Portuguese Year 4: Reading securely and on your own: chunks of meaning and hard words
Portuguese, Year 4 (Portugal): Read in chunks of meaning without swapping words, understand what you read, deal with hard words and organise your own silent reading.
Chunks of meaning and reading on your own
Reading fluently and securely means reading in chunks of meaning (groups of words that say one idea), without swapping or skipping words, at a natural pace, and understanding as you go. In silent, independent reading you are the one in charge: you choose the book, find a calm time, and know what to do when you do not understand: re-read, read on to see if the rest helps, or look the word up in a dictionary.
Word by word, the meaning gets lost
Whoever reads word by word reaches the end of a sentence without remembering the beginning. Your eyes and mind work better with groups: «o velho farol | erguia-se, solitário,» (“the old lighthouse | stood, alone,”). Reading without swapping words does not change the meaning. And when you read alone nobody tells you that you got lost: so you have to keep checking that you understand, and know what to do when you do not.
A sentence with a hard word
You read: «O velho farol erguia-se, solitário, sobre o rochedo batido pelas ondas.» (The old lighthouse stood, alone, on the rock battered by the waves.) Step 1: read in chunks: «O velho farol | erguia-se, solitário, | sobre o rochedo | batido pelas ondas.» Step 2: you do not know «erguia-se». Read on: «sobre o rochedo» suggests the lighthouse stood up, high. Step 3: check: does it make sense? Yes. If still in doubt, look it up in the dictionary. Step 4: say it in your own words: an old lighthouse, alone, on a rock.
Skipping what you do not understand
Many people carry on when they do not understand a word, so as not to waste time. Sometimes that is fine, but when the word is important the text is left full of holes. And reading fast does not mean reading well. If you lost the thread, stop, go back to where you still understood and read again. Re-reading is not failing: it is what good readers do.
Alone in the library, at home and in tests
You use this when you choose a book in the school library and read it alone, when you read the rules of a game, when you read test questions or a book on holiday. Whoever reads securely and alone studies better and enjoys reading more: you become free to learn whatever you want.
Test what you learned
What does reading in chunks of meaning mean?
- a) Reading word by word, very slowly
- b) Reading groups of words that say one idea
- c) Reading only the first word of each line
- d) Reading without stopping, even at the full stops
Correct answer: b) Reading groups of words that say one idea — Yes: reading in groups such as «o velho farol» keeps the meaning and gives a natural pace.
You read «O velho farol erguia-se sobre o rochedo.» (The old lighthouse stood on the rock.) but you do not know «erguia-se». What is the best first help?
- a) Stop reading and give up
- b) Skip the sentence
- c) Read the rest of the sentence and think what makes sense
- d) Pick a meaning at random without reading on
Correct answer: c) Read the rest of the sentence and think what makes sense — Yes: «sobre o rochedo» is a clue that the lighthouse stood up high. If in doubt, then the dictionary.
You have read three paragraphs and no longer know what you read. What is best to do?
- a) Carry on faster, to see if I understand
- b) Change book
- c) Close the book and never open it again
- d) Go back to where I still understood and read again
Correct answer: d) Go back to where I still understood and read again — Yes: re-reading from where you still understood is what good readers do.
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