Reading Efficiency: Getting the Most Out of What You

Read

Workshop DescriptionDo you read slowly? Do you have trouble remembering what you have

read? Being able to read more efficiently and effectively

will help you be more successful with your studies at Empire State College. 

This workshop is designed to give you strategies for getting the best value from your reading and is designed to introduce you to a variety of reading strategies to use before, during and after reading to engage your thought processes and improve your abilities to retain and analyze what you have read.

The skills and strategies in this workshop will assist you in learning how to best focus when you read and how to select important information from a text in order to recall it for class discussions and assignments.

Agenda• Reading & Decoding• Textbook Reading & Comprehension

• SQ3R/SQ5R• Skimming & Scanning

• Reading & Notetaking• Says/Does• Mindmapping

• Critical Reading• PTR2

Reads One Word at a Time

Reads Multi-Word Phrases

Re-reads SentencesKeeps Reading

Leaves Pages CleanMarks Text for MemoryReads “to the end”Reads with a Purpose

Rarely (if ever) PracticesPractices Speed ReadingLets Eyes WanderUses a PacerReads Everything SameAdjusts Speed to Need

Reads WordsReads Ideas

The Slow Reader…The Efficient Reader…

Reading & Decoding

College reading entails having not only to read and comprehend a subject, but it also entails reading for a specific purpose, being able to analyze the material you read, and to read between the lines.

Let’s look at 3 levels of reading and decoding:• Decoding for meaning – using context clues• Reading for meaning – not word for word• Reading with a purpose – knowing what you are

reading about and why you are reading it

Decoding for Meaning – Using context clues

Raining Cats and Dogs Belly Button

Decoding for Meaning – Using context clues

Sunny Side Up Talent Show

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Reading for Meaning – not word for word

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.According to a researcher at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter in what order the

letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself but the word as a whole.

http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/~mattd/Cmabrigde/

Reading for Meaning – not word for word

What is this about? A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is

a better place than the street. At first it is better to run than to walk. You may have to try several times. It takes some skill but it’s easy to learn. Even young children can enjoy it. Once you are successful, complications are minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain, however, soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also cause problems. One needs lots of room. If there are no complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break loose from it, however, you will not get a second chance.

Reading with a Purpose

Flying a Kite A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is

a better place than the street. At first it is better to run than to walk. You may have to try several times. It takes some skill but it’s easy to learn. Even young children can enjoy it. Once you are successful, complications are minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain, however, soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also cause problems. One needs lots of room. If there are no complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break loose from it, however, you will not get a second chance.

Reading with a Purpose

Comprehension

CREATE INTEREST• Set Goals:

•“What is my purpose for doing this reading?”•“What do I want to learn?”

• Look at lesson objectives • Learn new vocabulary • Preview the reading• Review introductory information

USE WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW• Activate prior knowledge (schema):

“What do I know about the topic?”

Comprehension TipsComprehension Tips

Think about how to best take notes

*CREATE A POSITIVE READING ENVIRONMENT*• Relatively free of interruptions (phone, email, TV, friends)• Free of distractions (noise, people watching, windows)• Study in the same place & time (routine)• Not too comfortable (easily fall asleep)• Choose a time when you are mentally alert

**INCREASE YOUR ATTENTION SPAN**• Set specific and manageable study goals • Read with a purpose • Read actively (create study aids)• Keep a distractions list • Varyyour reading• Take breaks• Approach assignment with a positive attitude

friends/family)

*CREATE A POSITIVE READING ENVIRONMENT*• Relatively free of interruptions (phone, email, TV, friends)• Free of distractions (noise, people watching, windows)• Study in the same place & time (routine)• Not too comfortable (easily fall asleep)• Choose a time when you are mentally alert

**INCREASE YOUR ATTENTION SPAN**• Set specific and manageable study goals • Read with a purpose • Read actively (create study aids)• Keep a distractions list • Varyyour reading• Take breaks• Approach assignment with a positive attitude

Recall words, facts, dates, convention, classification,principles, theories, etc. in the approximate form in which they were learned.KNOWLEDGE

Demonstrate understanding, interpret, & extrapolate from a certain body of knowledge,facts and ideas.

COMPREHENSION

Remember knowledge or principles in order to solve a problem and apply rules. APPLICATION

Identify the elements (assumptions, hypotheses, evidence) and structure of a situation.

