Lesson 1: Active Reading

Discussion

Active readers remember what they read and can use what they learn to help them understand other readings. Active reading is very different from the type of reading you do for pleasure. Both types of reading are valuable, but they are used for different reasons. You will use literature selections to practice these active reading strategies and then write responses based on what you have learned through each passage. If you learn these strategies to become an active reader, you will be able to master reading and writing challenges that are more complex.

Your Daybook will tell you that good students mark up the textbook to get the most out of their reading. When you use this active reading strategy, you will underline important ideas, circle words, highlight descriptions, etc. It will be easy for you to find important ideas and things you want to remember when you look back at the textbook, because important things will “stand out.”

For each reading section you complete in the Daybook, you will find questions in this discussion to think about as you work. You might want to keep a notebook to jot down answers to these questions. (A notebook in which you write down your thoughts and writings is sometimes called a journal. I will tell you more about using journals as you go through these first few lessons.) These questions are to get you thinking rather than to test your understanding, but I will provide you with some feedback on these questions to help you, especially in the first few lessons.

In addition, you will often find a list of vocabulary words that appear in the Daybook selections. If the words are unfamiliar to you, try to figure out the meaning from the text (this is called using “context clues”) or practice your dictionary skills to find out the meanings. You and your parent/teacher might also decide that it would be a good idea to keep all your vocabulary words in one place. That way you can add to them and include other words you learn along the way.

In this lesson, I will take you through the active reading process slowly so that you can learn the techniques you will be using throughout this course. Here is the way you will approach this and future lessons:

1. READ: First, read the introduction to the activities provided in the Daybook. Then read the selections.

2. PRACTICE: Complete the activities that go along with the selections in the Daybook. I will also provide you with some questions to think about as you do the activity and give you some additional information to help you as you work.

3. CHECK: You will have a link to feedback on the questions I provide, as well as feedback on the activities you will practice in your Daybook. Be sure to use the feedback link to gather more information about the activities you are doing.

4. SHARE: As you go through each part of the lesson, share your work with your parent/teacher.

5. Following each Daybook lesson, you will find a skill lesson on grammar or mechanics. I will give you instruction and practice in these skills, as well as a link so that you can check your answers.

6. Sometimes you will submit a part of your Daybook work for assessment as part of the progress evaluation. Other times there might be a written or multiple-choice progress evaluation for you to complete. (There is no progress evaluation for lesson 1. The learning you have done in this lesson will be assessed as part of the progress evaluation you will find after lesson 2.)

OK, let’s get started!