LESSON 1

THE READING PROCESS

Reading is the complex cognitive process of

decoding symbols to derive meaning. It is a form of language
processing. Reading is one of the most important ways of knowing
the word around us.

It allows the reader to use what he or she may already know,

also called prior knowledge. During this processing of information,
the reader uses strategies to understand what they are reading, uses
themes to organize ideas, and uses textual clues to find the meanings
of new words.

Learning Insights

Reading helps us learn from the past, the present, and predict
the future. It helps us expand our mind. Reading help us know who
we are, what is important to us, and it helps us understand the world
around us. It fires up our brain and the more you read, the more you
know-if you apply what you know. If you haven’t practice what you
learned, there is no way to know you have really learned it.

Reading increases our self-confidence and it increases our

writing skills, speaking, and interpersonal skills. Reading is good.
Keep reading!
 LESSON 2

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF READING

Ruchi Sapra stated that a book is a fragile creature. Our

present knowledge is all just because of our books. There was not
any use of technology name Internet in the old days and at that time;
books were the only source of spreading knowledge.

Reading allows for sharing of data that can further research

and support development of technology and/or practices that may
preserve or improve life for future generations. On a purely
individual level, reading allows each of us to expand our personal
horizons of awareness through vicarious experiences and through
encountering knowledge and situations we would not otherwise
have.

Learning Insights
Through reading, you expose yourself to new things, new
information, new ways to solve a problem, and new ways to achieve
one thing. Who knows – you might find your new hobbies within it.
Who knows – you might actually explore one thing you really like and
it may end up becoming your career and success in the future.
Exploration begins with reading and understanding.

Through reading, you begin to have a greater understanding

on a topic that interest you. Through this, you create a structured
path towards a better understanding and better actions to take in
the future.
 LESSON 3

FACTORS AFFECTING READING POWER

According to Keith Lenz, different readers will interpret an

author’s message in different ways. Comprehension is affected by
the reader’s knowledge of the topic, knowledge of language
structures, knowledge of text genres and etc. It is also affected by the
quality of the reading material. The type of instruction that a student
receives will also affect reading comprehension.

Snow, Burns and Griffin classify the factors that affect reading.
First is the physical and clinical factors which basically referred to the
physical health of an individual, then predictors of school entry, next
is acquired knowledge of literacy, family-based risk factors and
neighborhood , community and school-based factors.

Learning Insights
Background knowledge plays an essential role in reading
comprehension. In an effort to comprehend a text, students rely on
their background knowledge to link what they already know to the
text they are reading. However, as readers develop, they will be able
to monitor their own reading comprehension. Students can actively
guide their own reading by targeting comprehension problems as
they occur.
 LESSON 4

DEVELOPMENTAL READING STAGES

Five-stage development was proposed by Jean Chall (1983).

The first stage is the reading readiness/pre reading, next is Initial
reading or decoding, then fluency, followed by reading for learning
the new stage, Multiple viewpoints stage and lastly is Construction
and reconstruction stage.

There are also stages of reading process which plays an important

role for each and everyone.

Learning Insights
Reading exposes you to a world of imagination as we move
forward to our zone of proximal development, showing you nothing
is impossible in this world. By reading, you are exploring a different
angle to see a thing you’ve known, on how different action leads to
different results. Books are beyond imagination. It’s like a huge
spider web, where you keep linking to more and more to things you
knew, and things you just learn, structuring new solutions and
answers.
 LESSON 5

DEVELOPMENTAL READING PROGRAM

It is a systematic and scientific instruction in reading skills and

strategies. It seeks to generate a favourable attitude toward the
reading process.To concretely illustrate the program, Goodell
developed a skills ladder which puts emphasis on certain skills at a
time.

The stages of reading development is classified into five: Early

Emergent 1-4 level: Emergent 5-8 level: Developing 9-15 level: Early
independent 16-20 level: and Independent 21 and beyond.

Learning Insights
A well-rounded developmental reading program teaches pupils
strategies they can use when reading resource books, articles,
textbooks and other sources to further their education. It will
prepare the student for college coursework or other higher
education pursuits.
 LESSON 6

READING MODELS

Researchers have shown that readers process text in different

ways. They have also identified reading models that aim to explain
how the complex process of reading taeks place.

Liu and Boothe, Walter and Stringer describe these models as

Bottom up reading model which says reading is driven by a process
that results in meaning and proceeds from part to whole. Next is Top
down reading model which suggests that processing of a text begins
in the mind of the readers with meaning. The last one is Interactive
reading model.

Learning Insights
An interactive reading model attempts to combine the valid
insights of bottom-up and top-down models. It attempts to take into
account the strong points of the bottom-up and top-down models,
and tries to avoid the criticisms level against each, making it one of
the most promising approaches to the theory of reading today.

Reading models are the basis and proof that we as an ordinary

individual can do more than what we expect.
 LESSON 7

COMPREHENSION AND LEVELS OF COMPREHENSION

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of

what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material,
children need to be able to (1) decode what they read; (2) make
connections between what they read and what they already know;
and (3) think deeply about what they have read.

