Reading Strategy: Monitor Your Reading

What do you do when you read something that you don’t understand? Try to reread the text or read on to make it clear, or clarify ideas.

Reading Strategy: Monitor Your Reading
    How to Clarify Ideas

  • 1. As you read, stop when you don’t understand something.

  • 2. If the text is unclear, read it again. Start at the beginning of the paragraph.

  • 3. If you still don’t understand, keep reading. Look for information that helps you figure things out.

Strategy in Action

Here’s how one student clarified ideas.

Look Into the Text

Some animals hide by looking like the places where they live. To see how this works, let’s look at the leafy sea dragon. You may never have heard of this sea creature, but it is a master of disguise.

I don’t understand what “master of disguise” means.

“To figure it out, I reread the paragraph.”

The sea dragon is covered with skin that looks like leaves, which helps the dragon look like a piece of seaweed. A hungry meat-eater would stay away from anything that looks like seaweed.

Leaf-like skin is just one part of the sea dragon’s disguise.

I’m still not sure what “master of disguise” means.

“When I read on, I learn that it means the sea dragon looks like something else.”

Practice Together

Reread the passage. Stop when you read something you do not understand. Write it on a sticky note. Follow the steps in the How-To box to clarify ideas.