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, we deal with
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, 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 and connect
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.
Read other sources if the reading is confusing.
Keep building your vocabulary.
When necessary, skim readings for key points and
terms.
Make understanding the material of prime importance.
Plan Time and Space to Concentrate
College reading takes a great deal
of concentration.
Schedule time to read in a place
where you won’t be interrupted.
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.
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
• 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
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.
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
Main idea
Objectivity
Suggested without being directly stated
Prior knowledge
Supporting details
What you already know
Getting the meaning of a word from the words around it
To guess or speculate to draw a conclusion
The primary subject of a passage or paragraph
Not influenced by personal feelings or prejudice
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
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.
Read us the
story about
the wolf
Right!
Get
involved in
reading!
Active Reading
Use it to avoid empty reading—reading then
realizing that no information has come across.
Identify yourself completely in what the author is
trying to say: throw yourself into his mind!
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
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
Tips for Improving Reading Ability
Take a book
to lunch this
week!
Show them we’re a
regular bunch this
week!
Find a quiet study location.
Read in 50-minute blocks with
breaks in between.
Take notes, recite key ideas or jot
down questions in the margins.
Experiment with your reading
rate.
Focus on key issues in the text.
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
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!
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.
Shift gears when you do
not make progress.
Read other sources if the
reading is confusing.
Build your vocabulary.
Work on reading faster.
Increase your
accountability for reading.