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4. Engage Students

Establish a motivating environment to engage students in reading and text discussion.

Active engagement with text helps students better understand what they are reading. Teachers can encourage student engagement with text by clearly conveying a lesson's purpose, explaining how reading will help them learn, and offering opportunities for choice and collaboration. Teachers should also facilitate whole-group, small-group, or partner text discussions. High-quality discussion with in-depth exploration of text can foster student engagement and understanding. Discussion teaches students how to think deeply about a text and promotes critical thinking skills.