Reading Comprehension Skills Session No 2 Reading Comprehension Skills

Reading Reading is a complex task which involves both decoding and comprehending the text Good readers are able to do both of these without much thought or effort, and they use strategies to help them.

Reading Comprehension Reading comprehension refers to the ability to understand information presented in written form.

Types of Reading Skimming Scanning Extensive Reading Intensive Reading

What is skimming? A method of rapidly moving eyes over the text to cover a vast amount of material very rapidly.

Why skimming? Prereading Reviewing Reading for gist Reading for main idea

How to skim? Read the title Read the introductory/leading paragraph Read the first paragraph completely Sub-headings (relationships among them) Read the first sentence of remaining paragraphs Clue words (wh- words) Unusual words Enumerations Qualifying adjectives (best,worst,most) Typographical cues (italics,boldface,underlining) Read the final paragraph completely

What is scanning? A method to locate a specific fact or piece of information in a text.

Why Scanning? We scan for finding a specific name Date Statistics fact

How to scan??? Keep in mind what you are searching for Anticipate the form of information (numbers, proper nouns) Analyze the organization of the content If the material is lengthy, skim to determine the part of the article to scan On finding relevant information, read the entire sentence.

Importance of Reading Comprehension Skills for Academic and Professional success

Two Types of Reading Comprehensions Abstract Concrete Knowing vocabulary main idea fact or opinion sequencing following directions reading for details It requires ability to answer questions when the information being asked is explicitly stated in the reading selection. Drawing inference Making analysis Involves text evaluation drawing conclusions Studying cause and effect It requires the reader to draw on prior knowledge and processing to identify what is not explicitly stated.

Barriers to comprehension Your Experiences !!!

Reasons for Lack of Reading Comprehension Failure to understand a word Failure to understand a sentence Failure to understand how sentences relate to one another Failure to understand how the information fits together in a meaningful way (organization) Lack of interest or concentration Failure to retain information for a long time

Effective reading is about making connections…

Making Connections Making connections helps facilitate learning and increase retention It also enables the reader to make inferences by using their background information to see patterns and make educated guesses about the text It is helpful for a reader to track his or her thoughts while readings.

Text-to-Self Text-to-Text Text-to-World There are three common connections readers make Text-to-Self Text-to-Text Text-to-World Students need to practice using connectors (ex: “This part reminds me of…” or “If that happened to me I would…”

Common Comprehension Strategies These are some main strategies readers should use to improve their comprehension: Predicting Clarifying Making Inferences Summarizing Questioning Visualizing Self-Monitoring

How to avoid common issues during reading

How to Improve Concentration during Reading Use index cards, pencil, or finger Eliminate Distractions Fix a time for reading every day Be task oriented (Give your mind a purpose to read) Read for short intervals Take notes while reading 60 second synopsis strategy

How to Increase Reading Rate It takes conscious effort to improve reading rate fluency. One must become cognizant of the habits that reduce the rate of reading and then take steps to eliminate those habit.

Measuring Reading Rate To measure one's reading rate, locate appropriate reading materials and select a section of text. Mark the beginning of the selection. Read for a certain length of time (use a timer or watch) or for a certain amount of text. Mark the end of the selection, and note the total number of minutes spent reading. Document the level of comprehension by recalling main ideas from the selection. If one reads for three minutes, one should remember three main points. If one reads for five minutes, one should remember five main ideas. Jot down these main points. Count the number of words between the two marks, and divide that number by the number of minutes spent reading. This is the rate of reading, expressed in words per minute (WPM).

Increasing Reading Rate Set a target reading rate at a level slightly higher than the initial reading rate. Use reading materials that are easy and interesting. Practice at least 15 minutes each day at the "pushed" rate. Increase the target rate by small increments as reading improves. Progress may be charted on a daily grid that plots rate (WPM) and time on the axes. Document progress for at least two weeks. Move your eyes faster over the text. Instead of taking in three words per fixation, take in six words. Follow the lines with your finger, pen, pencil, or a 3 x 5 index card as you read. Reduce regressions by raising awareness of them and by improving concentration.

TWO GOOD READING STRATEGIES 1. SQ3R 2. Collaborative reading

A Good Strategy for Better Reading SQ3R Survey Question Read Recite Review

Survey Before you read, Survey the chapter: the title, headings, and subheadings captions under pictures, charts, graphs or maps review questions introductory and concluding paragraphs summary

Question Question while you are surveying: Turn the title, headings, and/or subheadings into questions Ask yourself, "What do I already know about this subject?“ “How can I use this information?” “What is new for me in this text?”  

Read When you begin to Read: Look for answers to the questions you first raised Answer questions at the beginning or end of chapters or study guides Reread captions under pictures, graphs, etc. Note all the underlined, italicized, bold printed words or phrases Stop and reread parts which are not clear

Recite Recite after you have read a section: Orally ask yourself questions about what you have just read, or summarize, in your own words, what you read Take notes from the text but write the information in your own words Underline or highlight important points you've just read

Review After you have read and recited the entire chapter, write questions in the margins for those points you have highlighted or underlined. Orally recite or write the answers from memory. Try to discuss the findings with colleagues

Collaborative Reading Read the given text in group. Member “A” will be responsible for explaining vocabulary Member “B” will read the text loud and will explain it to the rest of the members Member “C” will make 5 questions based on the information given in the text Give a poster presentation based on your comprehension of the text.

Writing process Make Time line to ensure that you are following the writing process

Thank you