Scan It
Scan It refers to students using pictures that are related to the text. This strategy helps students draw upon their prior knowledge to give them clues to what tricky words in the text might be. Further, students will skim and scan a page to see if there are any known words or identifiable pictures to begin the process of ‘just right’ books. This strategy is developmentally appropriate for beginning readers to start identifying unknown words with picture clues. This strategy builds confidence, word meaning and word recognition for beginning readers. In addition, students will begin to use the Scan It strategy for readability. “The essence of both reading and reading instruction is change. Reading a book changes us forever as we return from the worlds we inhabit during our reading journeys with new insights about our surroundings and ourselves. Teaching a student to read is also a transforming experience. It opens new windows to the world and creates a lifetime of opportunities. Change defines our work as both literacy educators and researchers — by teaching a student to read, we change the world. (Leu, Kinzer, Corio 2004) With this in mind, primary students need to be using the Scan It strategy to find clues within online reading to identify if the site is readable. Students derive information from pictures and also to help them identify words within context using picture clues. Students that are non-readers may use pictures on websites to derive information.