ANALYSIS

Accomplish a personal task after devising plan of action.SYNTHESIS

Appraise, assess, or critique on a basis of Specific standards & criteria.

EVALUATION

Identifying Your Purpose For Reading Using Bloom’s Taxonomy

This is an easy thing to do. If possible, you will do it at home, but you can always go somewhere else if it is necessary. Beware of doing too much at once. This is a major mistake and may cost you quite a bit of money. It is far better to do too little than attempt to do too much. Make sure everything is grouped properly. Put everything into its appropriate place. Now you are ready to proceed. The next step is to put things into another convenient arrangement. Once done, you’ll probably have to start again really soon. Most likely, you’ll be doing this for the rest of your life---- perhaps not. Who knows?

What is the following about???

This is an easy thing to do. If possible, you will do it at home, but you can always go somewhere else if it is necessary. Beware of doing too much at once. This is a major mistake and may cost you quite a bit of money. It is far better to do too little than attempt to do too much. Make sure everything is grouped properly. Put everything into its appropriate place. Now you are ready to proceed. The next step is to put things into another convenient arrangement. Once done, you’ll probably have to start again really soon. Most likely, you’ll be doing this for the rest of your life---- perhaps not. Who knows?

Doing Laundry

SchemaA schema in general is a specific, well-documented, and consistent plan. The related word, scheme means a loosely described plan.

A schema (pl. schemata), in psychology and cognitive science, is a mental structure (prior knowledge) that represents some aspect of the world. People use schemata to organize current knowledge and provide a framework for future understanding.

Reading Efficiency & Comprehension Strategies

• SQ3R• Says/Does• PTR2• Mindmapping

SQ3R5 step method that was designed to help people become more active in their

reading and retain information more easily.

Survey- Read intro, summary; skim headings, boldface, pictures, charts, graphs, etc.

Question- set purpose for readingRead- break into sectionsRecite-key information in your own words Review -scan material; talk about it with classmate if

possible; identify themes and relationships between concepts

SQ3R system was developed during WWII to help military personnel enrolled in special programs ready faster and study better.

Research shows students who learn system and use it conscientiously

- read 22% faster - comprehend 10% more - retain 80% of material.

Textbook Study System

SQ5R Study Method

URVEY-Read intro, summary; skim headings, boldface, pictures, charts, graphs, etc.

UESTION-set purpose for reading EAD-break into sections ESPOND-think about what you read ECORD-highlight, take notes ECITE-key information in your own words EVIEW-scan material; talk about it with

classmate if possible; identify themes and relationships between concepts

Survey

Objective: To get a solid overview of what you are going to be reading.

What it does…Prepares your mental processing system.

Why do it ?• Better able to concentrate with a frame of reference.• Be able to identify location of important information.

Endstate…Better understanding/comprehension/retention of material

Survey Applied to Your Studies

• Begin by looking at the learning contract and assignments

• Take note of assigned terms and problems• Skim any handouts• Read the introduction• Skim (rapidly) through the chapter, notice

main headings and visuals• Read the summary/intro overview of the

chapter

Goal:Read parts of text that contain the most important information and skip what is least important.

How• All of the steps for scanning AND• Read first sentence of each paragraph • Note last sentences of paragraph for summary• Pick out and identify key words

• (vocabulary, formulas/equations, names, numbers, dates…)

• Maps, charts, graphs, timelines or diagrams = summary of key idea, event or relationship

• General Rule = Skip more than you read

SkimmingSkimming

Thinking about: Organization of TextsThinking about: Organization of Texts

EXTERNALEXTERNAL

1. Preface, table of contents, appendices, 1. Preface, table of contents, appendices, bibliography, index, title page, list of tables bibliography, index, title page, list of tables and illustrations, glossaryand illustrations, glossary

2. Introduction/summary statements, 2. Introduction/summary statements, headings, graphs, charts, illustrations, headings, graphs, charts, illustrations, guide questionsguide questions

Restatement: Reading What a Text Says

Description: Describing What a Text Does

Interpretation: Analyzing What a Text Means

EXAMPLES of Ways to Read and Discuss TextFrom: www.criticalreading.com/ways_to_read.htm

Consider the following nursery rhyme... Mary had a little lamb,

Its fleece was white as snow, and everywhere that Mary went

The lamb was sure to go.

