Reading Strategies, Part 3
From Test-Taking Strategies and Study Skills
for the Utterly Confused
by Laurie Rozakis, Ph.D.
PowerPoint and Some Activities
by Mary F. Ciccone-Cook
Be a Power Reader
Boost Your Vocabulary
• When people say, “I can’t read well,” they often
mean, “I get stuck on the difficult words.”
• A bigger vocabulary and strong reading skills go
hand in hand.
• The more words you know and understand, the
more easily you will comprehend what you read.
• Because reading will be less of a chore, you’ll
enjoy it more, too.
Boost Your Vocabulary
When you study words mentally arrange
them in these three categories:
1.Words you know. These are the words you
can define. You should know secondary as
well as primary definitions. You can
comfortably use these words in a sentence,
too.
Boost Your Vocabulary
2.Words you think you know. These are words that you have seen
before and perhaps even used in conversation and speech. However,
you’re not exactly sure what they mean. As you read, you usually
figure out these words by their context, the surrounding words and
phrases.
• Definition clues have the definition right in the passage. The
definition is a synonym (word that means the same). It may come
before or after the unfamiliar word.
• Contrast clues tell you what something isn’t rather than what it is.
Often, you’ll find contrast clues set off with unlike, nor, or instead of
• Common sense clues encourage you to use what you already know to
define the word.
Boost Your Vocabulary
3. Words you’ve seen only once or never.
• In nearly everything you read, you’ll find words
that are completely new to you. If you can’t
figure out these words through context clues
and they are crucial to the meaning, it pays to
stop reading and look them up in a dictionary.
• Keep a word journal, writing down all the new
vocabulary you collect in this way. The simple
act of writing the words can help fix them in
your mind.
Boost Your Vocabulary
Directions:
Complete the skimming practice
activity in Exercise 1: Boost Your
Vocabulary on the handout entitled “Be a
Power Reader.”
Use Structure Clues
• Identifying the structure of a reading selection can also
help you increase your comprehension.
• Fiction is structured according to chronological order, the
order of time. Events are arranged from first to last, as
on a timeline.
• Fiction writers often use dates to show the order of
events.
• In addition, writers can use time-order words to show
when events happen: after, at length, before, currently,
during, eventually, first, second, third (and so on)
finally, immediately, in the future, later, meanwhile,
next, now, soon, subsequently, then, today.
Use Structure Clues
• Nonfiction articles are often arranged in one of
three ways: chronological order, cause-andeffect order, or comparison-and-contrast order.
• Cause-and-effect order shows the reason
something happened (the cause) and the results
(the effect). Signal words include as a result,
because, consequently, due to, for, for this
(that) reason, if. . . then, nevertheless, since,
so, so that, therefore, thus, this (that) is how.
• Comparison-and-contrast order shows how two
people, places, or things are the same
(comparison) and different (contrast)
Use Structure Clues
Directions:
Complete the skimming practice
activity in Exercise 2: Use Structure Clues on
the handout entitled “Be a Power Reader.”
Determine Your Reading Speed
and Comprehension
• To determine your present reading speed,
read the selection, “Power to the People,”
(Exercise 3 on the handout entitled “Be a
Power Reader”) for precisely one minute.
Then note the line at which you stopped
reading and multiply that number by 10
(the average number of words per line).
This is your initial reading speed.
Determine Your Reading Speed
and Comprehension
•Use the chart below to determine your relative
reading speed:
Reading Speed
500 - 1500 words per minute
=
speed reader
250 words per minute
=
average reader
150 words per minute
=
average speaker
Determine Your Reading Speed
and Comprehension
• Reading fast is useless if you don’t
understand what you read. To determine
your present level of comprehension,
allow yourself 15 minutes to read “Power
to the People” and then answer the
questions that follow (see Exercise 3 on
the handout entitled “Be a Power Reader).
Determine Your Reading Speed
and Comprehension
• After reading “Power to the People” and
answering the questions, score yourself by
using the answer key below and chart on
the next slide to determine how well you
understood the main idea.
Answers:
1.a 2. d 3. d 4. c 5. b
6. c 7. c 8. a 9. b l0. d
Determine Your Reading Speed
and Comprehension
•Use the chart below to determine your relative
reading comprehension:
Reading Comprehension
Excellent comprehension
=
9 - 10 correct
Above average comprehension
=
7 - 8 correct
Average comprehension
=
5 - 6 correct
Below average comprehension
=
0 - 4 correct
Skim a Passage to Pump Up Your
Reading Speed
Francis Bacon once said,
“Some books are to be tasted, others
to be swallowed, and some to be chewed
and digested.”
