How to Read a Text book Or How to get the most out of a text book.

Do you often: Get bored or fall asleep when reading a textbook chapter? Feel that you haven't remembered a thing after you finish reading a chapter? Get poor grades in courses that require reading textbook material? Get poor grades on chapter tests when you think that you knew the material? Spend several hours rereading a chapter in a textbook? Checklist of Symptoms

Surveying is a major study reading step, because, like preview skimming, it prepares you for what you are to read. If you are reading a textbook for the first time, get to know the book by: Reading the preface. It gives the author's reasons for writing the book, the topics covered, and the audience that the textbook is written for items that will help you read the chapters efficiently. Studying the table of contents to see how it is organized. Look at its divisions and subdivisions. The textbook's overall organization will help you understand how the author thinks about the material that he or she is presenting. Thumbing through the index to see the number and types of words listed. Surveying the Entire Text

Looking to see if there is a glossary or appendix. See whether you will need to refer to charts or graphs as you read various chapters of the textbook. Noting if there is an answer key at the end of the book or at the end of each chapter. Are answers given to all problems, or only to odd or even numbered problems? Reading through a few pages at the beginning, middle, and end of the textbook to get a sense of the author's style and the difficulty level of the textbook. Does the author use a difficult vocabulary? Are the sentences complicated and hard to follow?

Keep track of any questions you have that do not get answered Keep track of those things that are contradictory to what you already know Keep track of the new information you are picking up TAKE NOTES AS YOU READ

Reading a textbook chapter front to back ensures that you will waste time. I know it’s counter-intuitive to not read a book front to back, but don’t do it. Mystery novels stink when you read the back first, as do good thriller movies. If you read the last page of a Sherlock Holmes novel before you read the story, it’ll be lame. If you know Bruce Willis is dead, don’t watch the 6th Sense. But textbooks are rarely building to a suspenseful twist at the end. I promise. Don’t read front to back (aka, READ BACKWARDS)

1. Go to the questions at the end first. Read them, answer them to the best of your ability, and then begin your actual reading strategies. This will sort of “prime the engine” of retention. 2. Next, read the final summary of the chapter. This will give you a general background as to the Big Ideas in the chapter. 3. Third, look at the headings and subdivision of `the chapter. 4. Fourth, read the chapter introduction. Try reading your textbook chapter in this order:

5. Look at the bolded words throughout the chapter, or those defined in the margins. This is where the vocabulary will come from. 6. Look at any and all graphs, diagrams, or pictures in the chapter, making sure to read the captions.

Textbooks are extremely thorough. You, while needing thoroughness, are not going to be able to absorb every tiny detail found in a chapter. You have to focus on what’s most important. Textbooks are great because they explain those Big Ideas in context, but make sure you don’t get lost in the minutiae. Read for the Big Ideas first and foremost and you’ll be able to sift through the mountain of information available. In textbooks, Big Ideas are easy to spot because they are often in bold print or section headings. Look for the complete sentence thought that summarizes and drives each subdivision and you’ll have identified the Big Ideas. Read for Big Ideas

Big Ideas need support. Otherwise they’re just opinions. After you identify each Big Idea, make note of the supporting details that fill out and help the Big Idea make sense. While this looks different in each subject, they should be relatively easy to pick out. Key people, places, and events often make up the key details in history books. Grammar rules are the important details frequently in grammar books. For languages, vocab are some of the most important key details of the chapter. Check your notes against the questions at the end of the chapter. If they reflect the same key details, you know you are barking up the right tree. Read for Key Details

You should never have to read a chapter more than once (in theory). If you’ve done your reading well and taken notes as you read, you have a record of the thoughts being communicated. Granted, it takes a while to adapt to this approach. Don’t be upset if you have a time of adjustment before being able to read a chapter only once. If you put in the work now to get used to reading a textbook more effectively, consider the time you’ll save in the long-run. Read the book once but your notes multiple times

. Good readers make connections with the title and other text features. They set a purpose for reading and make predictions with the background knowledge they possess. They also ask questions throughout the text to monitor comprehension, summarize in their own words what they’ve read, and clarify any misunderstandings with the use of fix-up strategies Preview the text before they read by looking at text features Make valid predictions before & after reading by accessing prior knowledge and connecting previous sections Define the purpose of reading the text Determine the important relevant facts vs. the trivial facts Monitor comprehension by generating critical thinking questions throughout the text Determine meaning of unfamiliar concepts or words by defining or using context clues What good readers do: