Download Lesson 4: Reading Plans Every good team goes into a game with a

Lesson 4: Reading Plans
Every good team goes into a game with a plan. In basketball, the plan may simply be to use a
zone defense or to give the ball to Zoey. Individual athletes have game plans, too. For
example, a tennis player may try to hit shots he knows his opponent has trouble handling.
When you are reading, you can have a plan for attacking the page, section, chapter, or book.
This lesson will review some basic ways to get more from your reading.
Warming Up
At the beginning of every game, the players warm up. They must get their muscles ready to
work and their minds ready for the mental challenge. The first two tips in this lesson will
help you warm up before reading a passage.
TIP 1: Look at the passage before you read it and guess what it is
about.
You learned in Lesson 1 that preview means to look at something before you read it. There are
different things to look at before you start reading a passage. For example, start by reading
the title. Does it mean anything to you? Then read the introduction, if there is one. Look at
any headings, subheadings, boxed text or sidebars, and key words in boldface or italic
print. Finally, look at any pictures, diagrams, or other illustrations.
Types of Writing
A genre is a kind of something. This list is of different genres of writing. Most writing falls
into one of the following categories:
 Fiction tells a made-up story. Mystery, folklore, fantasy, horror, science fiction,
historical fiction, sports fiction, and outdoor adventure are all types of fictional stories.
 Nonfiction tells about real-life people, places, things, events, or ideas. This genre
includes biographies, speeches, essays, magazine articles, journals, book and movie
reviews, editorials, and instructions.
 Drama is written to be performed by actors. The script of a play tells the actors which
lines to speak, and most of the plot is usually shown through the characters' words. The
two main types of drama are tragedy and comedy
 Poetry comes in all styles, shapes, and sizes. Some poems tell a story; others simply
describe an image. Some rhyme; others don't. All poems use language in an original or
memorable way.
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If these parts of the passage don't provide many clues, check out the topic sentence in each
paragraph. The topic sentence tells what the paragraph is about. Often, it appears at the
beginning of the paragraph.
Once you have previewed the passage, you will probably be able to tell what kind of writing it
is and what it is about. Look at the sidebar for examples of different kinds of writing. You
will also be able to make a few guesses about the passage. These kinds of guesses are
called predictions.
Look over the passage that begins on page 40. Then answer Numbers 1 through 3.
1. What type of passage is it? (Circle the correct answer.)
fiction
nonfiction
poetry
drama
2. What is the passage about?
3. What do you expect to learn from the passage?
As you begin to read, you will find out whether your predictions are correct. Either way,
making predictions helps you get involved in the passage. It is a good idea to know a little
bit about what to expect.
TIP 2: Remind yourself of what you already know about the topic.
Another way to warm up is to recall what you already know about the topic. This is called
using prior knowledge. Prior means "before." Prior knowledge is knowledge you have
learned already.
Your own knowledge and experiences are your best guide to understanding what you read.
Also, ask yourself what you might like to learn about the topic.
You can use a K-W-L chart like the one on the following page to record your thoughts. In the
left-hand column, jot down what you already Know (K) about the topic before reading the
passage, chapter, or book. In the center column, write what you Want to Know (W) about
the topic. After you've finished reading, come back to the chart and use the right-hand
column to record what you've Learned (L).
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4. Use the first two columns of the K-W-L chart above to record what you already know and
what you would like to learn about the human brain.
Many Readers, Many Reasons to Read
There are many reasons to read. Some are listed below. Can you think of others?
 to be entertained
 to find out and understand
 to appreciate the writer's craft
 to get ideas for your own writing
 to write a response
 to do everyday tasks, such as completing forms, responding to letters, and so on
 to interpret ideas
 to solve problems
 to make informed suggestions to others about a topic
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Diving In
The next group of tips will help you get the most out of a passage once you've begun to read.
TIP 3: To look for information quickly, skim and scan.
You don't read everything the same way. Before you start, you decide what you need from
whatever you're reading. If you are looking up a number in the phone book, you don't start
with the A's and read all the names until you find the one you want. You scan through the
text until you find the name and number you need.
Scanning can also be helpful when reading other texts. Like looking in the phone book,
scanning involves running your eyes over a passage and looking for something. For
example, when answering test questions, you might scan a passage for key words from the
question, as described in Lesson 1. This helps you pay attention to the parts of the passage
that are most related to the question.
Skimming is like scanning, except it has a different purpose. When you skim, you don't look
for something specific, like a certain word. Instead, you look for anything that might be an
important idea. Skim the text after you have read it to remind yourself of key ideas. Look
over the text, picking up the main ideas and most important details. This skill is helpful for
checking your understanding, summarizing what you have read, and remembering the
information later.
TIP 4: When you need a lot of information, read closely and read
again.
