1.  Predict:  Try to figure out what might happen next.  Then read on to see how accurate your guesses were.

2.  Visualize:  Picture the people, places, and events being described to help you understand what's happening.

3.  Connect:  Connect personally with what you're reading.  Think of similarities between what is being described and what you have experienced, heard about, or read about.

4.  Question:  Ask questions about events in the material you're reading.  What happened?  Why?  How do the people involved feel about the events?  Searching for reasons can help you feel closer to what you are reading.

5.  Clarify:  From time to time, review your understanding of what you read.  You can do this by summarizing what you have read, identifying the main idea, and inferences- drawing conclusions from the information you are given.  Reread passages you don't understand.  If you need to, consult a dictionary, glossary, or other source.

6.  Evaluate:  Form opinions about what you read, both while you're reading and after you've finished  Develop your own ideas about people, places, and events.

Source:  Language of Literature.  Boston: McDougal Littell, 2002.