How+to+know+you're+stuck+reading

1. The voice inside your head isn’t interacting with the text. Good readers have two types of voices in their head as they read. One is them reciting the text. The other has a conversation with the text, in a sense talking back to the words on the page. Sometimes it asks questions. It can agree or disagree with the content. This voice interacts with the ideas on the page. When you only hear yourself saying the words, you are confused or bored and won’t remember what you have read.

2. The camera inside your head shuts off. Good readers have a video camera playing inside their head as they read. When the camera shuts off and you can no longer get a visual image from the words, it is an indication that meaning has been interrupted.

3. Your mind begins to wander. Good readers catch themselves when they are thinking about something unrelated to the text. Thinking about something far removed from the material is a signal that you must reconnect with your reading.

4. You can’t remember what has been read. Good readers can usually retell some part of what they have read. If you can’t remember anything at all, it is a signal you need to go back and repair meaning.

5. Clarifying questions you ask yourself are not answered. Good readers ask literal questions to clarify meaning. When these questions don’t get answered, it is an indication that you need more background knowledge or are not focused on the text.

6. You reencounter a character and have no recollection when that character was introduced. Good readers keep track of characters and know who they are. When you reencounter a character and have no recollection who that character is, it is a signal that you weren’t paying attention and need to repair something that has caused meaning to break down.