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, you will learn how to make your reading skills work for you… Read it! Process it! Use it!

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 knowledge and connect ideas  Know how to read primary and secondary sources.  Preview and Review…

Commit to Reading Goals  Stay positive, reading can be enjoyable.  Make the author your companion.  Pace yourself according to difficulty level.  Take breaks (10 min break every 50 minutes).  Read other sources if the assigned reading is confusing.  Keep building your vocabulary (keep a dictionary handy).  When studying for a test, skim readings for key points and terms.  Make understanding the material of prime importance.

Plan Time and Space to Concentrate  College reading takes a great deal of concentration.  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.  Schedule time to read in a place where you won’t be interrupted (or distracted).

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 1.Preview 2.Skimming 3.Active Reading 4.Analytic Reading 5.Review

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

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 (especially true in Biology).  Take the opportunity to use new terms in your writing and speaking. Learn to read “outside the box!”

A Reader’s Glossary Cause-effect How one thing causes another to happen Compare-contrast How things are similar and how they are different Draw a conclusion To make up your mind about an idea Context clue Getting the meaning of a word from the words around it Implied Suggested without being directly stated Inference To guess or speculate to draw a conclusion Main idea The primary subject of a passage or paragraph Objectivity Not influenced by personal feelings or prejudice Prior knowledge What you already know Supporting details Specific items that elaborate on the main idea

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

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.

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. Skim!!! Skim!!!

Active Reading  Use it to avoid empty reading—reading then realizing that no information has come across.  Focus on identifying the main ideas and on understanding how supporting points reinforce those ideas.  In other words, get really interested & involved! Read us the story about the wolf Right! Get involved in reading!

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

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.

Important Points About College 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 you’ve read! Take that! Unworthy adversary of reading!

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.  Read other sources if the reading is confusing.  Build your vocabulary.  Work on reading faster.