1. Opening Doors: Chapter 2
Approaching College Reading and Developing a College-Level Vocabulary

2. Reading is a form of thinking
The reading process includes 3 stages:
1) Preparing yourself to read
2) Processing information
3) Reacting to what you read

3. Interacting with the material
Ask yourself questions about the reading to monitor your comprehension
“Am I understanding what I’m reading?”

4. Comprehension Problems
I do not understand because…
Keep reading, see if it becomes clearer
Ask someone knowledgeable
Read supplemental material to gain background knowledge
The subject is completely new to me
There are too many words I do not know
I am too distracted
Try to use context clues
Look up unfamiliar terms
Ask for help
Identify the type of distraction
Physical? (Room is too noisy etc.)
Psychological (Worried / Daydreaming)

5. Reading Rates
Proficient readers have a range of reading rates. Reading rate adjustment depends on two things:
Purpose
Level of difficulty

6. Type of Reading: Information Gathering
This should be your highest reading rate
Used for scanning and skimming to find a particular piece of information
wpm (words per minute)

7. Type of Reading: Rapid Reading
Used for easy material and leisure reading
wpm
Type of Reading: Average Reading
Used for textbook reading, journals and literature
wpm

8. Type of Reading: Study Reading
Used when you are learning new information, new vocabulary, and covering complex material to be memorized
wpm

9. When to slow down You know little or nothing about the topic
You are reading complicated material that you need to memorize
There is new vocabulary to learn
There are precise directions to follow

10. When to speed up The passage is easy to read
The passage summarizes info you’ve already learned
You only want to get main ideas

11. Building Vocabulary
When you come across words you don’t know, there are several strategies you can use
1) Context clues (book lists several kinds)
2) Word structure clues (root words, suffix, prefix)
3) Use a dictionary

12. Denotations and Connotation
Every word has an explicit, literal definition known as its denotation
But words usually have additional, nonliteral meanings called connotations
Example: Distinctive, Weird

13. Figurative Language
Words that create unusual comparisons or vivid pictures in the reader’s mind
Metaphor – Comparison between two essentially dissimilar things
Simile – Comparison using like or as
Hyperbole – Exaggerated speech
Personification – Giving nonliving or nonhuman things human characteristics