A teacher focuses on clarifying a purpose for reading, previewing a text, monitoring understanding by adjusting reading speed, and checking for understanding after reading. The teacher is primarily developing students' ability to

• A. use metacognitive strategies to think about and have control over their reading
• B. memorize vocabulary
• C. decode accurately
• D. read faster

Answer: (A)

Metacognitive reading strategies involve planning, monitoring, and evaluating comprehension. When a student clarifies the purpose for reading, they set a goal for what to look for in the text. Previewing the text helps activate prior knowledge and anticipate content, which is part of planning how to approach reading. Monitoring understanding by adjusting reading speed shows self-regulation—changing pace to maintain or regain comprehension. Checking for understanding after reading is evaluating whether the meaning was grasped and what might need rereading. Together, these actions show the reader thinking about and controlling their own reading process. The other options don’t capture this self-directed control: vocabulary memorization is about word knowledge, decoding is about word recognition, and reading faster emphasizes speed over understanding.