Skim a Passage to Pump Up Your
Reading Speed
Consider this scenario:
You have a social studies class in 15 minutes, but you
haven’t read the three chapters that will be discussed.
Or how about these situations:
You never got around to reading the article for your
economics class, the short story for your English class, or
the notes for your science review. What can you do?
When you need a general idea of a text and you don’t have
the time to read in depth, skimming is the answer.
Skim a Passage to Pump Up Your
Reading Speed
• Skimming is a very fast way to read.
• Skimming allows you to glance at a passage to
find specific information.
• This method is especially useful when there are
only a few items of information that you want
from a particular passage.
• It is not recommended as a substitute for
studying a text in depth.
• Here are two different ways that you can skim a
passage.
Skim a Passage to Pump Up Your
Reading Speed
Here are two different ways that you can skim a passage.
Method 1: Straight down the middle
•Run your eyes down the middle of the page.
•Focus on the facts you need.
Method 2: Crisscross
•First scan from the top left corner to the bottom right
corner.
•Then scan from the top right corner to the bottom left
corner.
Skim a Passage to Pump Up Your Reading Speed
Directions:
Complete the skimming practice
activity in Exercise 4: Skim a Passage for
Reading Speed on the handout entitled “Be
a Power Reader.”
Skim a Passage to Pump Up Your Reading Speed
Answers for “A Software Revolution”:
1. They will be in software development.
2. Their information cannot be easily accessed.
3. It is called DowQuest.
4. They will screen the information flooding in and
you will get what you need.
5. Businesses will be using it.
Use Hand-Eye Techniques to Increase
Reading Speed
• Some people are able to read more quickly by using a
marker, a pencil, or their fingers as they read.
• Running a marker across the page helps you focus on
important words, details, and ideas. This helps you key
into the most crucial facts and ignore extraneous details.
• Tracing your hand down the page automatically leads
your eye down the type. This helps you move forward
over the lines.
• Finally, moving your hand (or marker) down the page
forces you to read faster than you speak. As a result, you
don’t mouth the words or read aloud, which always slows
you down.
Use Hand-Eye Techniques to Increase
Reading Speed
Here’s how to use hand-eye techniques to pick up some
reading speed:
1. Use an index card as a marker, hold a pencil eraser side
down, or use your index finger.
2. Place your marker on the first word of the first line of
type and focus your eyes slightly in front of your marker.
3. Move your marker from left to right across the line of
type as you follow with your eyes.
4. When your eye reaches the right margin, move your
marker slightly up and to the right to prevent abrupt stops.
Use Hand-Eye Techniques to Increase Reading Speed
Directions:
Complete the hand-eye techniques
practice activity in Exercise 5: Hand-Eye
Techniques for Speed Reading on the
handout entitled “Be a Power Reader.”
Increase Your Comprehension
by Reading on Three Levels
• When you read, the full meaning of a text
emerges on three levels:
• the literal,
• the inferential,
• and the evaluative.
• You will get more from a text if you learn
to read on all three levels. Here’s how to
read for levels of meaning.
Increase Your Comprehension
by Reading on Three Levels
• Here’s how to read for levels of meaning.
1. Look for the literal meaning.
• Read exactly what the words say.
• Find out what the author directly states in the
text.
• Ask yourself these questions: What are the
important facts in this passage? What point is the
author making? What happens in the story? What
events move the story along?
Increase Your Comprehension
by Reading on Three Levels
2. Find the inferential meaning.
•
An inference is an educated guess about the
content.
• Combine information in the text with what you already
know to make an inference.
• When you make an inference, you are generalizing about
the information you are reading. A generalization is a
broad conclusion drawn from information in the text. The
generalization is valid if it is based on sufficient evidence;
it is invalid if the text contains exceptions to the
statement.
• Ask yourself these questions: What is implied rather than
stated? What does the author expect me to know? What
have I figured out that the writer does not directly state
in the passage?
Increase Your Comprehension
by Reading on Three Levels
3. Make the evaluative leap
• Evaluations are judgments you make about
the author’s statements.
• Make evaluations by deciding whether or not
you agree with what the author has stated or
implied in the text.
• Make distinctions between facts and opinions
to reach your own conclusions about the
content.
Final Practice to Increase Reading Speed
Directions:
Complete the practice activity in
Exercise 6: Combining Techniques for
Speed Reading on the handout entitled “Be
a Power Reader.”
Final Practice to Increase Reading Speed
Answers:
1. b
2. e
3. a
4. d
5. a
6. d
7. b
8. a
9. e
10. b