This slideshow presents the way in which sentences can be broken down into meaningful units to facilitate reading comprehension

1. Building Blocks of
Meaning
Strategy for Improving Reading Comprehension

2. What Are The Building Blocks?
It is possible to break down sentences and even longer passages into
the following:
1. The action (The verb of the sentence)
2. The actor (The subject of the sentence)
3. The circumstances (The situation and/or details surrounding the
action and actor)
Practicing this can help to give you a clearer mental picture of what is
going on in the passage.

3. How To Identify The Building Blocks?
ACTION ACTOR CIRCUMSTANCES
Verb Subject The situation and/or details
surrounding the action and
actor
Ask yourself:
What is happening? What is the
action?
Ask yourself:
Who or what is performing the
action?
Ask yourself:
Who or what is performing the
action…where?
…when?
…why?
…how?
…to /with whom?

4. Example
The cow chased Kieron around the savannah.
ACTION ACTOR CIRCUMSTANCES
Verb Subject The situation and/or details
surrounding the action and
actor
What is the action?
Chased
Who or what chased?
The cow
The cow chased whom?
Kieron
The cow chased Kieron
where?
Around the savannah

5. Example
The lightning split the tree in half.
ACTION ACTOR CIRCUMSTANCES
Verb Subject The situation and/or details
surrounding the action and
actor
What is happening? What is
the action?
split
Who or what split?
The lightning
The lightning split what?
the tree
The lightning split the tree
how?
in half

6. More Complex Sentences
Hoping to place first in the exam, Sunita studied all night.
ACTION ACTOR CIRCUMSTANCES
Verb Subject The situation and/or details
surrounding the action and
actor
What is happening? What is
the action?
You may notice that there are a few action
words in the sentence: “hoping”, “to place”
and “studied”. Focus on what is actively
happening in this sentence. What is the
main action?
studied
Who or what studied?
Sunita
Sunita studied when?
all night
Sunita studied all night why?
Hoping to place first in the
exam

7. More Complex Sentences
In the previous example, we see that even though Sunita is not at the
start of the sentence, she is the main actor and so, is the subject.
Realising that “hoping to place first in the exam” is part of the
circumstance rather than the main action, helps us to understand that
this phrase is modifying the main action of the sentence: Sunita
studying. In other words, it gives us more detail about Sunita’s action of
studying.
Breaking down the sentence in this way also helps us to see the cause
and effect relationship between Sunita’s wants and her actions.

8. Summary
• To have a clearer understanding of what is going on in a sentence or
passage, it is helpful to break it down into its units of meaning or its
“building blocks of meaning”
• The building blocks of meaning are: the action, the subject and the
circumstance.
- To identify the action, ask “What is happening/What is the action?”
- To identify the subject, ask “Who or What is doing the action?”
- To identify the circumstance, ask “Who or what is performing the action how,
where, when, why or to/with whom?