How to teach fix-up strategies

Today we’re tackling fix-up strategies. What are they, and how can you help your readers use them?

What are fix-up strategies?

Fix-up strategies are what good readers use when they come to an unfamiliar word or when they stop understanding what they’re reading.

Fix-up strategies aren’t just for our students. Adult readers use them all the time! Think about the last time you read a challenging text. Maybe it was a complicated instruction manual. Perhaps it was a scholarly article, memoir, or even your latest novel.

When you read a whole paragraph and realize that you don’t remember a thing, you go back and re-read. You read the challenging part a little more slowly. You stop to think about what you’ve read and check any graphs, charts, and captions to support your understanding.

You fix-up your reading.

How to teach fix-up strategies to K-2

An excellent to teach fix-up strategies is to model them during whole class Read Alouds.  It’s also important to explicitly teach them during whole class mini-lessons.

But I’ve found that my teaching is extra meaningful when I teach fix-up strategies one-on-one.

Whether you’re listening to students read at the guided reading table or in individual conferences, you can teach them to use fix-up strategies with the following prompts.

When the reader doesn’t know a word, you can say ...

• Look at the picture.
• Look at the first letter of the word.
• Do you see any parts of the word that you know?
• Skip it and read to the end of the sentence. Then go back to it.
• What would make sense?
• Sound it out.
• Does that sound like people talk?

When comprehension breaks down, you can say …

• Where did it stop making sense?
• Did you understand that sentence?
• What part was confusing to you?
• Go back and re-read that part.
• Retell what you’ve read so far.
• What do you think will happen next?
• Try reading the confusing part more slowly.
• Let’s look at the pictures and captions. How can they help you understand what you’re reading?
• Create a picture in your mind as you read.

Grab this related free printable!

• Fix-up strategies bookmark and poster

More resources you’ll love!

Stock images via iStock.

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