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Comprehension Skills??right01?????"Read chapter ten tonight for homework. We will have a quiz tomorrow to check your reading comprehension," your teacher says cheerfully. But you are not feeling very cheerful. Just exactly what does that mean, "check your reading comprehension"??2?????Comprehension means grasping the meaning of what you have read. In other words, it is understanding what you read. You, as the reader, must build your own meaning from the text. The writer gives you the blocks, but you must build the structure on your own.?3?????Ask yourself some questions in order to know if you have comprehended what you have read. First of all, ask yourself, "What is the main idea of what I have read?" The main idea is the "big picture" of what the whole passage is about. Sometimes the main idea is written in the text. Other times, you have to figure it out on your own.?4?????Can you remember the important details of the selection? Ask yourself the "5 W" questions. These are who, what, where, when, and why. If you can answer those questions about each topic, you probably have grasped the important details.?5?????Are you able to summarize what you have read? Summarizing involves retelling the passage in a few words or statements. A summary includes the main idea and the important details, along with a conclusion about the subject. To help you remember the important points, you may want to write your summary down on paper.?6?????While you're writing that summary, pay attention to the sequence of events. This is another important comprehension skill. Sequencing is essential for summarizing the plot in literature. It also helps with history. Understanding certain science concepts such as chemical reactions and life cycles also involve sequencing.?7?????Another important comprehension skill is using the context. This involves using the surrounding words to decide the meaning of an unknown word. For example, you read these sentences: "There has been an epidemic of malaria in Africa. This widespread disease has caused many deaths." If you don't know what an epidemic is, you don't need to look it up. The writer has given you a clue in the next sentence, "widespread disease."?8?????Context clues can also help you to understand idioms. Idioms are expressions that writers often use to describe something. Let's say you read, "That test was a piece of cake." Is the person having a piece of cake? What's that got to do with a test? Then you read on: "I finished it in ten minutes; I know I'll get an ‘A' on it." Using this context, you can see that the idiom piece of cake means that something is easy. So, when you see a word or phrase you're not sure of ask, "Are there any clues in the context that tell me what that means?"?9?????Another question to ask yourself is, "Are there any cause and effect relationships in the text I have just read?" Sometimes one event makes another happen. For example, you might read, "The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The U.S. declared war on Japan." The bombing was the event that made the U.S. declare war on Japan. There are many cause and effect relationships in history, science, and even in literature. Recognizing them and understanding them helps to increase your comprehension.?10?????Ask yourself these questions as you read and after you have finished. If you are not able to answer these questions, you will have to go back and reread. If you are still unclear, you will need to ask your teacher for help. Remember, there is more to reading than just looking at the words on the page!Read the passage and answer the questions that follow: Comprehension Skills1.??What does comprehension mean?2.??The main idea is:?? A. Examples of the topic?? B. Details about the topic?? C. The "big picture" of what you are reading3.??What questions should you ask yourself about details of the passage?4.??What does it mean to give a summary?5.??"Using the context" means:?? A. To use the surrounding words to help discover the meaning of an unknown word? B. To give the main idea and important details?? C. To retell a story6.??Give an example of a cause and effect prehension Skills - Answer Key1??understanding what you have read2????The "big picture" of what you are reading3??who, what, where, when, why4??retelling the main idea, important details, and a conclusion in a few words5????To use the surrounding words to help discover the meaning of an unknown word6??any reasonable answer ................
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