text fall into these six main categories:5. Definitions—statements that explain what something means

For example: The Army Corps of Engineers distributed 26 million plastic bags throughout the region. Volunteers filled each bag with 35 pounds of sand and then stacked them to create levees, makeshift barriers against the floodwaters.

Identify Key Details

Details in a text fall into these six main categories:6. Descriptions—words or phrases that tell how something looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels; use sensory words to help readers visualize or get a mental picture of what they are reading

For example: As the spicy aroma, filled with oregano, tomato, and pepperoni, wafted through the air, I knew I was approaching my favorite pizza restaurant.

Identify Key Details Practice

Directions:Complete the practice exercise on

identifying key details for Exercise 1: Identify Six Categories of Key Details on the handout entitled “Finding Meaning in What You Read.”

Identify Key DetailsFollow this three-step plan to find the details in a passage:

1.Identify the topica. the topic is the subject of the textb. sample topics include Renaissance painters, the Supreme Court, airplane safety

2. Identify the main ideaa. typically (but not always) found in the first

sentence of a passage (topic sentence)b. the main idea is the topic and what will be

discussed about that topic

3. Find details that back up the main idea

Identify Key DetailsExamples of the three-step plan to finding details in a passage:

1.Identify the topicsummer vacation

2. Identify the main ideaSummer vacation is the best part of the year for

both students and teachers

3. Find details that back up the main idea*time off from school*time for recreation*no tests, no papers, no grading

Identify Key Details Practice

Directions:Complete the practice exercise on

identifying key details for Exercise 2: The Three-Step Plan for Identifying Details on the handout entitled “Finding Meaning in What You Read.”

Identify Key Details Practice

Answers:

The Highest Court in the Land1. B 2. D 3. D 4. A 5. C

Come One, Come All!1. C 2. D 3. D 4. B 5. B

Find a Stated Main Idea

Find a Stated Main Idea

To find the stated main idea in a passage, follow these steps:

1.Find the topic or subject of the passage.

2. Look for a sentence that gives an overview of the topic. It will explain what the entire paragraph is about.

3. Check to see whether the sentence tells what the paragraph is about.

Find a Stated Main IdeaAlthough the stated main idea is often the first sentence, it can be in the middle or end of a paragraph as well. Following are some examples. See if you can identify the main idea in this first passage.

Passage 1:The Florida landscape boasts a wide variety of plant life—

about thirty-five hundred different kinds. Almost half of all the different kinds of trees found in America grow in Florida. Some of Florida’s woodlands are filled with majestic coniferous pines. Swamp maples, bald cypresses, bays, and oaks flourish in some of the state’s forests. Still other wooded areas are a mix of different types and species of plant life. Dozens of different kinds of subtropical trees can be found in the Florida peninsula and the Keys. The warm climate in these areas nourishes the strangler fig, royal palm, and mangroves, for example.

Find a Stated Main Idea

Answer:

Passage 1:The Florida landscape boasts a wide variety of plant life—

about thirty-five hundred different kinds. Almost half of all the different kinds of trees found in America grow in Florida. Some of Florida’s woodlands are filled with majestic coniferous pines. Swamp maples, bald cypresses, bays, and oaks flourish in some of the state’s forests. Still other wooded areas are a mix of different types and species of plant life. Dozens of different kinds of subtropical trees can be found in the Florida peninsula and the Keys. The warm climate in these areas nourishes the strangler fig, royal palm, and mangroves, for example.

Find a Stated Main IdeaSee if you can identify the main idea in this second passage.

Passage 2:Businesspeople are dressed neatly—the women in suits or

skirts and blouses and the men in jackets, ties, pressed pants, and stiffly starched shirts. Restaurant servers are polite to tourists and residents alike. Children stand quietly by their parents. Almost all aspects of life on the island are polite and civilized. People hold doors open for each other, wait to get into elevators until everyone has gotten off, and step aside to let those in a rush get by. At noon, the shops close and everyone goes home for a two-hour rest. But if you ask the shopkeepers to stay open a little longer, they will often gladly oblige.