When you read a text to get a lot of information, scanning is not enough. You will probably
need to read every word in order to understand the main ideas and important supporting
details. When you are reading for information, understanding the text is far more important
than reading quickly.
Sometimes you may want to reread a passage or parts of a passage. Rereading means reading
again. If you have questions about the text, or it just seems difficult the first time through,
you might find the answers or understand better if you reread it. If you come across an
important point and want to firmly plant it in your mind, rereading can help with that, too.
And you may want to reread the text simply because you enjoy it.
In other lessons of this book, you will learn more specific plans for reading certain types of
passages, such as stories and opinion pieces.
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TIP 5: To keep your mind active, keep your pencil active.
Reading isn't just a matter of soaking up words as your eyes glide over them. It requires getting
your mind involved with the ideas the author presents. One good way to keep your mind
working is to make notes. Here are some suggestions:
 Underline important ideas and details.
 Circle new vocabulary words to look up later.
 In the margins, jot down one or two words that describe a paragraph's main idea.
 Do you find part of the passage difficult to understand? If so, mark it and come back
later.
 Does the passage remind you of an experience you've had? Make a note of it.
Don't worry too much about whether you are marking the "right" information in the passage.
There is no such as thing as marking something the wrong way. The important thing is to
keep your mind active. Writing down questions, thoughts, understandings, and connections
will keep your mind alert and awake—and will help you learn and understand more. Over
time, you will learn what types of notes work best for you and help you to understand what
you are reading.
TIP 6: Continue to ask questions and to make connections and
predictions.
The passage may cause new questions to come to your mind. Use your K-W-L chart to list new
questions, or jot them in the margins next to the passage. You may simply want to keep
your questions in mind as you continue to read. One way to help yourself think about the
passage is to ask questions that begin with who, what, when, where, why, or how.
An important question to ask is, Where is this passage going? Continue to make predictions
about what will come next in the passage. Also, pay attention to whether your predictions
are correct. If they aren't, ask yourself why. Also, continue to connect the passage to your
own knowledge and experiences, and to other things you have read. Think about how the
ideas in the passage relate to your personal situation and background.
TIP 7: Check your understanding.
As you read, stop occasionally to check your understanding by asking clarifying questions, as
described in Tip 6. To clarify means to make clear. Another way is to summarize in your
mind what you have read so far. If you are reading nonfiction, list the main points in your
mind. If you are reading a fictional story, list the main characters, the main problem they
face, and the most important events.
If you can't briefly summarize what you have read, you probably need to go back and reread
some part of the passage.
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Directions: Read the following passage. Some of the passage has underlining, circled words,
and notes in the margin. As you read, make your own notes in the space provided next to
the selection.
Gettin' to Know Your Noggin
by Greta Anderson
Have you ever been told to keep something "in mind"? Or have you ever "crammed" for a test?
These are phrases we use to describe the different ways the human mind learns and
remembers, but they don't describe the actual biological processes. How the brain records
and stores information is still one of the greatest mysteries facing science.
Connections Count!
What scientists do know is that the brain is made up of billions of individual cells and the
connections between them. When the neurons (the nerve cells in the brain) are used, new
connections are made. Seeing a new pattern in wallpaper or hearing a word for the first
time can cement connections. These connections are what allow us to think and understand
the world. Imagine this: An eight-monthold infant has twice as many of these connections
as an adult! After eight months, the connections start to decrease. A 12-year-old still has
more "brain power" than an adult, but eventually the number of connections starts to level
off.
Even so, the adult brain has more than 100 billion neurons woven together. That means more
than 100 trillion connections. That's one reason why the human brain is such a mystery to
scientists.
The human brain is often compared to a computer. Some parts of the brain store information
and others act as command centers. The connections are what make the brain smarter—and
more powerful—than a computer. Your brain has several ways of saving information and
many more links to it. On the other hand, the information a computer stores can only be
accessed with a certain command, such as "find Ben's story."
---see diagram
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Different Kinds of Memory
Scientists have just begun to discover these different links between memory and learning. One
kind of memory is short-term memory. That's what you use when you "cram" history
dates just a few minutes before taking a test. The brain can hold only five to seven bits of
information in short-term memory at one time. (And you thought it was just you!) The
brain can store things longer if you group bits of information together instead of trying to
remember them individually (127-534-9682 instead of 1275349682). People often
remember phone numbers and Social Security numbers in this way.
The things you never will completely forget, such as the way your parents reacted when you
wandered out in the street as a toddler, are stored in your long-term memory. Most longterm memory is found in the cerebrum, the main portion of the brain. But another kind of
long-term memory is stored in the cerebellum, located just above the back of the neck.
For a long time, it was thought that the cerebellum's only job was to make muscles work
together and control balance. But, like the long-term memory of the cerebrum, the
cerebellum also keeps some information stored for a very long time. It stores information
about how to do things. It's the cerebellum's job to help you do things that you have
learned to do automatically, such as riding a bike or dribbling a basketball.
