STRATEGY FOCUS
FIX-UP STRATEGY
PURPOSE
Fix-Up strategies are used during reading and can be used in all content areas to help improve student understanding of the text. It is not effective to simply tell students to monitor their reading comprehension. They need to be taught how to monitor their comprehension and how to use Fix-Up strategies through explicit instruction with modeling and guided practice. When students monitor their reading comprehension (i.e., metacognition) and realize they don’t understand what they just read, Fix-Up strategies can help improve their understanding of text and assist students in developing the skills to self-regulate their reading.
| Stop and Think | Pause at the end of a paragraph, section, or page to check for understanding. |
| Ask Questions | Ask yourself questions about what you just read, such as “What is the main idea of what I just read?” or “What is important about what I just read?” |
| Reread | Go back to reread a word, sentence, paragraph, or previous section of the text to resolve a misunderstanding. |
| Slow Down | Slow down your pace if the text isn’t making sense. |
| Read Out Loud | Read it out loud if the text is confusing. |
| Keep Reading | Read on to see if confusion is clarified. If not, go back and try another Fix-Up strategy. |
| Use Context Clues | Reread parts of the text to find clues or information you might have missed. Reread the words around an unknown word to figure out its meaning. |
| Use Word Attack Skills |
If you don’t know a word, you can:
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| Use Text Features | Look at headings, titles, diagrams, graphs, charts, or pictures. |
PROCESS
- Prepare for the lesson. Determine which Fix Up strategy you want to teach. Read the text ahead of time to plan a Read Aloud/Think Aloud (p. 150) to model your own reading comprehension and use of the strategy.
- Define or explain the strategy.
- Explain the purpose of the strategy.
- Model how to use the strategy through a Read Aloud/Think Aloud. Demonstrate how to stop at the end of a paragraph, section or page, check for understanding, and use the Fix-Up strategy.
- Facilitate guided practice with the students.
PROBING QUESTIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
- How do Fix Up strategies help you make sense of the text?
- Are there certain Fix Up strategies that you use more often than others? Why?
- How has using Fix Up strategies changed how you read text?
- How were you struggling with the text, and how did the Fix-Up strategy help?
- Facilitate small and whole group discussion around student comprehension of independently read text and which Fix Up strategies they use to help understand what they are reading.
- Ask students to use sticky notes to track their use of Fix Up strategies.
- Fix Up strategies can be paired with other strategies as students read and make sense of the text.