We want the children to become aware of the variety of strategies they can use when reading.  Depending on the situation, they may choose to use one or more of these strategies to help them make meaning from the print. These strategies are not listed in any particular order.

 1. LOOK FOR PICTURE CLUES.  (Sometimes, the illustrations may give you a hint as to what might be written on the page.)

 2. REREAD.  (Sometimes, rereading the sentence or even a previous sentence can give you clues as to what might be written next.)

 3. READ ON AND COME BACK.  (Sometimes, by reading ahead, the probable meaning of the unfamiliar word becomes clear.  Then you go back and reread the sentence and put in the word.)

 4. SKIP THE WORD.  (Sometimes, if a word is not vital to the meaning of the story, you may decide to skip it and continue reading.)

 5. TRY TO SOUND IT OUT.  (Sometimes, you can use your knowledge of letter sounds to help figure out an unfamiliar word.)

 6. SUBSTITUTE A WORD OF SIMILAR MEANING.  (Sometimes, if you can’t figure out exactly what a word is, you can substitute one that makes sense and read on.)

 7. STOP FOR A MOMENT TO THINK.  (Sometimes, if you stop for a second and think about what you have read so far and what you already know about the topic, you may get an idea as to what the word might be.)

 8. USE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF SENTENCE AND/OR STORY STRUCTURE.  (Sometimes, if you know whether the unfamiliar word is the name of something (a noun), a describing word (an adjective), etc., it can help.  Also, if there is a pattern to the story, it may help you with the words.)

 9. ASK SOMEONE.  (There are times when you may want to ask someone what a word says, especially if you have tried some strategies without success and the meaning of the story is in danger of being lost.)

10.HAVE SOMEONE READ IT WITH YOU.  (If you are finding a story very difficult to read alone, you may want to ask someone to read aloud with you.  Then, their voice will keep the story going.  You can read the words you do know with your friend and “echo read” the others right after your friend reads them aloud.)

11. LOOK FOR LITTLE WORDS IN A LONG WORD.  (If the unfamiliar word is a long one, look within the word for shorter words that you know.)