Teaching students the skills of expert readers is a critical component of a comprehensive literacy program. Expert readers can engage with the text in a deep and meaningful way, and they can comprehend, analyze, and evaluate text with ease. The development of these skills can profoundly impact a student’s academic success, as well as their lifelong love of reading.
One of the key skills of expert readers is the ability to identify the main idea of a text. This involves understanding the author’s message and summarizing the key points concisely and accurately. To help students develop this skill, teachers can provide opportunities for students to practice summarizing text and engage in discussion and analysis of the main idea.
Another important skill of expert readers is connecting the text with their experiences and knowledge. These “text-to-self” connections help build deeper understanding and engagement with the text. Teachers can encourage students to reflect on their experiences and share their thoughts and opinions about the text to support students in making these connections.
Expert readers also possess the ability to analyze text and identify its underlying themes and messages. This involves critically examining the text and judging its content and structure. To help students develop this skill, teachers can provide opportunities to engage in close reading, discuss the text in small groups, and analyze the author’s writing style and techniques.
In addition to these critical reading skills, expert readers also possess a range of strategies for decoding and comprehending text. This includes using context clues, predicting and confirming meaning, and monitoring comprehension. Teachers can help students develop these strategies by modeling them in their reading and providing opportunities for students to practice and apply these strategies in their reading.
Teaching students the skills of expert readers is a vital part of a comprehensive literacy program. Teachers can help students become confident and proficient readers who can engage with the text profoundly and meaningfully by providing opportunities to develop their critical reading skills and strategies. This, in turn, can impact their academic success and a lifelong love of reading.