What A Text Says talks about the topic of the original text, Mary and the lamb. Mary had a lamb that followed her everywhere.

What A Text Does talks about the story. The nursery rhyme describes a pet that followed its mistress everywhere.

What a Text Means talks about meaning within the story, here the idea of innocent devotion. An image of innocent devotion is conveyed by the story of a lamb's

close connection to its mistress. The devotion is emphasized by repetition that emphasizes the constancy of the lamb's actions ("everywhere"…"sure to go.") The notion of innocence is conveyed by the image of a young lamb, "white as snow." By making it seem that this connection between pet and mistress is natural and good, the nursery rhyme asserts innocent devotion as a positive relationship.

SAYS/DOES EXAMPLECopyright New York Times Company Aug 9, 2005

CONGRESS has an amazing new scheme to cut crime, automobile fatalities and energy consumption. There is one

hitch. We have to stay in bed until sunrise during the first week of November -- lights out, televisions and radios off and please

stay away from that coffee maker. Of course, doing so might interfere with breakfast, school

attendance, morning workouts and jobs. That's because during that week, the sun won't rise until 7:30 a.m. at the earliest. If

you live on the western edge of your time zone, expect darkness until 8:30 a.m. Sorry, Boise. Good night, Grand Rapids.

Congress has extended daylight saving time by four weeks: In 2007, our clocks will spring forward on the second Sunday of March and fall back on the first Sunday of November. And frankly, there may be another hitch or two in the plan. First, the trick of shifting unused morning light to evening was intended to exploit long summer days, when sunrise occurs between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. Standard Time -- hours of daylight that do not exist during the short days of March and November. Second, after nearly 100 years, daylight saving has yet to save us anything. The idea of falsifying clocks was proposed by the British architect William Willett in 1907, but the Germans were the first to try it in 1916, hoping that it would help them conserve fuel during the First World War. Then Britain and America gave their clocks a whirl.

Congress attempts

to influence

social problems

with change in time

Change in DLS is extended 4 weeks

and points

out problems

with original intent & current change

Intro to topic with

humorous

linkages to daily

impact of change in DLS.

Provides current state of affairs with & critique of the

change in DLS.

Strategies for Reading Texts

Class warfare Time; New York; Mar 4, 2002; Ron Stodghill

Abstract:Not everyone is as receptive to jRoTc's soft nudge into the rank and

file. "I enjoyed [JROTC] , but I never wanted to pursue a career in the military," says the Rev. [Edward Cook], 27, a former JROTC cadet and

a 1993 graduate of Jackson's Forest Hill High School. Still, as a seminary student and director of the day-care center at Greater New

Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Jackson, Cook says those old experiences in JROTC are proving relevant in his work today.]

WHO'S GOING TO ARGUE WITH this outcome? Back in 1992 Shunta Belle was on the fast track to nowhere, "hanging around thugs and drug dealers and trying to prove myself to them." Then, as a freshman at Provine High School in Jackson, Miss., she signed up for the spit-and-shine, no-nonsense world of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. For the first year, Belle held on to a few of her underachieving civilian comrades. But over the next three years, she picked up new friends, a better attitude and a fresh set of goals to match. "I got serious about things," she says, "and I wanted to be around people who wanted something out of life." Today Belle, 23, is a fire fighter in her hometown department.

It is stories like Belle's that have helped fuel the growth of JROTC. Started in 1916, JROTC established a beachhead at the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy in Norwich, Vt. Currently the program can be found in some 3,000 public schools across the nation, and its Pentagon funding is expected to rise more than 50%, from $215 million last year to $326 million by 2004. JROTC has its best-known booster in Colin Powell, who was a ROTC cadet as a student at City College of New York. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he decided that JROTC offered the best prescription for saving lost inner-city youths.

"Yes, I'll admit, the armed forces might get a youngster more inclined to enlist as a result of Junior ROTC. But society got a far greater payoff," Powell later wrote in his 1995 autobiography, My American Journey. "Inner-city kids, many from broken homes, found stability and role models in junior Rom They got a taste of discipline, the work ethic, and they experienced pride of membership in something healthier than a gang."

