Marty is having difficulty in comprehending a chapter in a content area. Which of the following is the best pre-reading activity to support Marty?

• A. Discussing meaning of vocabulary words
• B. Summarizing the text
• C. Having teacher read first page
• D. Scanning the chapter to get feeling of what it is about

Answer: (A)

Focusing on vocabulary before reading sets up understanding by removing word barriers and giving Marty a map of the key terms he’ll encounter. When students discuss the meaning of important words ahead of time, they start reading with a clearer sense of what those terms mean and how they’re used. That groundwork helps them connect new information to what they already know, build faster comprehension, and reduce confusion as they read.

Having the teacher read the first page is more about listening than active preparation and doesn’t engage Marty in building his own decoding and meaning-making skills. Scanning the chapter to get a feel can provide a broad overview, but it doesn’t specifically prepare him for the essential vocabulary that often drives understanding in content-area texts. Summarizing the text is a post-reading task to check understanding, not a pre-reading strategy to prime meaning.