Monitoring Comprehension in Dense Texts

Notice when understanding breaks down and use fix-up strategies to repair it.

Skilled readers constantly check whether they understand, and they notice quickly when they do not. This is called monitoring comprehension. Warning signs include reaching the end of a paragraph and not remembering it, being unable to summarize what you just read, or meeting several unknown words in a row. When that happens, use a fix-up strategy. Reread the confusing part slowly, perhaps aloud. Read ahead a sentence or two, since later text often clarifies.

Break long sentences into chunks and identify who is doing what. Look at headings and visuals to reorient. Paraphrase each sentence in your own words. Try it on: 'The mineral, which forms only under intense pressure deep below the surface and is therefore rarely found in the shallow deposits that miners usually explore, commands a high price. ' Chunk it: the mineral forms deep under pressure; so it is rarely found where miners usually dig; so it is expensive. Three simple ideas were hiding in one sentence.

• 1Notice when you stop understanding.
• 2Fix-ups: reread, read ahead, chunk, paraphrase.
• 3Long sentences often hide several simple ideas.