Reading strategies

Before beginning to read, think about the purpose for the reading.  Why has the teacher made this assignment?  What are you supposed to get out of it?  Jot down your thoughts.

Survey the reading.  Look at the title of the piece, the subheadings.  What is in dark print or stands out?  Are there illustrations or graphs?

Read the introduction and conclusion, then go back and read the whole assignment.  Or read the first line in every paragraph to get an idea of how the ideas progress, then go back and read from the beginning.

Scan the entire reading, then focus on the most interesting or relevant parts to read in detail.

Pay attention to when you can skim and when you need to understand every word.

Write as you read.  Take notes and talk back to the text.  Explicate (explain in detail) and mark up the pages.  Write down what interests or bores you.  Speculate about why.

If you get stuck in the reading, think and write about where you got stuck.  Contemplate why that particular place was difficult and how you might break through the block.

Record and explore your confusion.  Confusion is important because it's the first stage in understanding.

When the going gets difficult, and you don't understand the reading, slow down and reread  sections.

Break long assignments into segments.  Read 10 pages, then do something else.  Later, read the next 10 pages and so on.

Read prefaces and summaries to learn important details about the book.  Look at the table of contents for information about the structure and movement of ideas.  Use the index to look up specific names, places, ideas.

Translate difficult material into your own words.  Create an alternative text.

Answer the questions at the end of the chapter.

Answer these question in your own words: What's the author talking about?  What does the author want me to get out of this?

Read the entire piece, then write a one paragraph or one sentence summary.

Transcribe your notes in the book or handwritten notes into more formal notes on the computer.  Turn your first notes into a list of ideas or a short essay.

Review the ideas in the text after you finish reading.  Ask yourself questions to determine what you got out of the reading.

Mark up the text, bring it to class, and ask questions about what you don't understand.

Post an email to the class Mailing List and ask for responses from the teacher and fellow  students.

Consult another source.  What does another author have to say on the same topic?

Disagree with the author.  Become a devil's advocate.  Remember, you don't have to believe an idea to argue about it.

Think about the text in three ways. 

 1. Consider the text itself, the basic information right there on the page.  (This is the level of most high school readers and many college students.) 

 2.  Next think about what is between the lines, the conclusions and inferences the author means  you to draw from the text.  

3. Finally, go beyond thinking about the text.  What creative, new,  and different thoughts occur as you combine your knowledge and experiences with the ideas in the reading?