Muscle Reading
From Becoming a Master Student
By Dave Ellis
What is muscle reading?
• A technique that will
help you stay focused
as you read
• A way to decrease
effort and struggle by
increasing energy and
skill
How does Muscle Reading work?
• Muscle Reading is a
three phase
technique you can
use to extract the
ideas and information
you want
Phase 1: Before You Read
• Step 1: Preview
– Sets the stage for incoming info
– Look over table of contents or chapter outline
– Read chapter headings and subheadings
– Look for summary statements
– Look for familiar concepts, facts, ideas
– Examine photos, charts, graphs, etc.
• Step 2: Outline
– Helps organize your thoughts
– Study chapter outline if provided or write a
brief one of your own
• Step 3: Question
– Involves your brain in the assignment
– Write down a list of questions that resulted
from your preview
– You may want to turn headings and
subheading into questions
Phase 2: While You Read
• Step 4:Read
– Be conscious of where you are and what you
are doing
– Divide material up and take short breaks
– Reward yourself
– To stay focused
• Visualize the material
• Read the material out loud
• Get a “feel” for the subject
• Try to answer your questions from phase 1
• Step 5:Underline/Highlight
– Emphasizes important info you will need later
– Uses kinesthetic sense of touch and motion
• Step 6: Answer
– Write down the answer to your questions in
Phase 1
– Fill in your outline
– Write down unanswered and new questions to
ask in class
Phase 3:After You Read
• Step 7: Recite
– Helps you combine individual ideas and facts
into a whole
– Helps improve your ability to summarize
– Talk to yourself (verbal rehearsal) or to
someone else about the material
– Form a study group to discuss the material
– Teach a classmate the material –one of the
best ways to learn anything is to teach
someone else
• Step 8: Review
– Do your first complete review within 24 hours
– This moves information from short term to long term
memory
• Step 9:Review Again
– Review weekly/monthly to help you recall the info
– Review text and notes, recite difficult information
Muscle Reading
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Step 1: Preview
Step 2: Outline
Step 3: Question
Step 4: Read
Step 5: Underline
Step 6: Answer
Step 7: Recite
Step 8: Review
Step 9: Review Again
4 Smart Ways to Highlight a Text
• Read carefully first
– Read first-highlight last
• Make choices up front about what
to highlight
– Look for answers to your questions from step
3 of Muscle Reading
– Highlight individual words, phrases, or
sentences rather than whole paragraphs
• Recite first
– Recite first then go back and highlight
• Use highlighting to monitor your
comprehension
– Stop reading periodically to check what you
have highlighted
– If you are highlighting more than 10% of the
text, your are picking out more than the main
points
Ways to Mark A Text
• Place an (!) by important words or terms
• Circle key terms and words
• Write short definitions of key terms in
margin
• Place (?) in margin by possible test
questions, things you don’t understand,
and questions to ask in class
• Write personal comments in margins
More Ways to Mark a Text
• Write mini-indexes in the margin
• Write summaries by listing main points or
key events
• Rewrite chapter titles, headings, and
subheadings to make them more
meaningful to you
• Draw diagrams, pictures, tables, or maps
• Number each step in a list or series