There are quite a few people, however, who believe that those success stories come at too high a price. After all, JROTC teaches kids how to act and think like soldiers before they are old enough to know their own mind. Critics argue that because such programs are among the few sources of additional funding for some of the nation's neediest schools, they exploit poor kids by putting them on a military track, to the exclusion of other options. The debate has heated up as a growing number of school districts have begun offering JROTC, while others in such cities as Oakland, Calif., and Chicago have scrapped conventional teaching methods to convert some schools into public military academies.

SAYS DOESSAYS DOESShunta

Bell’s life experience & getting on track

when started JROTC.

ProvidesCase Study Example of + impact of JROTC

Background info on

the history, developme

nt and costs of JROTC

JROTC started in 1916, in about 3,000 public

schools in US, $$ up to $326 mil from $215 mil for 2004. Collin Powell- Poster child

example

Opposition to JROTC – “success

stories” have their cost

“Exploit the neediest

kids”“cost more than they

say”

Presents Counter

argument to the

positives of JROTC

PTR2

roblem

hesis

easons

esults

PT

RR

INTRO== BODY

= Conclusion

WHO'S GOING TO ARGUE WITH this outcome? Back in 1992 Shunta Belle was on the fast track to nowhere, "hanging around thugs and drug dealers and trying to prove myself to them." Then, as a freshman at Provine High School in Jackson, Miss., she signed up for the spit-and-shine, no-nonsense world of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. For the first year, Belle held on to a few of her underachieving civilian comrades. But over the next three years, she picked up new friends, a better attitude and a fresh set of goals to match. "I got serious about things," she says, "and I wanted to be around people who wanted something out of life." Today Belle, 23, is a fire fighter in her hometown department.

It is stories like Belle's that have helped fuel the growth of JROTC. Started in 1916, JROTC established a beachhead at the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy in Norwich, Vt. Currently the program can be found in some 3,000 public schools across the nation, and its Pentagon funding is expected to rise more than 50%, from $215 million last year to $326 million by 2004. JROTC has its best-known booster in Colin Powell, who was a ROTC cadet as a student at City College of New York. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he decided that JROTC offered the best prescription for saving lost inner-city youths.

"Yes, I'll admit, the armed forces might get a youngster more inclined to enlist as a result of Junior ROTC. But society got a far greater payoff," Powell later wrote in his 1995 autobiography, My American Journey. "Inner-city kids, many from broken homes, found stability and role models in junior Rom They got a taste of discipline, the work ethic, and they experienced pride of membership in something healthier than a gang."

There are quite a few people, however, who believe that those success stories come at too high a price. After all, JROTC teaches kids how to act and think like soldiers before they are old enough to know their own mind. Critics argue that because such programs

are among the few sources of additional funding for some of the nation's neediest schools, they exploit poor kids by putting them on a military track, to the exclusion of other options. The debate has heated up as a growing number of school districts have begun offering JROTC, while others in such cities as Oakland, Calif., and Chicago have scrapped conventional teaching methods to convert some schools into public military academies.

One of the biggest selling points of JROTC to school districts is that its matching federal funds provide a cost-effective way to broaden a school's curriculum. But that's a claim opponents say masks many hidden expenses. A recent study by the American Friends Service Committee argues, for example, that after school districts subsidize military instructors' salaries, renovate facilities to accommodate JROTC instruction and fork over for mandated field trips, JROTC is usually pricier than conventional academic programs.

Problem

Thesis

Reasons

Are military programs in the inner-city public schools rescuing at-risk kids or pushing them to become soldiers?

R1

R1

Concept mapping can be done for several purposes: • to generate ideas (brain storming, etc.). • to design a complex structure (long texts, large web sites, etc.); • to communicate complex ideas.• to aid learning by explicitly integrating new and old knowledge• to assess understanding or diagnose misunderstanding.

Concept maps:• Show relationships between ideas.• Acts as a memory trigger.• Makes it easier to remember information. • Improves reading comprehension.• Unequaled tool for organizing information. • The act of organizing materials is studying.

The Benefits of Mind Mapping

WHAT TO G.O?

