“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting”.

– Edmund Burke, British

Philosopher 

REFLECTION: Reflection is thinking for an extended period by linking recent experiences

to earlier ones in order to promote more complex and interrelated mental schema or patterns.
It involves looking for commonalities, differences and interrelations beyond their superfacial
elements. The goal is to develop higher order thinking skills.

According to Osteman and Kohkamp, 1993 Reflection is, : “a means by which practitioners
can develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their
performance, an awareness that creates opportunities for professional growth and
development.”

Reflective readers read a textbook using different mindset. They reflect on the justification of
their own assumptions, beliefs and values.

Reflective reading means reading with deep thinking about something. It means being
mediative.

It is important to reflect what we read by making analyses and evaluations so as to increase

our understanding and knowledge. Reflection also ensures that we are
more discerning about the information surrounding us.

Different strategies to help students become reflective readers

In order to become reflective readers, students need to learn how to become active readers.
Rather than just reading the words on the page, students need to be able to make connections
with the story they are reading. Reading comprehension is necessary in order for students to
understand a text that is read, and in order for students to become reflective readers. Three
strategies that are extremely helpful in building comprehension and developing reflective
readers are: Making Connections, Asking Questions, and Understanding Inference.

STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING COMPREHENSION & CREATING REFLECTIVE

READERS

1. Making Connections (Text to self, text to text, and text to life)

 Students need to learn to make connections between the story and their own lives.

 Teachers need to help students recognize the connections that exist between the characters in
their story world, and the real world.

 By drawing attention to the similarities and/or differences, students can begin to bridge the
world of fiction and reality, making the process of reading a more personal act, than a passive
one.

 Allowing students to choose topics that interest them is a great way to enable students to
make those types of connections, opening the door for personal connection and reflection.
 2. Asking Questions (what you don’t get, what do you get, which words you don’t
understand, what other questions do you have, what do you wonder about as you read)

 Students need to feel comfortable in asking questions about the story, and since not all
students will be outspoken about their questions, guided questions are a great way to
encourage students to think about specific questions while they are completing their reading.

 Question guides, whether broken up by chapters or grouped in several sections, can help
students as they make their way through a text.

 Asking students to compose their own questions to ask of the class can be helpful in
promoting group discussions about the story.

 Writing questions/answers down on the board can help promote classroom discussions

 Questions should not only include answers that are specific to the story, but ones that involve
personal thought/reflection as well.

 Students can write short, informal responses in their journal practicing personal reflection
either before or after a discussion regarding a story that is being read.

 Reflective readers can not only identify relevant points in a text, but are also able to
summarize main points through personal reflection.

 Asking questions helps to keep the person focussed on the text.

3. Determine Importance:

Teachers can help students to pick and choose, which details are the most important to
remember. Anything one read contains a lot of information. One cannot remember
everything. By deciding what is important, one don’t have to remember everything. We can
prioritize the information we need in order to understand

4. Infer and Predict:

 Teachers can help students to recognize connections that exist in a story by explaining
inference

 Inference requires students to read beyond the words on the page

 Inference requires one to take that which is stated in text and connect it with one's personal
thoughts/expectations

 Teachers can have students practice making inferences by providing them with examples
within daily life, as well as guide them in making inferences within the story being read.

 Good readers are like detectives. They use clues to determine what is happening in a story.
This is called inference. They also make educated guesses about what may happen later in the
story. They use the author’s hints to predict what will most likely occur.

5. Visualize: Visualisation means picturing the images the author creates with his/her words
in mind. Teacher should guide the students to pay close attention to sensory details. For e.g. if
 you were there what would you see, hear, smell, taste, touch and feel? If the reader does not
picture the events of the story, he/she will get bored. The author’s job is to paint pictures in
the reader’s mind. The reader’s job is to visualize what the author describes.

6. Synthesize: Synthesize is a fancy way of saying that one must bring everything together in
the end. In other words, what is the meaning of what one is reading? Reader should ask
oneself, What does it all mean? What’s the big idea? Are there questions still left
unanswered? What are the lessons i should learn? What do i think about this book?

7. Use fix up strategies: During reading if reader feels that he/she is not understanding the
material than reader should use corrective strategies to help them figure out what went
wrong. Readers can use fix up strategies like Re-read, underline, use of dictionary, read
aloud, etc.

ADVANTAGES:

1. The readers are able to enjoy to the maximum and they seek pleasure when they are asked to
reflect on the text.
2. They gain confidence.
3. There is more and more of inner satisfaction on the part of reader. This naturally has a
healthy impact on their personality.
4. The readers get self – motivated.
5. It stimulates the imagination of the students.
6. It develops divergent thinking abilities.

