Study Skills Corner #5 How to Read a Textbook

Study Skill #5: Reading a Textbook The five steps in reading a textbook Prepare Preview Read Summarize Think! PP, then REST

Prepare to Read Ask yourself some questions BEFORE you start to read… - What’s my purpose for reading this material? - What do I already know about this topic/subject? - What do I want to know about it? - What do I need to know about it?

Preview the Material Get the BIG PICTURE first!! - Introduction to section/chapter/book - Section/chapter/book headings - READ SUMMARY (if one exists) Skim for main ideas - Read over all charts, figures, and illustrations - Read the first and last paragraph of each section - Make a rough outline, trying to capture what you think is the most important information

Actively Read the Material Active reading means carrying on a conversation with the author, and yourself, while you are reading. Ask yourself the following questions as you read: - What’s the author going to say next? - What’s important here (and what’s not)? - What are the key terms I need to know? - What questions does this raise for me? When you are done with a section you should be able to answer the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions Keep a dictionary handy as you read and take notes as you are reading – only write down what you think are the most important concepts!

Summarize What You’ve Read When you’ve finished a section/chapter Summarize and condense your notes Paraphrase what was said in the chapter, looking for general themes Organize the information Picture the information Look for ‘holes’ in your understanding of the material by reading over all the notes you’ve written

Think! Reflect on What You’ve Read How does this information fit with what you already know? How do you feel about what you’ve read? Try to write a very brief summary of the most important points without looking at your notes. (VERY IMPORTANT!)

References Frank, S. (1996). The Everything Study Book. Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation. Nugent, M. N., & Vitale, B. A. (2004). Test Success: Test-taking Techniques for Beginning Nursing Students (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company. Robinson, A. (1993). What Smart Students Know. New York, NY: Crown Publishers, Inc.