College Reading

Of all the skills necessary to succeed in college, the two most important are:Reading the intake of informationWriting the production of informationIn this presentation, we deal with how to make your reading skills work for you

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Take Charge of Your Reading

Before all else, if you dont like to read, accept the importance of the skill and work on it. This is CRITICAL to your success!Commit to reading goalsPlan time and space to concentrateCapture and connectKnow how to read primary and
secondary sources.Preview and Review

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Commit to Reading Goals

Stay positive, reading can be enjoyable.Break chapters into chunks.Preview each chunk before you start.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 pointsMake understanding the material of prime importance.

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Plan Time and Space to Concentrate

College reading takes a great deal of concentration.Schedule time to read in a place where you wont 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.

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Capture and Connect

Capture the supporting details; connect them to the main idea.Capture what you dont know and connect it to what you do know.Elements of Your Reading PlanPreviewSkimmingActive ReadingAnalytic ReadingReview

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Reading Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary Source - material written in some original form; more difficult reading level.AutobiographiesSpeechesResearch ReportsGovernment DocumentsScholarly ArticlesSecondary Source - summarizes or interprets primary sourcesMagazine ArticlesTextbooks

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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!

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A Readers Glossary

Cause-effectHow one thing causes another to happenCompare-contrastHow things are similar and how they are differentDraw a conclusionTo make up your mind about an ideaContext clueGetting the meaning of a word from the words around itImpliedSuggested without being directly statedInferenceTo guess or speculate to draw a conclusionMain ideaThe primary subject of a passage or paragraphObjectivityNot influenced by personal feelings or prejudicePrior knowledgeWhat you already knowSupporting detailsSpecific items that elaborate on the main idea

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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.

This is a lot of work! Who needs it?

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Reviewing

Review to remember the main points of the material.Test yourself on your comprehension.Some ways to review:notesstudy questionsflash cardsvisual mapsoutlinesMake reviewing every week a study goal.

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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 containsEnables you to gather the surface ideas if you dont have enough time to read deeply.

Skim!!!

Skim!!!

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Active Reading

Use it to avoid empty readingreading 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!

Read us the story about the wolf

Right!

Get involved in reading!

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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 writers 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

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Tips for Improving Reading Ability

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.

Show them were a

regular bunch this

week!

Take a book

to lunch this

week!

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Highlighting Text

Highlight: Topic sentences, Key words, ConclusionsBut watch out!Highlighting too much can cause you to re-read everything because you dont know whats important.Highlighting doesnt show you why you highlighted somethingYou need to have the entire text with you to review.

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Important Points About
College Reading

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 Instructors do NOT always cover the reading material in lecture.

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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.

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