Far to Go
Scientists still have much to learn about how the brain works. For example how do short-term
memories become long-term memories? But there's no doubt about one thing: Learning is
the most important thing the brain does. And because of the connections we make, we can
keep our knowledge stored "upstairs" in that highly intelligent, gooey gray ball of noodles,
ready to be used or shared with others.
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TIP 8: Notice how the author organizes the passage.
Authors can organize nonfiction articles in many ways. To organize means to put something in
order. Look at the sidebar for examples. As you read, notice how the passage is organized.
This will help you know what to expect and where in the passage to return for specific
information.
A graphic organizer is a way of putting information in order using a picture. Quickly
sketching a graphic organizer can help you follow the organization of the passage. Here are
some examples of graphic organizers:
---see graphic organizers
Nonfiction Structures
Here are some basic nonfiction organizational structures:
 cause and effect
 chronological (time) order
 comparison and contrast
 description
 main idea and supporting details
 stages of a process
 deduction (moving from a general idea to specific ideas)
 induction (moving from specific ideas to a general idea)
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5. Which of the following best completes the graphic organizer for "Gettin' to Know Your
Noggin"?
---see graphic organizer
A. balance
B. cramming
C. computers
D. long-term memory
TIP 9: When you finish reading, summarize the passage in your
mind.
When you finish reading, go back and skim for the main points. Then summarize the main
points in your mind.
6. Write a one- or two-sentence summary for each of the three sections.
A. Connections Count!
B. Different Kinds of Memory
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C. Far to Go
7. Which sentence from the passage best describes the main idea of the whole passage?
A. Have you ever been told to keep something "in mind"?
B. A 12-year-old still has more "brain power" than an adult, but eventually the number of
connections starts to level off.
C. How the brain records and stores information is still one of the greatest mysteries facing
science.
D. The brain is made up of billions of individual cells and the connections between them.
TIP 10: Record what you have learned.
There are several ways to record what you learn from your reading. Here are a couple:
Summarizing
Sometimes, you may want to write a summary on paper. As you learned in Lesson 1, a
summary does more than just tell the main idea. It should also describe the most important
supporting information. Put the ideas into your own words, and follow the same logical
system the author used.
If you're writing a summary of a story, follow the structure of the story. Try to retell the events
as they happen, but use only a few sentences. Include the names of the main characters, the
main problem they face, and how the problem is fixed at the end.
When you read a summary, compare it to the passage it is based on. Make sure that the
summary includes all of the most important ideas and details.
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8. Four students have written summaries of the article. Which of the following is the best
summary of "Gettin' to Know Your Noggin"?
A. The brain is a bit of a mystery to scientists, but they do know that it is made up of
billions of neurons and the connections between them. These connections make the
brain smarter than a computer by giving it more ways to store and recall information.
The brain uses short-term memory to store a few bits of information at a time. Longterm memories (such as important events and physical activities) are stored in the
cerebrum and cerebellum. There is more to learn about how the brain works, but we
do know that learning is the most important thing the brain does.
B. There are many phrases to describe the way the mind remembers, but it is still a
scientific mystery. Scientists know the brain is made up of billions of nerve cells,
called neurons, and the connections between them. When the cells are used,
connections form between them. There are 100 trillion connections in an adult brain.
C. How the brain records and stores knowledge is a mystery. Connections are important
because they give the brain many ways to store and recall information. There are
different kinds of memory. Short-term memory stores bits of information. Long-term
memory stores things you will never forget and how to do things automatically, such
as riding a bike.
D. The brain uses connections to store information. Connections increase over time as we
learn new things. Some connections cause short-term memories, such as phone
numbers. Other memories are long-term, such as the way our parents reacted when we
misbehaved as children. The two parts of the brain are the cerebrum and the
cerebellum. Scientists are still trying to figure out how we learn.
Note-Taking
You can use a K-W-L chart to make a few notes about what you learned from your reading.
You may also want to list any questions you thought of while reading the passage. These
notes will help you go beyond the passage to learn more about the topic.
9. What did you learn from "Gettin' to Know Your Noggin"? Record the information you
learned in the right-hand column of the K-W-L chart on page 37.
Of course, you can also use regular notebook paper or a computer to take notes. Be sure to state
the main ideas and most important details. Also pay close attention to words in boldface or
italic type.
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Here are two more questions about "Gettin' to Know Your Noggin:' Use your prior
knowledge—and what you have learned in this lesson—to answer them.
10. If a visitor from the planet Beldar were to ask you where the human brain is located, you
would answer from your knowledge of
A. science.
B. history.
C. mathematics.
D. social studies.
11. Which experience would probably help you understand this passage best?
A. visiting a museum exhibit on the history of computers
B. talking with a scientist who studies memory
C. using a phone number or Social Security number
D. reading a book about how children grow
TIP 11: Check your predictions.
