INSERT is a reading strategy that uses symbols to code a text and monitor your understanding: a check mark confirms prior knowledge, a minus sign indicates a contradiction, a question mark represents confusion, and a plus sign means you learned something new. The strategy is intended to help readers keep track of their comprehension and reaction to ideas in a text.

1. INSERT
INSERT is a strategy that will help you monitor your
thinking as you read. Use the following symbols to code
the text.
✔ Confirms what you already knew—
“I knew that!”
Contradicts what you thought—
- “I thought differently.”
? Confuses you—“I don’t understand this.”
+ Something new—“I didn’t know that!”
Copyright 2003 IRA/NCTE. All rights reserved. ReadWriteThink
materials may be reproduced for educational purposes.
Image copyright 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.