Reading and reflecting

Reading and reflecting

1. Reading and Reflecting Dr. Rohit Bagthariya Assistant professor, H.M. Patel Institute of English Training and Research, Vallabh Vidyanagar , Anand .

2. “There's a big difference between being able to read words and being able to comprehend the meaning of the sentences.”

3. What is reading ? Reading a text is going through a text or understanding a text . " Reading" is the process of looking at a series of written symbols and getting meaning from them. When we read, we use our eyes to receive written symbols letters, punctuation marks and spaces and we use our brain to convert them into words, sentences and paragraphs that communicate something to us .

4. Reading can be silent (in our head) or aloud (so that other people can hear). Reading is a receptive skill - through it we receive information. But the complex process of reading also requires the skill of speaking, so that we can pronounce the words that we read. Reading is also a productive skill in that we are both receiving information and transmitting it (even if only to ourselves ).

5. Reading can be seen as an “interactive” process between a reader and a text which leads to automaticity or (reading fluency). In this process, the reader interacts dynamically with the text as he/she tries to elicit the meaning and where various kinds of knowledge are being used: linguistic or systemic knowledge (through bottom-up processing) as well as schematic knowledge (through top-down processing ).

6. Reading can be seen as a larger activity and not just reading only of pages or words . Reading the situation helps managing life .

7. What do we read?

8. Why do we read? There are two main reasons for reading Reading for pleasure Reading for purpose

9. R eader’s purpose Reading to find main idea: Reading of fiction is usually done for this purpose. Here the student may select a sentence or a title that best expresses the main idea. Reading to answer question: The teacher asks some questions pertaining to the given paragraph. This will lead the students to read and find the suitable answers . Reading to select significant details: Here the reader should not only differentiate between main points and supporting details but also decides the important point which he has in mind.

10. Reading to arrive at generalization: Here the student frames and guesses riddles, find out the right conclusion out of many formulates discuss the effect of certain events etc. Reading to summarize and organize: According to this, student performs many activities, answering question, drawing pictures to tell main events of story, arranging the correct items with answers given in mixed up order, studying the table of contents etc. Reading to follow direction: The student follows written direction e.g. ‘keep left’ reads direction for a game and then follows them .

11. Reading graphs, tables, charts and maps: The student answers questions from a given data on a calendar, graphs, tables and maps. Reading to predicate outcomes: This shows that students discusses why things happened as they did in a paragraph or a story, estimates the answer in some type of arithmetic problems , evaluates the plan in terms of expected outcomes etc .

12. Reading to evaluate critically: According to this, the reader applies some standard of judgment or makes comparisons and appraisals to determine the relevance validity of the material and sincerity of author’s views. The student decides whether the story is real or fanciful, determines whether the author is qualified to conclude that way, gives book reviews etc.

13. There’s a reading genre for every literate person on the planet, and whether your tastes lie in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books, self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination. Step away from your mobile for a little while, crack open a book, and replenish your soul for a little while.

14. Some Quotes “Books don’t change people; paragraphs do, Sometimes even sentences .” – John Piper “A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.” – Neil Gaiman “ A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R. R. Martin “You’re never alone when you’re reading a book.” – Susan Wiggs “Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself.” – Angela Carter “Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.” – Abraham Lincoln “A book is a device to ignite the imagination.” – Alan Bennett

15. What is reflecting ? Reflecting a text is producing your deeper understanding which comes after reading. When you read between the lines you actually reflect it . Reflection is the process of considering an experience, idea, or feeling in light of other experiences, ideas, or feelings .

16. To reflect on reading is to take the ideas and sense impressions, the mood and expressions that the author has conveyed to by language, and compare them to other mental constructs such as your own experiences, beliefs, values, or other texts you have read, or other ideas or sense impressions within the the text itself .

17. Reflection might involve questions like: Does this author’s account agree with my own life experience in the world? What values or philosophical outlook are expressed by the author, either explicitly or by implication? Do I agree? Why or why not?

18. Reflecting about the meaning of a text might result in: a connection between your own life and the text; a connection between other readings and the text; a connection between the social/political world and the text; making a visual image of the meaning of the text; making an inference about the underlying meaning of the text; generating questions about the text (this is a more important comprehension strategy than most readers realize); evaluating the importance of the text; or summarizing and determining the most important messages in the text

19. Book Review format Basic information of the text (Title, Author, year of publication, publisher, city, editor, etc.) * Summer/ key points of the text * My views * Merits or demerits** Suggestions** Educational implication** Learning outcomes** Conclusion** * compulsory **Optional