Look up unfamiliar words is another very important active reading strategy, You need to know what the words mean to understand what someone is saying . After all, a key word or phrase can chang the meaning of a whole passage.
Whenever possible , have a dictionary with you when you read. Circle and look up any unfamiliar words like away. (Circle them makes them easier to find if you lose your place.) Write the meaning in the margin. That way, you won’t have to look up the meaning again if you forget it; it will always be there to refer to. (Of course, if you don’t own the book, don’t write in it! Instead, write down the vocabulary word and its definition in a notebook.)
If you don’t have a dictionary with you, try to figure out what the word means. What clues does the author provide in that sentences and surrounding sentences? Mark the page number or write down the word somewhere can look it up later. See how closely you were able to guess its meaning. (You’ll learn more about this in Lesson 3.)