Indicators of learners’ reading comprehension are construction

of meaning from text, ability to use appropriate strategies to
synthesize what they read, retelling text orally and/or in written form
and lastly responding to text in oral discussion and written form.

R.M. Ruddell categories comprehension into three levels: LITERAL,

INTERPRETIVE and APPLIED.

Learning Insights
Reading comprehension skills increase the pleasure and
effectiveness of reading. Strong reading comprehension skills help in
all the other subjects and in the personal and professional lives.
Building reading comprehension skills requires a long term strategy
in which all the reading skills areas (phonics, fluency, vocabulary) will
contribute to success. Learning reading comprehension requires a
strategy where lesson plans progressively develop and reinforce
reading comprehension skill.
 LESSON 8

COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES

Skimming, Scanning, Extensive Reading, Intensive Reading,

Visualizing, Monitoring and repairing understanding, Synthesizing,
Determining important ideas, Inferring, Using background knowledge
and Questioning are the categories of comprehension strategies.

There are ways on how to improve reading comprehension.

First, develop a good background, know the structure of paragraphs,
identify the type of reasoning, Anticipate and predict, look for the
method, create motivation, pay attention, Highlight, build good
vocabulary, use a systematic reading, and monitor effectiveness.

Learning Insights
Teaching reading comprehension strategiesrequire explicit
instruction and consistent reinforcement from the teacher to the
student. Also, reading strategies are a set of skills that are learned
over time. Without comprehension, reading is simply following
words on a page from left to right while sounding them out. The
words on the page have no meaning.

That’s why reading comprehension skills are so important.

Without them the reader cannot gather any information and use it to
efficiently function and enjoy the richness of life.
 LESSON 9

EXPANDING YOUR VOCABULARY

Vocabulary refers to the words used in a language. It is

basically all of the words in a language, the words used in a particular
context and the words an individual person knows.

Rasekh said that successful language learners have their own

special way of dong it. They use learning strategies either consciously
or unconsciously when processing an information and performing
task.

Learning Insights
The larger your vocabulary, the easier it becomes to break
away from old thought patterns and open new lines of reasoning. We
often view our thoughts as shaping our words, but our words shape
our thoughts, too. Each new word opens a new pathway for thought,
and the more words you know, the greater your ability is to focus
your own ideas and consider those of others.

A good vocabulary is the single best predictor for career

success. Moreover, the results found that vocabulary usually comes
before achievement, not as a consequence of it.
 LESSON 10

ANALYZING ROOTS

A root word is a basic word with no prefix or suffix added to

it (a prefix is a string of letters that go at the start of a word; a suffix
is a string of letters that go at the end of a word). By adding prefixes
and suffixes to a root word we can change its meaning.

It consistently mean the same thing and are the base for
related words. We often encounter roots of Greek or Latin origin in
subjects like Science and English. For example, the Greek word for
earth- geo is the root word of geology, archaeology, geological and
geography.

Learning Insights
The root of a word is a unit of meaning (morpheme) and, as
such, it is an abstraction, though it can usually be represented
alphabetically as a word might be. This distinction between the word
as a unit of speech and the root as a unit of meaning is even more
important in the case of languages where roots have many different
forms when used in actual words.
 LESSON 11

BUILDING VOCABULARY THROUGH AFFIXES

An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a

new word or word form. Affixes may be derivational, like English -
ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed.
They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may
be separable affixes.

Morpheme is the smallest grammatical unit in a language. It is

composed of phonemes and graphemes.

Learning Insights
Affixes are groups of letters that are added to the beginning or
the end of words to make new words. It is very important to
teach affixation as it helps learners guess the meaning of new words
they find, and construct new forms successfully. Word guessing
games can help develop awareness.
 LESSON 12

BUILDING VOCABULARY THROUGH ANTONYMS

An antonym is a word having a meaning opposite to that of

another word, such as hot and cold, short and tall. An antonym is
the antonym of synonym. It is a semantic term for words that have
opposite meanings or definitions, or words that have contradictory
meanings.

Gradable antonyms, relational antonyms, auto-antonyms and non-

gradable adjectives are types of antonyms.

Learning Insights
In order to master the language you must be aware with the
importance of antonyms in English language. The reasonable
significance of antonyms depends on their comprehension being
used of ordinary life communicational circumstances.

The association with mental antonyms can be connected with

studies partner the word (word association) through which identifies
when the human personality can work in connection to countering.
 LESSON 13

BUILDING VOCABULARY THROUGH SYNONYMS

Synonyms are words that are similar, or have a related

meaning, to another word. They can be lifesavers when you want to
avoid repeating the same word over and over. Also, sometimes the
word you have in mind might not be the most appropriate word,

It came from a Greek word syn (with) and anoma(name).

Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous and the state
of being a synonym is called synonymy.

