7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help your Kids Read It and Get It! by Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchins
Listed Below are the 7 strategies from the book 7 Keys to Comprehension. The strategy column is on the far left. A description of each strategy is in the middle column, and comments that readers may use while using a certain strategy are in the far right column.
7 Keys Strategy	Description of Strategy	Student Comment
Sensory Images/ Visualizing	When reading a text, a movie should be running in our minds. When readers think about sight, sounds, taste, touch, and smell they are using sensory images. Drawing pictures can also help us visualize what we are reading.	“I pictured the village in my head.” “I think the character would look like…” “I could smell the apple pie baking.”
Making Connections	Readers can make connections from information in a book to themselves, other texts, and to the world. Tapping into background knowledge helps readers make connections. Asking what the text reminds a reader of, can help a reader make connections.	“This reminds me of…” TS (Text to Self) When I went on a vacation to… TT (Text to Text) Another book I read about whales TW (Text to World) How the character changed is like how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly.
Questioning	What do you predict is going to happen? Does reading the text raise further questions? The reader needs to read on to answer the questions. Questioning helps the reader create a dialog with the page and think critically. Some questions we bring to our reading will not be answered. Questions can be asked before reading, during reading, and after reading a text.	“I wonder if…” Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Who is causing the problem? What will happen next? Where will they go? When did people get electricity in their homes? Why did the character make that choice? How do you make peanut butter?
Drawing Inferences	Drawing an inference is drawing a conclusion and going beyond what is in the text. Inferencing is using background knowledge and making an educated guess to go beyond what is written on the page.	“Charlie went off by himself. He had been left out of the game. I think Charlie was sad.”
Determining Importance	Determining what is important and what is not important. What is the main idea? What facts are important in this text? How would I summarize this text? What details should I leave out that are not important?	“Some important information from the article was…” “To summarize this book is about…”
Synthesizing	Readers synthesize when they think about what has happened and what it means to them. The reader’s thinking and background knowledge are added to the summary.	“When Meg moves to a new school, she learns that in order to make new friends, you have to be a friend.” “The message of this book is…”
Fix-Up Strategies	When the motion picture in the reader’s mind breaks down the reader needs to reread, read on, look up a word, ask someone, or use another strategy to get back on track.	“I read it, but I don’t get it. I need to go back and reread.” “Maybe if I read on I will understand what they mean” “This is a tricky word. I am going to reread, look at the picture, and say “blank” when I come to the word. I need to think about what would make sense, and then maybe I can figure out the word.”

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