GUST 1270 College and Career Planning CHAPTER FIVE READ: Building Your Reading and Comprehension Skills

UNIT 5 OBJECTIVES This chapter can help you: Read and remember what you read Know your reading speed and comprehension level Tell whether you are an active or passive reader Learn to use the dictionary Develop a powerful vocabulary Find main points while reading Use SQ3R Apply Bloom’s Taxonomy for comprehension

TOP ACADEMIC PROBLEMS The two greatest problems college students face today are college math classes and reading comprehension.

SIX PACK FOR SUCCESSFUL READING   The material you’re An open mind Pencils reading    A highlighter A tablet or loose-leaf paper A dictionary

ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE READERS Active readers Enjoy reading Visualize while reading Approach text with an open mind Passive readers Just want to get reading over with Only read when required to do so

ARE YOU READING BELOW THE AVERAGE RATE? Are you concentrating on the passage? Is there vocabulary that is unfamiliar? Are you fixating too long on words? Are you reading often enough to build your speed?

USING YOUR DICTIONARY (From The American Heritage Dictionary, 2nd College Edition) Pronunciation The Word Part of Speech Usage Meaning Word Origin

INCREASE YOUR CONCENTRATION Reduce outside distractions Reduce internal distractions Set a reading goal (amount and time) Take short breaks every 20 minutes Take notes as you read

BUILD YOUR VOCABULARY Stop and look up words you don’t know Keep a list of new words Study your vocabulary list Work on crossword or other word puzzles

FIXATION Your eyes stop on an average of 2.5 words per fixation Practice reading in phrases: Nutrition is important to good health. Therefore, you should work hard to eat proper meals every day. By doing this you can maintain good health.

IDENTIFYING THE TOPIC (D. Seyler, 2001) The topic is the subject of the paragraph “Who or what is the paragraph about?” General enough to cover all details in the paragraph Specific enough to exclude related topics in other paragraphs

Using SQ3R Survey Question Read Recite Review

Scan Question Read Recite Review Using SQ3R Scan or pre read the assigned chapter There are five common questions that you can ask yourself; Who? What? When? Where? Why? Now you have to read the chapter Recitations is easy but very crucial to this survey. Repeat the information to yourself After you have read the chapter and followed all the previous steps go back and read it again

READING THE CHAPTER Read the entire paragraph before marking anything Identify and highlight the topic or thesis statement if stated Mark key phrases Don’t highlight too much Stop to look up unfamiliar vocabulary Make margin notes

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR READING TIME Reduce distractions in environment Read at the best time of day for concentration Read with a healthy snack Read in sections and take breaks Form questions from material Look up unfamiliar words Manage your time to allow enough time for reading

UNIT REFLECTION Approach text with an open mind Free your mind to focus on reading Read with your “six-pack” Mark and look up unknown words Make and review a new vocabulary list Use SQ3R and Bloom’s Taxonomy Get a tutor if needed The more you read, the more skilled you’ll be

JUST FOR FUN !! Character Illustration by Christian O’Brien