College Reading

1. 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… Source: http://www.lscc.edu/faculty/amanda_k_frye/Shared Documents/Ch. 8 Powerpoint Improving College Reading.ppt

2. 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…

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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 Reading Primary and Secondary Sources

7. Developing Your Vocabulary Learn to read “outside the box!” • 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.

8. A Reader’s Glossary

9. 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!

10. Reviewing • 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.

11. Skim!!! Skim!!! Skimming • 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.

12. 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!

13. Analytic Reading • 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!

14. 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!

15. emphasize & recognize! Highlighting Text • Highlight: • 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.

16. 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.

17. 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. A Summary of Strategies to Improve Reading Great readers make great students!