STRATEGIES TO FIX UP CONFUSION

Ok, so now we realize it is the reader’s job to monitor meaning and recognize “signals” of confusion; what next?

We need ways, strategies, or a plan to identify (and ultimately) correct our confusion.

STRATEGIES TO FIX UP CONFUSION can include the following:

  • Make a Connection between the text and:

--Your life.

--Your knowledge of the world.

--Another text.

Good readers recognize that using background knowledge will help to make a connection to material so that understanding is increased.

  • Make a Predication

Anticipate what is coming next! If you can make a predication, you can check the accuracy of the prediction as the reading unfolds. You may need to adjust your prediction, but all the while you are monitoring your comprehension; striving to see if your prediction was “on target.” Predicting keeps readers involved so they aren’t surprised by incorrect conclusions.

  • Stop and Think About What You Have Already Read

This strategy is so easy it is easy to ignore. Effective readers “reflect” or think about what they have read. Whenever able, they connect newly gained knowledge with knowledge they already have.

  • Ask a Question

Ask questions about what you read. As you do, you are likely to increase curiosity about what is being read. Some questions are “pondering” questions, and answers are not in the text. Why something happens or how something is valued (for example) may require the reader to draw an inference. Other questions are clarifying in nature and tend to be about character, content, setting, event, process: who, what, when, and where questions.

  • Write About What You’ve Read

Writing down what you think helps to clarify your thinking about what you’ve read. Many readers better understand their reading when they have written about it. This doesn’t not have to be elaborate (though it can be!) Anything from a few notes, to a “meditation” or musing about meaning is helpful.

  • Visualize

If reading breaks down, or not, many effective readers enjoy forming “pictures” or images in their head in order to help them make sense of what the words are saying. This effort to create images is deliberate; the reader is conscious of words and tries to “picture” the images in her or his mind. If a reader can “see” it, often the reader can better understand it.

  • Use Print Conventions

All the “stuff” of printed material, especially textbooks: key words, bold print, italicized words, capital letters, graphs, photographs, charts, and punctuation can all be used to improve comprehension. “Conventions” of print help the writer identify intent and help the reader to “pick out” what the author values. Poor readers may ignore conventions, unaware that conventions are intended to produce some kind of emphasis.

  • Retell What You’ve Read

Take a minute and retell what you’ve been reading. This may help to activate background knowledge, solidify retention and comprehension, and alert reader to “fuzzy” reading. When a reader can’t retell something just read, this may indicate that the mind has been wandering or confusion has set in.

  • Reread

When meaning breaks down, readers can stop and decide whether there is something in the text that needs to be reread. Remember, you don’t need to reread everything, just the content that seems “foggy” or unclear, or maybe even the stuff that you sense is critical to the “big picture” meaning.

  • Notice Patterns in Text Structure

Different kinds of “meaning” are conveyed using different writing patterns, or: Genres have specific organizational patterns. For example: a narrative essay does not use the same organization pattern as a persuasive essay. Recognizing how a piece is organized can help you to locate specific information more quickly.

  • Adjust Reading Rate: Slow Down or Speed Up

You don’t read a comic strip at the rate that you read a textbook chapter on early childhood development. Effective readers adjust their reading rate to meet the demands of what they are reading. Struggling readers will read everything at the same rate; they will read a favorite magazine at the same rate they read a textbook. If the content is difficult, complex, or unfamiliar, it is necessary to slow down you reading rate. Yet, if something is super familiar or “easy” it is effective to “speed up” in order to help the mind stay engaged.

DO ALL FIX-UP STRATEGIES WORK ALL OF THE TIME?

Of course not! Some work better than others, depending upon your level of confusion, or the nature of your confusion. It is essential to understand though, that when “strong” readers get stuck, they don’t give up. Instead they take action and:

  1. Recognize they are confused or stuck (as they have been their monitoring comprehension).
  2. Recognize that only they can “repair” or “fix” their confusion.
  3. They stop reading and decide how to fix confusion.
  4. They use a fix-up strategy to improve their comprehension.