College Reading Of all the skills necessary to succeed in college, the two most important are: Reading – the intake of information Writing – the production of information In this presentation, we deal with how to make your reading skills work for you…

Take Charge of Your Reading Before all else, if you don’t like to read, accept the importance of the skill and work on it. This is CRITICAL to your success! Commit to reading goals Plan time and space to concentrate Capture and connect Know how to read primary and secondary sources. Preview and Review…

Commit to Reading Goals Stay positive, reading can be enjoyable. Break chapters into “chunks.” Preview each chunk before you start. Pace yourself according to difficulty level. Take breaks. Read other sources if the reading is confusing. Keep building your vocabulary. When necessary, skim readings for key points Make understanding the material of prime importance.

Plan Time and Space to Concentrate College reading takes a great deal of concentration. Schedule time to read in a place where you won’t be interrupted. Find an environment in which you can concentrate best. If you must read in a noisy environment, consider wearing headphones with familiar instrumental music just loud enough to block distractions.

Capture and Connect Capture the supporting details; connect them to the main idea. Capture what you don’t know and connect it to what you do know. Elements of Your Reading Plan Preview Skimming Active Reading Analytic Reading Review

Reading Primary and Secondary Sources Primary Source - material written in some original form; more difficult reading level. Autobiographies Speeches Research Reports Government Documents Scholarly Articles Secondary Source - summarizes or interprets primary sources Magazine Articles Textbooks

Developing Your Vocabulary Consider the context around new and challenging words. Jot down unfamiliar terms and find the meaning using a dictionary. Analyze terms to discover the most meaningful part of the word. Take the opportunity to use new terms in your writing and speaking. Learn to read “outside the box!”

A Reader’s Glossary Cause-effect Compare-contrast Draw a conclusion How one thing causes another to happen Compare-contrast How things are similar and how they are different Draw a conclusion To make up your mind about an idea Context clue Getting the meaning of a word from the words around it Implied Suggested without being directly stated Inference To guess or speculate to draw a conclusion Main idea The primary subject of a passage or paragraph Objectivity Not influenced by personal feelings or prejudice Prior knowledge What you already know Supporting details Specific items that elaborate on the main idea

This is a lot of work! Who needs it? Preview Scan the material to see what lies ahead. Consider the context for the assignment. Consider the length of the reading assignment and estimate how long it will take. Consider the structure and features of the reading to help you digest the material. Consider the difficulty and plan your time accordingly. wrong!

Reviewing is an excellent memory aid. Review to remember the main points of the material. Test yourself on your comprehension. Some ways to review: notes study questions flash cards visual maps outlines Make reviewing every week a study goal. Reviewing is an excellent memory aid.

Skimming Skim!!! Skimming covers the content at a general level. It involves reading at about twice your normal rate. Focuses on introductory statements, topic sentences and boldface terms. Provides the chance for you to see what kind of information the assignment contains Enables you to gather the surface ideas if you don’t have enough time to read deeply.

Right! Get involved in reading! Read us the story about the wolf Active Reading Use it to avoid empty reading—reading then realizing that no information has come across. Identify yourself completely in what the author is trying to say: throw yourself into his mind! Focus on identifying the main ideas and on understanding how supporting points reinforce those ideas. In other words, get really interested & involved!

Analytic Reading analyze! realize! synthesize! criticize! Reading at a more intense level. Involves breaking ideas open and digging underneath their surface. Enables you to try to spot flaws in the writer’s logic. Promotes a comparison of the work to other works. Should involve questioning the author and yourself. In other words, active skepticism with a purpose analyze! realize! synthesize! criticize!

Tips for Improving Reading Ability Take a book to lunch this week! Find a quiet study location. Read in 50-minute blocks with breaks in between. Take notes, recite key ideas or jot down questions in the margins. Experiment with your reading rate. Focus on key issues in the text. Show them we’re a regular bunch this week!

Highlighting Text emphasize & recognize! Highlight: But watch out! Topic sentences, Key words, Conclusions But watch out! Highlighting too much can cause you to re-read everything because you don’t know what’s important. Highlighting doesn’t show you why you highlighted something You need to have the entire text with you to review.

Important Points About College Reading You are expected to read the material and understand it on your own. Successful students complete assigned readings before class to help them understand the lecture. Connections and overlaps between lecture and reading reinforce learning. Also, reading ahead prevents you from being embarrassed when you are called Instructors do NOT always cover the reading material in lecture.

A Summary of Strategies to Improve Reading Practice a positive attitude. Make the author your companion. Pace yourself according to difficulty level. Take breaks to restore concentration. Shift gears when you do not make progress. Read other sources if the reading is confusing. Build your vocabulary. Work on reading faster. Increase your accountability for reading. Great readers make great students!