In order for a reader to be able to read and understand a text there is a great deal of work that they must do in their head. As shared in The Importance of Strategies, readers use a variety of strategic actions and strategies to process what they are reading.  Adjusting reading is one of twelve strategic action we will explore in this Strategic Action Series. 

Strategies Change Over Time

When young children begin reading, they may use very simple strategies like memorizing or remembering the words in a story and reciting them as they see the pictures. As they learn more about letters, words, and books, they will begin using strategies like:

• Pausing when something doesn’t make sense (self-monitoring)
• Looking at the picture, thinking about the sentence, and looking at the first letters to make sure what they have read “looks right,” “sounds right,” and “makes sense.” (cross-checking sources of information)
• Reread a word to read it correctly when they misread the word the first time. (self-correcting)

As young readers have more and more time to read and experience books, they develop their ability to use more sophisticated strategic actions as they read.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

It is important to note that readers use strategic actions simultaneously. Unfortunately, many children view them as separate actions or even as their goal of their reading. This may be the case if you’ve ever heard your child say, “This week I am inferring.”  This happens when strategies are talked about in isolation or if your child does most of their strategy work with worksheets. Even though we may attempt to strengthen a strategic action by talking about it in isolation, it is always important to remind your child that they use many strategic actions and strategies to understand what we are reading.

Here is an example shared by Fountas and Pinnell in Guided Reading (2e) 

• • A child who is automatically solving words and monitoring his comprehension might realize it and pause to reread or search for more information. He might also search his background knowledge, make connections, and, by comparing present knowledge to new learning, synthesize new ideas.

Even though these actions are listed in a sequence, many take place simultaneously. Our brains can work so quickly and can do such much.

Now let’s take a look at Adjusting Fluency, a strategic action identified by Fountas and Pinnell (Literacy Continuum, Expanded Edition, 2017).

Adjusting Reading

Adjusting occurs when a reader slows down to problem-solve and then picks up their reading pace again. A reader should also adjust their reading based on what they know about the genre and the text features available in the text.  Adjusting also means that the reader takes strategic actions in flexible ways, trying different strategies as they attempt to solve words or insure understanding.

Check out the Reading Level Specific Posts  to see questions you can ask or prompts you can give to support your child’s use of this strategic action.

5 Fantastic Strategies to Encourage Adjusting

1. Slow Down and Think

Great for any Reading Levels

Strategy Steps

1. Think about how you are reading the text.
2. Are you zipping through the words and not really paying attention, or does it make sense?
3. Ask yourself, “What is happening in this part?”
4. Think -“Am I paying attention enough that I could tell someone else what is happening?”
5. If it’s not making sense, go back and reread.

You can show your child how to do this by reading aloud a few different ways.

• Read the text quickly with errors.
• Read the text quickly without errors.
• Read the text slowly with errors.
• Read the text slowly without errors.

As you read each time, pause and ask yourself (aloud), “Did that make sense?” Then answer (aloud), “yes” or “no.” When you answer “no,” talk through how you would fix it and make it make sense.  

You can prompt your child to adjust their reading by asking the following questions:

• Did that make sense?
• What made you realize you had to fix that?
• Why did you stop? What did you notice?
• Check yourself – did you understand what you just read?
• Are you thinking, too, while you are reading?

2. Make a Plan

Great for Reading Levels J and up

Strategy Steps

1. 1. Scan the page or section.
   2. Think about how the information is organized or laid out.
   3. Make a plan for how you will read the information.
   4. Read the page or section with your plan in mind.
   5. Consider whether or not your plan helped you understand.
   6. Continue scanning and planning throughout the text.

    

   Often, nonfiction books have so many things on each page – words, pictures, diagrams, maps, graphs, and more. It can be overwhelming for some children so it could be really helpful for them to get a sense of the page first, make a plan for reading it, follow through on their plan, and then check for understanding. Let your child know that it is okay to use different approaches or plans.

    

   For example, they could start with the visual information (charts, graphs, images) and then read the words. They could read the headings first and then decide which sections to read first. They could read the words and check the pictures as they go. Your child needs to find ways that work for them to maximize comprehension.

    

You can prompt your child to make a plan for their reading by asking the following questions:

• What are you going to look at first? Why?
• What is your plan for reading this part?
• How is your plan working for you?
• Now that you’ve finished this part, will you read the next part in the same way?

 3. Slow Down for Specifics

Great for Reading Levels M and up (especially true for nonfiction)

 Strategy Steps

1. When you are reading, if you notice the author giving really specific information, like numbers, pause.
2. Think, “How is this information being used?”
3. Think about the facts or other information that is around it.
4. Put it together/reflect on your understanding. You could even sketch a quick picture.
5. Think about what the author is trying to teach you with this information.

You can prompt your child to slow down for specific details by asking the following questions:

• How is this specific detail being used? (How is this number being used?)
• What do you picture in your mind?
• How does that detail help you understand the fact?
• Where else have you seen that same kind of information?

4. Stop and Picture

Great for Reading Levels J and up

 Strategy Steps

1. As you are reading, think about what you are reading by making a movie of it in your mind.
2. Sometimes you will come to phrases that are figurative and not literal. It is helpful to monitor or think about how the movie in your mind is going.
3. When you come to phrase that doesn’t seem exactly as it says, slow down.
4. Try to picture each separate word.
5. Then picture the words together.
6. Think about what the phrase means (make sure to consider how the rest of the text is going).

You can prompt your child to stop and picture phrases by asking the following questions:

• What do you see?
• What are you picturing when you read this word?
• What are you picturing when you read this phrase?
• How does this part fit with the rest of the story?
• What do you think the author is trying to say?

 5. Integrating Text Features and the Main Text 

Great for Reading Levels J and up (nonfiction)

 Strategy Steps

1. Scan the text to see what is there.
2. Read and study all of the text features slowly (photographs, captions, diagrams, and so on)
3. Read the text and pause frequently to refer to the text features that relate to the text you are reading.
4. Think about how the text and features go together to help you understand the information better.

You can prompt your child to identify the text and features better by asking the following questions:

• Which text feature should you look at to go with this part of the text?
• Where are you scanning?
• What did you notice in the features?
• Can you read more slowly and connect the features as you go?

Check out these posts for more strategies to support strategic actions:

• Searching for and Using Information
• Monitoring and Self-Correcting
• Solving words
• Maintaining Fluency
• Summarizing
• Predicting
• Making Connections
• Synthesizing
• Inferring
• Critiquing
• Analyzing

Resources:

• Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2017). Guided reading: Responsive teaching across the grades. Heinemann.
• Pinnell, G. S., & Fountas, I. C. (2007). The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades K-8: Behaviors and Understandings to Notice, Teach, and Support. Heinemann.
• Serravallo, J. (2015). The reading strategies book: Your everything guide to developing skilled readers (Vol. 11). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.