Reading and reflecting

1. Reading and Reflecting
Dr. Rohit Bagthariya
Assistant professor,
H.M. Patel Institute of English Training and Research,
Vallabh Vidyanagar, Anand.

2. “There's a big difference between being able to
read words and being able to comprehend the
meaning of the sentences.”

3. What is reading ?
 Reading a text is going through a text or
understanding a text .
 "Reading" is the process of looking at a series of
written symbols and getting meaning from them.
 When we read, we use our eyes to receive written
symbols letters, punctuation marks and spaces
and we use our brain to convert them into words,
sentences and paragraphs that communicate
something to us.

4.  Reading can be silent (in our head) or aloud
(so that other people can hear).
 Reading is a receptive skill - through it we receive
information. But the complex process of reading
also requires the skill of speaking, so that we can
pronounce the words that we read.
 Reading is also a productive skill in that we are
both receiving information and transmitting it
(even if only to ourselves).

5.  Reading can be seen as an “interactive” process
between a reader and a text which leads to
automaticity or (reading fluency). In this process,
the reader interacts dynamically with the text as
he/she tries to elicit the meaning and where
various kinds of knowledge are being used:
linguistic or systemic knowledge (through bottom-
up processing) as well as schematic knowledge
(through top-down processing).

6.  Reading can be seen as a larger activity and not
just reading only of pages or words.
 Reading the situation helps managing life.

7. What do we read?

8. Why do we read?
There are two main reasons for reading
 Reading for pleasure
 Reading for purpose

9. Reader’s purpose
 Reading to find main idea: Reading of fiction is usually
done for this purpose. Here the student may select a
sentence or a title that best expresses the main idea.
 Reading to answer question: The teacher asks some
questions pertaining to the given paragraph. This will lead
the students to read and find the suitable answers.
 Reading to select significant details: Here the reader
should not only differentiate between main points and
supporting details but also decides the important point
which he has in mind.

10.  Reading to arrive at generalization: Here the student
frames and guesses riddles, find out the right conclusion
out of many formulates discuss the effect of certain
events etc.
 Reading to summarize and organize: According to this,
student performs many activities, answering question,
drawing pictures to tell main events of story, arranging
the correct items with answers given in mixed up order,
studying the table of contents etc.
 Reading to follow direction: The student follows written
direction e.g. ‘keep left’ reads direction for a game and
then follows them.

11.  Reading graphs, tables, charts and maps: The student
answers questions from a given data on a calendar,
graphs, tables and maps.
 Reading to predicate outcomes: This shows that students
discusses why things happened as they did in a paragraph
or a story, estimates the answer in some type of
arithmetic problems, evaluates the plan in terms of
expected outcomes etc.

12.  Reading to evaluate critically: According to this, the
reader applies some standard of judgment or makes
comparisons and appraisals to determine the relevance
validity of the material and sincerity of author’s views.
The student decides whether the story is real or fanciful,
determines whether the author is qualified to conclude
that way, gives book reviews etc.

13. There’s a reading genre for every literate
person on the planet, and whether your
tastes lie in classical literature, poetry,
fashion magazines, biographies, religious
texts, young adult books, self-help guides,
street lit, or romance novels, there’s
something out there to capture your
curiosity and imagination. Step away from
your mobile for a little while, crack open a
book, and replenish your soul for a little
while.

14. Some Quotes
 “Books don’t change people; paragraphs do, Sometimes even
sentences.” – John Piper
 “A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.” – Neil Gaiman
 “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who
never reads lives only one.” – George R. R. Martin
 “You’re never alone when you’re reading a book.” – Susan Wiggs
 “Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself.” – Angela
Carter
 “Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his
aren’t very new after all.” – Abraham Lincoln
 “A book is a device to ignite the imagination.” – Alan Bennett

15. What is reflecting ?
 Reflecting a text is producing your deeper
understanding which comes after reading. When
you read between the lines you actually reflect it.
 Reflection is the process of considering an
experience, idea, or feeling in light of other
experiences, ideas, or feelings.

16.  To reflect on reading is to take the ideas and
sense impressions, the mood and expressions that
the author has conveyed to by language, and
compare them to other mental constructs such as
your own experiences, beliefs, values, or other
texts you have read, or other ideas or sense
impressions within the the text itself.

17.  Reflection might involve questions like: Does this
author’s account agree with my own life
experience in the world? What values or
philosophical outlook are expressed by the author,
either explicitly or by implication? Do I agree?
Why or why not?

18. Reflecting about the meaning of a text might result in:
 a connection between your own life and the text;
 a connection between other readings and the text;
 a connection between the social/political world and the text;
 making a visual image of the meaning of the text;
 making an inference about the underlying meaning of the text;
 generating questions about the text (this is a more important
comprehension strategy than most readers realize);
 evaluating the importance of the text; or
 summarizing and determining the most important messages in the text

19. Book Review format
 Basic information of the text (Title, Author, year of publication, publisher,
city, editor, etc.)*
 Summer/ key points of the text*
 My views*
 Merits or demerits**
 Suggestions**
 Educational implication**
 Learning outcomes**
 Conclusion**
*compulsory **Optional