Thursday, June 20, 2013


Read this article that includes two very relevant things for us: 

1.it mentions some helpful tips to take into consideration when reading

2. it describes some different types of readers and asks us to choose which one we are. 

After reading it, state which of the mentioned strategies you apply and describe what type of reader you are. 

Reading Comprehension Tips and Speed Reading Strategies

Some Quick Tips To Improve Your Reading Comprehension

  • Read early in the day: This will allow you to concentrate and retain more information than studying later at night when you may be tired. When tired, your concentration and comprehension will decrease. 
  • Read for short bursts: Try to read for 35 to 40 minutes at a time and then take a short break. If you have this as your reading goal it can serve as a motivator in trying to really focus on the material at hand. Try to make these “bursts” quality reading time
  •  Find a quiet location: Try to avoid your residence hall room on campus as well as the lounge. There are too many distractions there that are not conducive for quality reading.
  • Monitor your comprehension: Ask yourself every once in a while, “What have I learned?” If you are having trouble answering this, then re-read the material, ask a classmate, or ask the professor for some clarification.
  • Try skimming the chapter first: Take a look at the title page, preface, subtitles, the introduction and the chapter summary before reading the entire chapter.
Remember: College Textbooks are designed to help you by providing
MAJOR HEADINGS
ItalicizedBold Words
List of Main Points
Repetition of information/facts
Summaries

What Type Of Reader Are You?

Are you a passive reader who likes to use a highlighter?

Result: Reading passively delays learning because you are continually re-reading the material highlighted and you may have the tendency to become lazy and highlight most of your reading. Ask yourself this question, “did I retain most of the material I highlighted?”

Are You Reading The Material For Hours At A Time Just To Get It Done?

Result: You become a lazy reader (you develop a lower retention of the material read as well) and you do not really focus your attention on the critical points; i.e., you “zone out.” 

Improve your reading by being a more "active reader":

Method One: SQ3R Method (Cornell Method)

Survey: Look over the chapter and get an idea of what it will cover. This will cognitively ease your way into the reading assignment.
Question: Think about, “what is this chapter about?” and “what examples support the author’s point in the chapter?”
Read: Go over the material carefully and if you have any questions with vocabulary or concepts write them down and review them after you finish that particular section. Continue assessing your reading to see if you are understanding the material.
Review: This is an extremely important point. Try to do this a couple of times each week. By reviewing, you will begin to see the larger picture of the main concepts introduced. Think of this as an athlete or a musician who continues to practice and becomes better and better during his/her performances. The more you review the material (i.e., “practice”) the better your understanding will be of that topic because you are “exercising” your brain.
Recite: Practice by saying aloud the material you are reviewing. This helps immensely because you are utilizing both hemispheres of your brain.

Method Two: Design Your Own Question Notes

  1. Split the page so you have questions in one column and answers in the other column.
  2. From the chapter headings, make study questions that you feel could be on the test (also look for and develop “cause/effect” questions from them).
  3. Look for words in bold print. These are usually definitions; make sure you can give an example for the term. This will help because professors will sometimes give you an example of the term and not ask you specifically for the definition. This will aid you in learning the material instead of just memorizing it. Remember: You are playing the role of the instructor.
Practice: Please go over the reading sample on the next page and write out what you think are the important points of the material. A sample of what your questions/notes should look like appears right after the sample.
Remember: Writing questions and notes may be time consuming at first, but keep in mind that you are not rewriting the chapter. Rather, you are picking out the important points and, as a result, you now have your review sheets prepared for the exam!
THE END RESULT … A more active learner and better retention of the material since you are writing the information out!

Article taken from the web site http://www.providence.edu/academic-services/academic-skills/Pages/reading.aspx 

10 comments:

  1. i think i apply the method skimming the chapter first. taking a look of the titles, subtitles, introductions etc. And if it is interesting for me i will read it all.
    And i am a passive reader who likes to use a hightlighter

    Wilber P.

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  2. Read early in the day, Try to read for 35 to 40 minutes at a time and then take a short break. find a quiet place to read. Ask yourself every once in a while, “What have I learned? if I did not learn anything I reread the material. I consider myself a passive reader.

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  3. All this tips and methods can be the best way to get a reading but I don't apply any of them because they don't work for me. I have my own method and it works. If I want to get or understand a reading, what I do is read what I want to read two or three time just before go to bed. The next day I wake up with all my ideas clear about what I read last night. It is the way my brain works.
    I think I'm a lazy reader because when I read I try to read all the text at the time just to finish it. *ashamed*

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  4. When I am reading any text, I do these strategies that help me to understand easier: I underline each paragraph's main idea or most importantly of the text. I place comments next to the paragraphs, if it is necessary to understand. After reading, I review past activities to know exactly the idea of the text. The important thing is to activate prior knowledge and formulate the purposes of the text that we have. I am a passive reader because I don't read a lot. I only look for the things I need to learn when I read.

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  5. i think that all these methods can help us to get a good reading and i can apply whatever of them as i can also apply my own methods. i am a lazy reader because i read a text for hours at a Time but i really i didn't understand much what i was reading and because maybe I did not pay attention to all reading only to finish quickly.

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  6. I am a passive reader, when I do it, I find a quiet place to read because the noise is annoying and, apart from this tip I used to read early. These strategies are good but one of then catches my attention and It's read for short bursts, This one can help me to have more love for reading and obviously I´ll know new words for my benefit.

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  7. I think...... I use "Monitor your comprehension" Because you can get help from your teacher, and it maybe can be another part of the text.Im a passive reader. I think this material is so useful to us. You can find good strategies for you, and obviously improve yourself.

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  8. I´m a reader skimming the chapter firs because if this no called my atencion, i no will reading that. I usually check first before starting any reading. this material es very important for reader since it have estrategies or key points for good read.

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  9. I'm a passive reader because I think that Read in the morning is a good way to study since I'm fresh in order to start to read also reading alou doesn't help analyze that normally read when we don't understand something we tend to re-read to understand and graps what is the text about

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  10. I think.. I'm passive reader, I liked this information, gives us very good techniques to improve when reading. we as students of English we should use these techniques to improve our reading skills. I particularly apply some of these techniques when I'm going to read something.

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