College Reading

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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

Read it! Process it! Use it!
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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 were a regular bunch this week!
Make books your buddies...
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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.
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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!
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Take Charge of Your Reading

• Before all else, if you dont 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

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Important Points About College Reading
Take that! Unworthy adversary of reading!

• Instructors do NOT always cover the reading
  material in lecture.
• 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 on to discuss
  what youve read!

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Commit to Reading Goals

• Stay positive, reading can be enjoyable.
• Make the author your companion.
• 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 and
  terms.
• Make understanding the material of prime
  importance.

The need to read is great indeed!
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Plan Time and Space to Concentrate

• College reading takes a great deal of
  concentration.
• Schedule time to read in a place where you wont
  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.

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Capture and Connect

• Elements of Your Reading Plan
• Preview
• Skimming
• Active Reading
• Analytic Reading
• Review

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Preview
This is a lot of work! Who needs it?

• 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!
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Skimming

• Skimming covers the content at a general level.
• It involves reading at about twice your normal
  rate.
• Focus 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
  dont have enough time to read deeply.

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Active Reading

• Use it to avoid empty readingreading then
  realizing that no information has come across.
• Immerse yourself in what the author is trying to
  say.
• Focus on identifying the main ideas and on
  understanding how supporting points reinforce
  those ideas.

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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 writers
  logic.
• Promotes a comparison of the work to other works.
• Should involve questioning the author and
  yourself.

14
Review

• Reviewing the assignment makes the main points
  stand out and makes them easier to remember.
• It is an opportunity to test yourself on your
  comprehension.
• Reviewing consolidates learning.

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Know How to Read 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

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Highlighting Text
emphasize recognize!

• Highlight
• Topic sentences, Key words, Conclusions
• But watch out!
• Highlighting too much can cause you to re-read
  everything because you dont know whats
  important.
• Highlighting doesnt show you why you
  highlighted something
• You need to have the entire text with you to
  review.

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Take Notes on the Text

• Summarize
• Outline
• Use the Cornell Method
• Use Concept Maps

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Elements of Your Reading Plan
Preview
Intensity of Effort
Skim
Active reading
Analytic reading
Review
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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!