The 3 Ds: Determine, decide, and deduce - Reading strategies

Painless Reading Comprehension - Darolyn “Lyn” Jones Ed.D. 2016

The 3 Ds: Determine, decide, and deduce
Reading strategies

In Chapter Two, we talked about thinking about what you are going to read before you start reading it. We talked about the three Ds: determine, decide, and deduce!

Determine your purpose. Why are you reading this? Answering with “The teacher told me to” doesn’t state your purpose. Try again. Do you have to memorize the information for a test? Do you have to summarize what you read? Do you have to write a report, explaining the events and motivations? Do you have to make an online poster like Glogster representing symbols about the topic? Do you have to act out a scene? The possibilities are endless. If you aren’t sure, then reread the assignment sheet or ask your teacher to clarify. To be successful on the assignment, you need to understand why you are reading it.

Decide what kind of material you are reading. Is it informational—just facts and dates? Is it fiction—a story? Is it a word problem you will have to solve? Is it a process—like how a piece of wood becomes a fossil? Just as we speak in different “languages” in different situations, we read differently depending on what we are reading.

Deduce how much time you will need to do the reading. Deduce or make an educated guess as to how long you will need to do the reading and then add some extra time to that. It may take you longer to read information than to read a fictionalized story or vice versa. Have you ever tried to read a fifteen-page chapter in study hall thirty minutes before it is due? You probably weren’t successful. Give yourself plenty of time. Some people need longer than others, and that’s okay. There is no award given for speed reading. People who say they can read really fast may be able to, but they may just be decoding and not reading. You know the difference so don’t feel pressured to read faster. The reward is that you understand what you have read. Only you know how long it takes you. So, you need to set aside that amount of time and some extra time in case you run into problems. As you read more and practice the techniques in this book, you will discover that you will be able to read faster. But, remember, reading is a process. You have to start at the beginning first.

For each of the practice reading selections in this chapter, I will present you with an “assignment” so that you will know your purpose for reading. And, for each reading selection, you will have two to three graphic organizers with which to practice each of the reading steps: before, during, and after.