"Before Reading Action Steps"

Action Step 1: Survey

Survey the text to get an overview of what you're going to read. When you survey, make sure you understand the kind of information you will receive from highlighting, or underlining, and reading each part.

Use the following steps to survey your reading:

1. Read and highlight the title. The title describes the topic of the reading selection.
2. Read and highlight the introductory paragraph, if there is one.
3. Read and highlight the first main heading. Main headings are similar to titles, and they describe the topic of the following section of the text.
4. Read and highlight the first sentence of each paragraph. The first sentence of each paragraph gives you an overview of what you will learn in the text.
5. Circle each word in bold or italicized print. These words are important to your comprehension of the information. Read the sentence to find clues to the meaning of the word.
6. Read and highlight important information in the captions under any images (pictures, charts, graphs, etc.).
7. Read and highlight the concluding paragraph, if there is one.

Action Step 2: Predict the Author's Purpose

What is the author's purpose for writing a selection? In Action Step 2, you predict the author's purpose based on the information you receive from the survey.

The three main purposes for writing are to inform, to persuade, or to entertain. Determining the purpose of a reading selection is important and will help with Action Steps 3 and 4.

Action Step 3: Predict What You Expect

Using the information that you gathered during Steps 1 and 2, you can make predictions about what to expect when you read the whole selection.

If the reading selection is a story meant to entertain, you can predict what will happen in the story.

If the purpose of the selection is to inform or persuade the reader, then you can make predictions about what you may learn as you read it.

Predicting what to expect will help you to "set a purpose" for reading. Then, when you do read the selection, you will be actively reading with a focus to confirm your predictions.

Action Step 4: Activate Prior Knowledge

Prior knowledge is what you already know about a topic. Watch the following video to learn more about this topic.

Prior knowledge (or schema) is important when you are reading new information. What you already know about a topic will help you understand new information.

When new information is assimilated, or added, to the information you already have stored in your brain about a topic, your knowledge of the topic expands because you can connect the new information to your pre-existing knowledge.

Most importantly, thinking about what you already know about a topic helps you comprehend the information. Actively thinking about what you already know brings your current knowledge to a conscious level to support new information you are reading. This process is called "activating prior knowledge."

Lesson 1 Assignment

Apply each of the four "Before Reading Action Steps" to the "Try Active Listening"

Take notes as you complete the four action steps because you will submit your information for this assignment in the link below.

After you complete the action steps, write a short response (a minimum of 250 words) to this prompt: Explain how you applied the Active Reading Process to the article.

TRY ACTIVE LISTENING

Active listening, an approach to listening developed by Thomas Gordon, is especially important in communicating with people. It's a method for encouraging the other person to explore his or her thoughts and talk about them. Functions of Active Listening Active listening serves several important functions. First of all, it helps you to check your understanding of what speakers mean. When you ask speakers about what they said, they can then conrm or deny your perceptions. Future messages will have a better chance of being meaningful. Second, active listening enables you to say that you accept a speaker's feelings. Remember that a person's feelingswhether you see these as logical or illogical, reasonable or unreasonableare extremely important to that person. A speaker needs to know that these feelings are accepted before he or she will talk about them. Finally, and perhaps most important, active listening encourages the speaker to explore and express thoughts and feelings. For example, when you use active listening you provide Angela, who has expressed worry about getting red, with the opportunity to explore these feelings in greater detail. You give Charlie, who hasn't had a date in four months, the opportunity to reect openly on his feelings about dating and about his own loneliness. Active listening sets the stage for a dialogue of mutual understanding rather than one of attack and defense. In providing the speaker with the opportunity to talk through feelings, the active listener helps the speaker deal with them. Techniques for Active Listening Here are three techniques for effective active listening: Paraphrase the speaker's thoughts. When you paraphrase, you state in your own words what you think the speaker meant. This will help ensure understanding, since the speaker will be able to correct your restatement. It will show the speaker that you're interested in what is being said. The paraphrase also gives the speaker a chance to elaborate on or extend what was originally said. When you echo the speaker's thought, the speaker may then say more about his or her feelings. In your paraphrase, be especially careful that you do not lead the speaker in the direction you think he or she should go. Make your paraphrases as close to objective descriptions as you can. Express understanding of the speaker's feelings. In addition to paraphrasing the content, echo (repeat) the feelings you think the speaker expressed or implied. ("I can imagine how you must have felt. You must have felt really horrible.") Just as the paraphrase enables you to check on your ideas about the content, your expression of feelings enables you to check on your ideas about the speaker's feelings. This expression of feelings will also help the speaker to see his or her feelings more objectively. It's especially helpful when the speaker feels angry, hurt, or depressed. We all need that objectivity; we need to see our feelings from a somewhat less impassioned perspective if we are to deal with them effectively. Ask questions. Ask questions to make sure that you understand the speaker's thoughts and feelings and to obtain additional information ("How did you feel when you saw that grade?"). The questions should be designed to provide just enough stimulation and support for the speaker to express the thoughts and feelings he or she wants to convey. Questions should not pry into unrelated areas or challenge the speaker in any way. These questions will further conrm your interest and concern for the speaker. If you follow these techniques, active listening will help you become a better communicator. Your relationships with friends, family members, and coworkers should improve.

After you complete the action steps, write a short response (a minimum of 250 words) to this prompt: Explain how you applied the Active Reading Process to the article.