Page 2 - Active Skills for Reading Intro Book

What Is ACTIVE Reading?

ACTIVE reading is an approach to reading, advocated by Neil J Anderson, that focuses on the following elements:

A = Activate Prior Knowledge
• Activation of background knowledge improves reading comprehension.
• Getting Ready and Before You Read sections elicit learners' prior knowledge, and generate interest in
the topic, through use of visual prompts and questions.
C = Cultivate Vocabulary

• Vocabulary plays a crucial role in the development of reading ability.
• Vocabulary Comprehension sections in each unit examine vocabulary items encountered in the main
reading passage.
• Vocabulary Skill sections provide learners with explicit skills-based instruction in how to learn, process,
and decipher new vocabulary.
T Think About Meaning
• In addition to testing for comprehension, the ACTIVE approach encourages learners to think deeply about
the meaning of the text.
• Check Your Understanding questions focus learners on the main ideas and key details of the text.
• Critical Thinking questions require learners to go beyond reading comprehension to analyze each text and
the author's intent.

Increase Reading Fluency
• Conscious development of reading rate and comprehension are key ingredients in building reading fluency.
• Tips for Fluent Reading (pages 8 and 9) encourage learners to become more aware of their own reading habits.
• Four Review Units reinforce learners' use of strategies and provide additional reading fluency practice.
V Verify Strategies

• Learners are encouraged to be aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it, as they read.
• Reading strategies are presented in the Reading Skill sections, the Vocabulary Skill sections, and the
Real Life Skill section in each unit.
• Self Check sections in each Review Unit require learners to monitor the effectiveness of their own use
of strategies.
E Evaluate Progress
• Both qualitative and quantitative evaluation of learners' progress is advocated.
• The Reading Rate Chart and the Reading Comprehension Chart allow learners to plot their achievements
in building reading fluency.
• What Do You Think? sections provide opportunities for learners to show comprehension of the unit theme,
through verbal or written discussion.

For more information on his ACTIVE reading methodology, see Neil J Anderson's professional title Exploring Second
Language Reading: Issues and Strategies, part of National Geographic Learning's TeacherSource series (ISBN:
0-8384-6685-0) as well as his online professional development course, ELT Advantage: Teaching ESL/EFL Reading