Reading Strategy: Monitor Your Reading

When you read, make sure you understand the text. If there is something you do not understand, reread or read on to make it clear, or to clarify ideas.

Reading Strategy Monitor Your Reading
    How to Clarify Ideas

  • 1. When you do not understand the meaning of the text, reread the paragraph.

  • 2. If you still do not understand, then read on. The meaning may become clear in the text you read later.

Strategy in Action

Here’s how one student clarified ideas.

Look Into the Text

Shu Fa lives with Uncle and Auntie in a village by the mountain. The land is dry and dusty. There is no water available for the villagers.

I do not understand why there is no water available.

I reread to find out. I learn that the land is dry. They probably had no rain for a long time.

Every day, people must walk over the steep mountain to get the precious water. They fill their buckets with the water and carry it home.

Then I read on. The people fill their buckets with water. I guess they do not have faucets in their homes.

One day, Shu Fa goes up the mountain. Near the path, she discovers a turnip. It is perfect for lunch. She pulls it out of the ground.

Practice Together

Reread the passage above. Follow the steps in the How-To box to clarify any text you don’t understand. Share your ideas with a partner. Tell how rereading or reading on helped you clarify ideas.