Fix-up strategies are used during reading. When you begin to lose understanding of what you are reading, you do certain things to make sure that you understand before you continue reading.
Some fix-up strategies are:
Re-reading portions of text
Reading ahead
Sounding out words that are confusing
One of the easiest and powerful things you can do while you are reading to your child is to think aloud while you are working through a fix-up strategy. You are simply modeling what it means to be a reader and show there are no secrets when it comes to reading. You are unlocking the mystery behind reading for your child and this will make it more accessible for them. One example of a fix-up strategy might be:
You have been reading a story aloud and you begin to become confused as to who is speaking. You stop reading and go back to where the dialogue begins to re-read. You might say something like this: “Wait a minute, I am confused here about who is saying what. I am going to go back and re-read so I can get it straight.”
It is important to let our children know that they will be using these strategies even as adult readers. Simply put, let them in on what is going on inside of our brains in order to grow theirs!