Find a Stated Main Idea

Answer:

Passage 2:Businesspeople are dressed neatly—the women in suits or

skirts and blouses and the men in jackets, ties, pressed pants, and stiffly starched shirts. Restaurant servers are polite to tourists and residents alike. Children stand quietly by their parents. Almost all aspects of life on the island are polite and civilized. People hold doors open for each other, wait to get into elevators until everyone has gotten off, and step aside to let those in a rush get by. At noon, the shops close and everyone goes home for a two-hour rest. But if you ask the shopkeepers to stay open a little longer, they will often gladly oblige.

Find a Stated Main IdeaNow see if you can identify the main idea in this third passage.

Passage 3:The brown pelican, Florida’s most popular bird, can often be

seen perched on jetties, bridges, and piers. The state wetlands boast herons, egrets, wood ducks, and roseate spoonbills (often mistaken for flamingos). On the beach you can find sanderlings, plovers, and oystercatchers. The state bird, the mockingbird, likes living in suburban neighborhoods. Offshore, cormorants, black skimmers, and terns look for their dinner. Florida’s forests shelter quail, wild turkey, owls, and woodpeckers. In all, more than a hundred native species of birds have been found in Florida.

Find a Stated Main Idea

Answer:

Passage 3:The brown pelican, Florida’s most popular bird, can often be

seen perched on jetties, bridges, and piers. The state wetlands boast herons, egrets, wood ducks, and roseate spoonbills (often mistaken for flamingos). On the beach you can find sanderlings, plovers, and oystercatchers. The state bird, the mockingbird, likes living in suburban neighborhoods. Offshore, cormorants, black skimmers, and terns look for their dinner. Florida’s forests shelter quail, wild turkey, owls, and woodpeckers. In all, more than a hundred native species of birds have been found in Florida.

Find a Stated Main Idea Practice

Directions:Complete the practice exercise on finding

a stated main idea in Exercise 3: Find a Stated Main Idea on the handout entitled “Finding Meaning in What You Read.”

Find a Stated Main Idea Practice

Answer:

TsunamisTsunamis, or seismic sea-waves, are gravity waves set in

motion by underwater disturbances associated with earthquakes. These waves are frequently called “tidal waves” although they have nothing to do with the tides. Tsunamis consist of a decaying train of waves and may be detectable on tide gauges for as long as a week. Near its origin, the first wave of a tsunami may be the largest; at greater distances, the largest is normally between the second and seventh wave.

Deduce an UnstatedMain Idea

• Sometimes writers don’t directly state the main idea of a passage.

• In these cases, you have to make inferences to find the main idea.

• When you make an inference, you combine what you already know with spoken or textual clues to discover the unstated information.

• You may have head this referred to as “reading between the lines” or “putting two and two together.”

• When you make an inference, you are drawing a conclusion from facts and speculation.

Deduce an UnstatedMain Idea

In graphical form, the process of making an inference looks like this:

To find the unstated main idea in a passage, follow these steps:1. Find the topic or subject of the passage.2. Look for details that relate to the topic.3. Make an inference about the main idea from the details.

Text clues + what I know = inference

Deduce an UnstatedMain Idea Practice

Directions:Complete the two practice

activities in Exercise 4: Deduce an Unstated Main Idea on the handout entitled “Finding Meaning in What You Read.”

Deduce an UnstatedMain Idea Practice

Answers for “Egypt, Land of the Pyramids”

1.Find the topic or subject of the passage: The pyramids of Egypt

2. Look for details that relate to the topic *Natural barriers protected the land from invaders.*Ancient Egypt had the raw materials: limestone, sandstone, and granite.*Workers transported the stone on the Nile River.

3. Make an inference about the main idea from the details: Ancient Egypt had a unique combination of factors necessary for building the pyramids.

Deduce an UnstatedMain Idea Practice

Answers for “Football”

Which of the following statements represents the main idea?A. The Romans, Athenians, Spartans, and Corinthians all played a game like football.B. Football is a very old game; its history stretches back to ancient days.C. American football comes from a British game called rugby.D. Football is a more popular game than baseball, even though baseball is called “America’s pastime.”

Answer: Choice B. Eliminate choices A and C because they give supporting details, not the main idea. Eliminate choice D because it contains information that is not included in the paragraph.

Deduce an UnstatedMain Idea Practice

Answers for “Pizza”

1.a2.b3.c