Learning Insights
When you have a good level of English and are able to
communicate in different situations, you start to face a new
challenge: increasing your vocabulary. One of the best way to do this
is to learn synonyms for words you already know.
 LESSON 14

BUILDING VOCABULARY THROUGH CONTEXT CLUES

Context clues are hints that an author gives to help define a

difficult or unusual word within a book. The clue may appear within
the same sentence as the word to which it refers or it may follow in
the next sentence.

Categories of context clues are example clues, comparison

clues, contrast clues, inferring meaning context, synonyms, definition
and explanation.

Learning Insights
Context clues are bits of information within a text that will
assist you in determining the meaning of unknown words. Since most
of your knowledge of vocabulary comes from reading, it is important
that you recognize context clues. By becoming more aware of
particular words and phrases surrounding a difficult word, you can
make logical guesses about its meaning.
 LESSON 15

UNDERSTANDING IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS

An idiom is a phrase or an expression that has a figurative, or

sometimes literal, meaning. Categorized as formulaic language, an
idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning.
There are thousands of idioms, occurring frequently in all languages.

Idioms are previously considered informal expressions, but

because of their widespread use, idiomatic expressions seem to have
found acceptance in formal communications as well.

Learning Insights
Idioms cause your mind to shift from the reality of your
situation to the abstract thought of the analogy or concept they
reference. They keep your mind stimulated and focused. They
provide an outlet for expressive communication and a way for
different people to say the same thing but with different
circumstantial allusions.
 LESSON 17

READING TECHNIQUE – SQ3R

SQ3R is a reading comprehension method named for its five

steps: survey, question, read, recite, and review. The method was
introduced by Francis P. Robinson, an American education
philosopher in his 1946 book Effective Study.

Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review are very important

aspects when it comes to technique in reading.

Learning Insights

Reading Technique helps you remember some of the

important concepts or ideas which is a lot better than those who
never use any technique. Having a technique is just like having a
comprehension when it comes to reading. It is pretty obvious that
everything is useless if you don’t have a little bit of understanding
about what you read.
 LESSON 18

NOTING DETAILS

Details are important because they provide information about

story characters and setting, they help readers know what a
character is feeling or thinking, details provide you information
about a certain topic, details help you understand major and
minor points, give story a particular mood and details can be
found in text or illustrations.

Learning Insights
Not all reading selections are as simplistic as 'Cinderella,' so
you may be wondering how to find those important specific details in
other works. There are many strategies to use for any type of
passage, like underlining key phrases. Typically, for any length of
passage, underlining around two to three important key phrases in
each paragraph will help you later on when trying to find other
details. However, knowing what type of selection you are reading can
also help to find specific details.
 LESSON 16

SKIMMING AND SCANNING

Scanning is reading rapidly in order to find specific facts. While

skimming tells you what general information is within a section,
scanning helps you locate a particular fact. Skimming is like
snorkeling, and scanning is more like pearl diving.

Use skimming in previewing (reading before you read),

reviewing (reading after you read), determining the main idea from a
long selection you don't wish to read, or when trying to find source
material for a research paper. Use scanning in research to find
particular facts, to study fact-heavy topics, and to answer questions
requiring factual support.

Learning Insights
To skim, prepare yourself to move rapidly through the pages.
You will not read every word; you will pay special attention to
typographical cues-headings, boldface and italic type, indenting,
bulleted and numbered lists. You will be alert for key words and
phrases, the names of people and places, dates, nouns, and
unfamiliar words.

Scanning, too, uses keywords and organizational cues. The goal

of scanning is to locate on particular facts.
 LESSON 19

IDENTIFYING TOPICS, MAIN IDEAS, AND SUPPORTING

DETAILS

A paragragh is a group of sentences related to a particular

topic or a central theme.

The main Idea is the key concept being expressed by the text
or paragraph. The sentence in which the main idea is stated is the
topic sentence.

It is important to find main ideas when reading because you

can’t comprehend the subject matter if you haven’t identified the
topic, the main idea and the supporting details.

Learning Insights
Every paragraph has a key concept or main idea. The main
idea is the most important piece of information the author wants you
to know about the concept of that paragraph. When authors write
they have an idea in mind that they are trying to get across. This is
especially true as authors compose paragraphs. An author organizes
each paragraph's main idea and supporting details in support of the
topic or central theme, and each paragraph supports the paragraph
preceding it.
 LESSON 20

MAKING INFERENCES

Making an inference is also called reading between the lines.

Writers often tell you more than they frankly say. They give
you hints and clues that help you read between the lines. Using these
clues to give you a deeper understanding of your reading is called
inferring.

Readers who make inferences use the clues in the text along
with their own experiences to help them figure out what is not
directly said, making the text personal and memorable.

Learning Insights
Inference is drawing conclusions based on information that has
been implied rather than directly stated and is an
essential skill in reading comprehension. We make inferences every
day, both in oral and written communication. Many times this is so
automatic we don't even realize the information wasn't included in
the conversation or text.

Most of the information we get from reading comes from what

is implied rather than direct statements as you can see from the
amount of information we got from "reading between the lines." It is
through inferences that words take on meaning.