In Tip 1, you read about previewing and making predictions. When you make predictions
before reading, the point is not to guess everything about the passage. The point is to get
your mind ready for the reading. But it's a good idea to check to see how your predictions
turned out. If you predicted correctly, chances are good that you understood the passage
well.
12. Look back at your predictions in Numbers 2 and 3. How close were your predictions to the
actual subject of "Gettin' to Know Your Noggin"?
Summing Up
When answering questions about reading, remember the following tips:
 Look at the passage before you read it and guess what it is about.
 Remind yourself of what you already know about the topic.
 To look for information quickly, skim and scan.
 When you need a lot of information, read closely and read again.
 To keep your mind active, keep your pencil active.
 Continue to ask questions and to make connections and predictions.
 Check your understanding.
 Notice how the author organizes the passage.
 When you finish reading, summarize the passage in your mind.
 Record what you have learned.
 Check your predictions.
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DIRECTIONS: Read the passage and then answer questions 1 through 9.
from
Maniac Magee
by Jerry Spinelli
Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee is a 12-year-old boy who has no real home. In this part of the story,
Maniac has become friends with Grayson, the handyman at a county park. Grayson lets
the boy sleep in the baseball-equipment room, shares his food with him, and teaches him
how to play baseball in his spare time.
It was October. The trees rimming the outfield were flaunting their colors. The kid and the
geezer baseballed their lunchtimes away, and the after-dinner-times and weekends.
And every night, as the old man left for his room at the Y, he would grouse, "You oughta go to
school." And one night, the kid said back, "I do."
And that's how the old man found out what the kid was doing with his mornings.
He had noticed the books before, rows and piles of them that kept growing; but their being
books, he didn't think much of it. Now the kid tells him, "You know the money you give
me"—each morning he gave the kid fifty cents or a dollar to get himself some Krimpets—
"well, I take it up to the library. Right inside the door they have these books they're selling,
cases of them, old books they don't want anymore. They only cost five or ten cents apiece."
He pointed to the piles. "I buy them."
He showed them to the old man. Ancient, back-broken math books, flaking travel books,
warped spellers, mangled mysteries, biographies, music books, astronomy books,
cookbooks.
"What's the matter?" said the old man. "Can't you make up your mind what kind you want?"
The kid laughed. "I want them all:' He threw his hands out. "I'm learning everything!"
He opened one of the books. "Look ... geometry . . . triangles ... okay, isosceles triangles. These
two legs, they look equal to you?"
The old man squinted. He nodded.
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"Okay, but can you prove it?"
The old man studied the triangle for a full minute. "If I had a ruler maybe—"
"No ruler:"
The old man sighed. "Guess I give up."
So the kid proved it—absolutely, dead-center proved it.
Two days later, while playing pepper in the Legion infield, the old man said to the kid, "So why
don't you go ahead and teach me how to read?"
1
Which of these genres describes Maniac Magee?
A autobiography
B drama
C magazine article
D fiction
2
What is the main idea of this passage?
A An older man and a boy discuss their shared love of books.
B An older man tells his young friend that he should go to school.
C A homeless boy explains to his friend, an older man, how he learns without going to
school.
D A boy shows his friend how to prove that the legs of a triangle are equal.
3
Which of these experiences would best help you understand how the old man feels about
reading?
A losing an important contest to a better player
B making a mistake while playing a team game
C being unable to compete in a tournament because of an injury
D watching others enjoy playing a sport that you don't understand
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4
At the end of the passage, what will most likely happen?
A The old man and the boy will get into an argument.
B The boy will begin to teach the old man how to read.
C The old man will tell the boy not to go to the library anymore.
D The boy will decide that he should go to a real school.
5
Imagine you are asked this question: What is the author's purpose for calling the old man
"the geezer"?
What is the first thing you should do to answer this question?
A Skim the passage for the word geezer.
B Review the introductory paragraph.
C Slowly reread the entire passage.
D Reread the title of the passage.
6
Look at the chart that shows Maniac's experience with Grayson.
---see chart
Which event belongs in the empty box?
A Maniac found out Grayson could not read.
B Grayson found out Maniac was reading books every morning.
C Maniac proved the legs of an isosceles triangle are equal.
D Grayson let Maniac stay in the baseball-equipment room.
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7
What did Maniac do at lunchtime?
A bought library books
B bought Krimpets
C played baseball
D read books
8
What can you predict about "Maniac Magee" from the drawing next to it?
A The story will be about a boy who likes books.
B The story will be about a homeless boy.
C The story will tell about a boy and his friend.
D The story will be about a baseball game.
9
Based on the passage, what does the word Krimpet mean?
A library card
B type of food
C type of book
D baseball pitch
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