Set purpose for reading

If you see readers who . . .

• rush through the text or skip over key elements of what they are reading.
• have a difficult time choosing to read or even choosing a book.
• struggle to stay with a book.

Readers who know why they are reading and what they want to get from the text are more active and engaged.

Before you start reading, you need to look at the text and think, Why am I reading this? Is it for fun? To learn something new? To meet a need? Once you know this, you can determine how to approach the text.

We bring in different reading material and model how reading changes as the purpose and text change.

Your purpose for reading will usually be one or more of the following:

• to gain information
• to learn how to do something
• to solve a problem
• to form an opinion
• to be entertained

Knowing the purpose can also help you decide what you want to read. For example, when you're reading for pleasure or to be entertained, you will read more quickly and be focused on fun, but if you're reading for new ideas, you most likely need to slow down and read more carefully, slowly, and deliberately.

Suggested language:

• What do you like to read about?
• What adjustments will you make when reading this text?
• What can you expect to learn from this book?
• What do you already know about this text or topic?
• Ask yourself questions while you are reading to stay engaged.

Possible ways to differentiate instruction:

• Ask students to state their purpose for reading each time before they begin reading.
• Have student write their purpose down and reflect to see if they have to change their approach while reading.
• Discuss with students how it is helping them stick with a book and/or accomplish more reading.
• Discuss the link between the author's purpose and Set a Purpose for Reading.

Reconsider materials, setting, instruction, and cognitive processes.

These strategies may provide support before, during, and after teaching this strategy:

• Determine and Analyze Author's Purpose and Support with Text
• Read Voraciously
• Use Prior Knowledge to Predict and Connect with Text