Academic Strategies for Success - Reading

R.A.P.

A short paragraph by paragraph comprehension strategy from the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning known by its acronym R.A.P

Read the paragraph

Ask yourself the what the main point of the paragraph is

Paraphrase - Put the main point in your own words.

Simple no? The trick, of course, lies primarily in the middle steps. To decide what a paragraph is about you might:

• Use structural clues, like looking at first and last sentences, as they are often where the topic sentence is located in textbooks
• Pause while reading the paragraph as well as at the end and visualize what you are reading; how does the picture change from paragraph to paragraph? (useful for novels)
• Ask yourself two questions:
  • Who or what is the subject of the paragraph? Who or what does this paragraph keep talking about? What name, action, or idea keeps getting repeated?
  • What is the author trying to tell me about the subject? What is the point the author is making about this person, action or concept? Is it a favorable opinion or an unfavorable one? What does the author seem to want you to think about this subject?

Once you know the main point of a paragraph, paraphrase the idea into one sentence or phrase. Write it down in the margins, or on a separate piece of paper, or simply repeat it aloud.

Stop Sign Strategy

This is a strategy that is commonly taught by reading tutors. PRIOR to reading put a red dot on each page at a logical stopping point, perhaps at the beginning or ending of a paragraph or section. When you come to the red dot stop and ask yourself:

• What's gone on since the last time I stopped?
• Is this story still making sense? - if not go back and re-read to find out why.
• What do I predict is going to happen next?

When you read to see if your predictions are correct, you will read with more attention to detail and draw more inferences. Being right is NOT the point; good readers always change their predictions as they read.

Text Connections

Reading shouldn't be a chore, it should be a pleasure. What better way to be engaged with your reading than to be connected to what you are reading? Try this simple strategy, and see how the pages fly!

The book Mosaic of Thought by Zimmermann and Keene uses the premise that when we are reading actively, we are reading to make connections. The three major connections to text are as follows:

Text - to - self connections

This occurs when you read something in a book that makes you stop and remember a similar event or emotion that you yourself experienced, like the first time you were in the woods alone, or a time when you felt like an outsider.

Text - to - world connections

This happens when you read something in a book that you can connect to an event or person that someone else told you about, or that you learned in class or saw on the news., like the time Aunt Sally confronted a purse snatcher, or when you learned about the Twin Towers falling.

Text - to - text connections

This takes place when you read something in one book or story that prompts you to remember or compare this reading with an event or character in another book or story. You might, for instance, find that Mama in A Raisin in the Sun reminds you of Rosa Vargas in The House on Mango Street - or is perhaps her total opposite.

As you read a book or story, pause often and ask yourself, "What am I reminded of when I read this line or passage? Is that a text to self, text to world or text to text connection?" To help you keep track of your connections, write them down in the margins of the book or in a separate reading journal. Discussing your reading discoveries with parents or peers can also help you build connections, comprehension and enjoyment of the text.