PARAGRAPHSLESSON

OBJECTIVES

LECTURE NOTES

CHAPTER

TEST REVIEW

ROUGH DRAFTS

BRAINSTORMING

What Can I

Graphically Organize

STUDY GROUPNOTES

TEXTBOOKCHAPTER

Differences Differences

Similarities

Object, Event or Person

Object, Event or Person

Differences Differences

Similarities

Object, Event or Person

Object, Event or Person

Supports organization of ideas Helps form logical arguments Serves as reminder of audience and purpose

Persuasive Essay

Introduction State the facts

Give brief outline of argument to

follow

Tell why argument is reasonable

Address arguments of the other side

Summarize your argument

Title of Poemby

Author

Line 1

Line 2

Line 3

Line 4Line 5

Line 6

Line 7

Line 8

Concept Map PracticeInstructions: Read the following passage on principles of classification, and do a concept map of everything you read in

the passage.

Classification consists of placing together in categories those things that resemble each other. While this sounds simple, in actual practice it may be quite difficult. First of all, we have to decide what kind of similarities are the most important for our purpose. One of the earliest classification schemes placed in one category all those organisms which lived in the same habitat. Thus fish, whales, and penguins were classified as swimming creatures. This type of classification was often based on the principle that creatures possessing analogous organs should be classified together. Analogous organs are organs that have the same function. The fins of fishes and the flippers of whales and penguins are analogous organs because they are all used for swimming. The wings of birds, bats, and insects are analogous organs that make flying possible.

As more knowledge was gained about the anatomy of living things, it became apparent that similarities of habitat and of analogous organs were often rather superficial. The fact that bats have fur and nurse their young, birds have feathers and lay eggs, while insects are cold-blooded and have no internal skeleton suggested that these organisms differ from one another in more important ways than they resemble one another. An appreciation of the truly significant ways in which organisms resemble or differ from one another enabled the Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus to found the modern system of classification. In 1753 he published a classification of the plants which was followed, in 1758, by a classification of the animals. For this work he is often called the father of taxonomy, the name given to the study of classification. His system of classification is fundamentally the system we use today. It is based on the principle of homology. Homologous organs are organs which show the same basic structure, the same general relationship to other organs, and the same pattern of very early growth. They need not, however, share the same function. An examination of the bones of the whale's flipper, the bat's wing, and man's arm reveals the same basic pattern (Fig.2-2). Furthermore, all these appendages are found in the same part of the body and develop in similar ways. They are homologous organs, although they are used to carry out quite different functions. Linnaeus felt that the difference in function was trivial, while the homology of the organs provided a sound basis for grouping these animals together. Why is classification based upon homology so significant? The answer to this question was not given until 1859 when Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution, According to Darwin, a classification based upon the presence of homologous organs is a classification based upon kinship. He felt that all creatures sharing homologous organs is a classification based upon kinship. He felt that all creatures sharing homologous organs are related to one another, having inherited their homologous organs from a common ancestor. Thus man, the bat, and the whale all had a single ancestor who possessed the basic forelimb structure that these creatures possess - although obviously in a quite modified form - today.

Source: http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learning/note-taking/class1.html

Source: http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learning/note-taking/class1a.html

Reading Efficiency Resources

READING TEXTS • Pre-Reading Strategies www.studygs.net/preread.htm • Critical Reading www.esc.edu/ESConline/Across_ESC/WritingResourceCenter.nsf/wholeshortlinks2/Academic+Reading • Studying Efficiently gwired.gwu.edu/counsel/asc/index.gw/Site_ID/46/Page_ID/14536/ • Textbook Reading Strategies academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/as/208.HTM • How to Study – Reading Resources www.howtostudy.org/resources_skill.php?id=10 • Dartmouth Academic Skills Center www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/reading.html • St. Louis University Reading Resource Center www.slu.edu/x14076.xml • Rochester Institute of Technology – Academic Support Center – On Textbook Reading

www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/asc/college_programs/lng_pwr/index.php?l1=3&l2=7&location=37 • James Cook University

– Reading Efficiency - http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/tld/learningskills/effreading/

MINDMAPPING• Theory Behind Concept Mapping

cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryCmaps/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.htm • Mindmapping Overview members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/Creative/Mindmap/ • Reading Comprehension & Mindmapping Video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvnbKEHOQIY&feature=related• University of Victoria www.coun.uvic.ca/learning/reading-skills/ • James Cook University

– Mindmapping - http://www.jcu.edu.au/office/tld/learningskills/mindmap/index.html

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