Pre-Reading Activities – Mark It Up!
Your child’s reading tests require more than simply bubbling in A, B, C, or D on an answer sheet. Today’s reading exams demand that even the youngest students think critically, analyze texts, and explain their reasoning. Amazing, right? It’s quite a shift from the old-school SRA reading tests, where students read a short passage and chose a multiple-choice answer. But today’s approach helps prepare children for the rigor of college-level reading and writing.
Marking It Up?
Despite these challenges, your child can master reading tests using pre-reading strategies, particularly by marking up the passage. Marking up a reading test helps readers better understand the material before answering questions. This technique involves actively engaging with the text by taking notes, reacting to what they read, and recording those reactions directly on the test material. These notes serve as a valuable reference when answering comprehension questions.
There are seven key ways to engage in pre-reading and marking up a passage:
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Make a Prediction – Guess what the story is about.
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Make a Personal Connection – Relate the story to personal experiences.
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Ask Questions – Formulate questions about the text.
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React – Note feelings or thoughts while reading.
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Visualize – Create mental images of the story.
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Summarize – Condense the main ideas.
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Infer – Read between the lines and draw conclusions.
Recording these reactions is called active reading, a crucial strategy for reading comprehension.
DIY at Home: Teaching Predictions
You can introduce active reading strategies at home, starting with making predictions. This is the first pre-reading activity children should document on their reading tests.
How to Teach Predictions
Use movie or television titles to get started. Ask your child to predict what the show or movie might be about based on the title alone. Then, apply the same method to books. Before reading a story—whether fiction or nonfiction—have your child read the title and ask, “Based on the title, what do you think this story will be about?”
For example, if the title is “Jack and Jill,” a good prediction would be: The story might be about a boy and a girl named Jack and Jill. A simple statement like “The story is about Jack and Jill” is too basic. Instead, encourage your child to use reasoning: Jack is a boy’s name, and Jill is a girl’s name, so this story will likely be about a boy and a girl.
Reading tests often include pictures alongside titles. If the illustration shows two children or two animals, your child can refine their prediction: This story might be about two children (or two animals) named Jack and Jill.
For older students, titles can be more ambiguous. Take “The Lightning Thief,” for example. In this case, the reader must rely on images and prior knowledge to make a strong prediction.
Why Predictions Matter
Predictions build a reader’s interest and create a mental outline of the author’s ideas. The earlier children learn to make predictions, the easier it becomes to apply active reading strategies during tests. Encouraging these habits at home can significantly boost reading comprehension and test performance.
EDUCATION STAFF WRITER
University of Connecticut. (2021). Best practices in early childhood literacy
ADDITIONAL READINGS:
TEACH READING – COMPREHENSION LESSON #1 PROBLEM & SOLUTION
TEACH READING – COMPREHENSION LESSON #3 THE CHARACTERS
TEACH READING – COMPREHENSION LESSON # 4 THE SETTING