COMPONENTS OF REFLECTIVE READING:

1. OBSERVATION: Observation is the habit of observing or noticing. It is active acquisition

of information from a primary source. Reflective reading includes keen observation.
2. ANALYSIS: It involves a method of studying the nature of text or reading material and of
determining its essential features and their relations.
It is a thorough study or a detailed examination of reading material in order to understand its
nature or to determine its essential features.
3. INTERPRETATION: It is an act or process of interpretating, explaining or reframing an
understanding of the text. Interpretation requires first to understand the text, language or
idea and then explaining the same. It means exploring the text.
4. REFLECTION: It involves writing a personal response by reflecting on text, summarising
the main idea in a single short paragraph asking oneself “What is the meaning for me?”
Identifying aspects one agree and disagree with and explaining why, finding literature that
critique the text, reflecting on how others ideas help clarify thoughts.
5. EVALUATION: Evaluation means making judgements. It is a complex strategy that
includes determining importance of information in written text, determining accuracy and
credibility, determining appropriateness and/or useful, determining personal enjoyment of a
text and determining one’s own progress as a reader.
6. INFERENCE: A text does not contain a meaning. Reflective readers construct meaning by
what they take the words to mean and how they process sentences to find meaning. Readers
construct meaning by what they take the words to mean and how they process sentences to
find meaning. Readers draw inferences on their knowledge of the language and of
 conventions of social communication. They also draw on other factors such as knowledge
of the author, the occasion or the audience. They infer unstated meanings based on social
conventions, shared knowledge, shared experience or shared values. They make sense of
remarks by recognizing implications and drawing conclusions. Readers read ideas more
than find meaning.
7. EXPLANATION: It is process of explaining. Reflective reader possesses the ability to give
detailed explanation of the text read. His explanation is always clear and easy to understand.
8. PROBLEM SOLVING: Reflective reading is essentially a problem solving task.
Comprehending what is read like problem solving requires effort, planning, self-monitoring,
strategy selection and reflection. Readers who approach reading as a problem solving
activity take an active and strategic approach to reading and are metacognitively aware of
how well they understand what they read.
9. ANALYTICAL THINKING: Analytical thinking is a critical component of visual
thinking that gives one the ability to solve problems quickly and effectively. It involves a
methodical step-by-step approach to thinking that allows one to break down complex
problems into single and manageable components. Reflective Readers are able to think
analytically.
10. CRITICAL THINKING: Reflective reading involves critical analysis of the material read.
It involves active and skilful conceptualization analysis, synthesis and evaluation to reach a
conclusion
11. CREATIVE THINKING: Reflective reading involves creative thinking. Reflective reader
thinks creatively to derive the hidden meaning of the reading material.
12. CURIOSITY: Curiosity is another important component of reflective reading. It is the
curiosity of reflective reader that enables him to reflect on text, understand it and summarize
the main idea.
13. WIDE VOCABULARY: Rich vocabulary is an essential perquisite for reflective reading.

FACTORS

1. Background Knowledge

Background knowledge plays an essential role in reflective reading. In an effort to

comprehend a text, students rely on their background knowledge to link what they already
know to the text they are reading. Background knowledge includes both a reader’s real-world
experiences and literary knowledge. Drawing parallels between background knowledge and
texts helps students become active readers, improving their reading comprehension.
2. Vocabulary
Whether or not students have mastered vocabulary skills affects their reflective reading
comprehension. Students must be able to comprehend a familiar word and its relationship
with other words within a text. Mastering vocabulary includes recognizing a word’s part of
speech, definition, useful context clues, and how it functions in a sentence. These vocabulary
strategies can help improve comprehension.
3. Fluency
Reading with fluency allows students to retain information with accuracy, expression and
increased speed. The ability to read fluently develops through reading practice. As students
become fluent readers, they will spend less time trying to decipher the meaning of words and
more time considering the overall meaning of the sentences. Over time, fluent readers will
develop the ability to insightfully respond to a text.
4. Active Reading
Beginning readers often rely on skilled readers to guide them through a text. However, as
readers develop, they will be able to monitor their own reading comprehension. Students can
actively guide their own reading by targeting comprehension problems as they occur.
Students can troubleshoot comprehension problems by recalling what they read, asking
themselves questions or evaluating the text.
5. Critical Thinking
Students can actively respond to a text more efficiently when they possess critical thinking
skills. As students read, they can determine the main idea and supporting details, the
sequence of events and the overall structure of the text. Students will also be able to identify
literary devices and their effect on the text. Having critical thinking skills help to deepen a
student’s comprehension of a text, resulting in a positive reading experience.
6. Ability to concentrate: 

Some students are better able to sit and concentrate while others are squirmy. Ability to
concentrate on text helps a reader to comphrend and respond effectively.

7. Comprehension Strategies:

Students actively direct their reading, monitor their understanding, and troubleshoot problems
when they occur. Thus, comprehension strategies effect reflective reading of text.

8. Motivation:

Motivated students are more engaged in reading, are more confident, and more likely to
comprehend and reflect successfully.