Hannum's Reading and 
Study Skills Tips and Strategies
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GOOD READERS CAN:

• Use pictures to help figure out new words.  
• Predict what will happen next and revise any incorrect conclusion or predictions.  
• Use letter sounds to figure out words.  
• Make pictures in their heads from the words.  
• Ask themselves, “Does this make sense?”  If it doesn’t, they go back and reread it.  
• Use words they know and surrounding sentences to figure out new words.  
• Think about what they would feel like if they were in the story.  
• Figure out why characters do what they do.  
• Watch for punctuation marks.
• Use expressive voices when reading out loud.  
• Think about what they already know about the topic.  
• Skip words that they don’t know or can’t sound out.  They take a smart guess using context. They don’t need to know every word to know what’s happening. If the meaning depends on these words, they ask for help or look them up.  
• Break words into parts.  
• Read different materials different ways.  They slow down or speed up to better understand what they are reading.
• ask what do they want to find out before they begin reading
• ask how can they use what they just read