READING: increasing reading SPEED

1. READING: increasing reading SPEED Dr. Mary C. Custureri

2. Reading Speed • Increasing reading speed makes you both effective and efficient • Effective: You comprehend what you read and learn well • Efficient: You comprehend and learn at a faster rate • Goal: To become effective AND efficient

3. Strategy 1: Be flexible Adjust reading speed according to • Your purpose for reading Ex:recreational: narration, essay informative: fiction, non-fiction persuasive, scientific, historical 2. The difficulty of the passage 3. Organization of the passage 4. Your prior experience of the subject

4. Scanning Skimming 350 - 500 words per minute Average reading rate to slower Very rapid: run eyes down page for specific details To get the basic idea of the selection Entertaining or easy- to-read material Important Novels, textbooks, science and history books, biographies, and difficult to understand material Strategy 2 Choose your approach

5. Strategy 3: Set goals for speed • Find the number of words • Choose a short passage • Add up the number of words in 5 lines • Divide by 5 to get the average • Add up the number of lines and multiply by the average • Time yourself (3 minutes? 4? 5?) • Begin to read. Stop when time is up • Divide number of words by minutes

6. Strategy 4: Check reading rate Rate per minute Status 120 wpm or below poor, slow 121 to 180 wpm below average 181 to 240 wpm average 240 to 350 wpm college level if good retention 350 to 500 wpm above average Over 500 wpm superior

7. Strategy 5: Practice pacing • Try to pace yourself to read faster each time • Force your eyes to read faster • Practice techniques of moving eyes across the page and down for skimming and scanning • Read more than one word at a time to widen your eye span; read groups of words instead of one word at a time • Try not to “subvocalize” • Try not to re-read words or phrases. Just keep going

8. WARNING TO NOTE: • Sometimes fast reading results in lowered comprehension • Be aware that reading rate MUST be adjusted according to how difficult material is for YOU. • You may adjust pace as you are reading, reading fast when you need to skim and scan and slowing down when you need to stop and think or take notes.

9. Strategy 6: Adjusting the light • Make sure the lighting is correct for YOU • Some people need more light • Some need an almost dark room (scotopic sensitivity)

10. Strategy 7: Using the hand to increase eye-movement and reading rate (A) Move the hand quickly across the letters in a zig-zag motion. Try to catch groups of words with your eyes. Do not read every word,

11. Strategy 7 B Run the finger down the middle and try to catch key words and phrases quickly. Use a rapid curving motion.

12. Reading Groups of Words • Read at least two words at a time. • Try to increase the number of words you can grasp (at least to three) as you practice. • Use your hand to trace or grasp the words

13. Strategy 7: Increase vocabulary • Use vocabulary strategies • Be aware of the role of prefixes, suffixes and roots • Look for word clues • (inside parentheses) • After or before a dash – • Definitions of a word after a comma Ex: ADHD, an attention deficit disorder characterized by hyperactivity , • A synonym apprehensive (fearful) • A contrasting word (Instead of being confident, she was diffident .)

14. Strategy 8: Understand how sentence structure can slow down reading rate • Long complex, compound, or compound-complex sentences may be confusing. • Try to separate the ideas and to understand each clause separately.

15. Strategy 9: Read and re-read • Skim: Read through fast the first time • Each time you read a paragraph, try to understand the “point” or the main idea of each paragraph. • After you are finished, try to understand the general idea. • Scan very quickly to grasp details • Re-read again more slowly to comprehend the more difficult ideas. • Practice often to increase comprehension and speed

16. Review • Read with a purpose. • Skim, scan and read more slowly. Pace your reading according to purpose. • Visualize as you read. See things as in a movie. • Speed up on unimportant points; slow down on important details and ideas.. • Move your hands while reading. Follow with your eyes. • Try to remember what you read. • Remember your vocabulary strategies. • Practice often.

17. Quick quiz • What does being both effective and efficient mean? • Discuss “pacing” in reading. When and how do you pace? • How can you figure out how many words per minute you read? • How can you more easily understand unfamiliar words? • About how many words per minute does an average reader read? • Identify at least three ways you can increase reading speed. • Define “visualizing” in reading. Why is it important? • What should you do before you read? • What should you do while you read? • What should you do after you read?