The Response Process - During Reading | Elementary

Concept sheet | English Language Arts

During your reading, you can follow these few steps to build meaning from the text. Here is what you should do:

Annotate Your Text

Annotating a text is the action of adding extra information or details as you are reading, or identifying important passages in a text.

Response Process - During Reading: 1 - Annotate Text

Response Process - During Reading: 1 - Annotate Text

Example
A paragraph that has been underlined and highlighted. In the margin, we can see keywords and clues.

How to do it?

  • Identify important passages 

  • Underline unfamiliar words and look up their meaning

  • Write key questions or thoughts in the margins or in your notebook

Check Your Understanding

You check your understanding by posing a series of actions to make sure you understand what you have read so far.  This can be done at any moment while reading.

Response Process - During Reading: 2 - Check Your Understanding

Response Process - During Reading: 2 - Check Your Understanding

Example
Two students are talking about a story they have read and one of the students realizes he has not understood as well as he thought.

How to do it?

  • Summarize what you’ve read.

  • Retell the story in your own words.

  • Ask yourself comprehension questions (who? what? where? when? why?).

  • Go back and read again.

  • Seek help from a parent, a teacher or a classmate.

Identify Figurative Language

You know that figurative language is used when the author writes a phrase that creates a specific image in your head.  Figurative language helps you understand the author’s idea better.

Response Process—During  Reading: 3 - Indentify Figurative Language

Response Process—During Reading: 3 - Indentify Figurative Language

Example
 A woman is reading a story and a child is lying on the floor. There are shadows of the two people on the wall. The shadow of the book shows a world of adventure coming out of it.

How to find figurative language?

  • Fun descriptive words are used to represent elements of the story.

  • These words or phrases create images in your head or a scene that makes you understand a situation better.

During Reading Steps Recap

Recap of the three tasks to accomplish while reading or viewing a text.

Full Response Process at a Glance

A full recap of the entire reading response: before reading, while reading and after reading.