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,
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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.
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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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Preview
Skimming
Active Reading
Analytic Reading
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
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 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
Context clue
To make up your mind about an idea
Implied
Inference
Suggested without being directly stated
Main idea
Objectivity
Prior knowledge
Supporting details
The primary subject of a passage or paragraph
Getting the meaning of a word from the words
around it
To guess or speculate to draw a conclusion
Not influenced by personal feelings or prejudice
What you already know
Specific items that elaborate on the main idea
This is a lot of
work! Who
needs it?
Preview
 Scan the material to see what lies
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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.
Reviewing
 Review to remember the main points
of the material.
 Test yourself on your comprehension.
 Some ways to review:
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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.
Active Reading
Read us the
story about
the wolf
Right!
Get
involved in
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!
Analytic Reading
 Reading at a more intense level.
 Involves breaking ideas open and digging
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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 reread 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
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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.