Instead, research shows that active reading strategies lead to comprehension and retention and help students perform better in classes. Active reading strategies are ones in which you force your brain to actually do something (something effective and research-backed) while reading your textbook. Below are some practical and effective active reading strategies that you can try to get the most out of your reading time.
how to read a text book
Preview. Look through the text features in the chapter (headings, titles, graphs, bold words, etc.) to gain clues about the main concepts and important elements of the chapter. Pay special attention to these features when previewing your textbook:
Get to know your digital reading platform. Digital or e-textbooks may have some additional features. Does the digital format encourage a specific reading path, or is it easy to jump around? Can you bookmark pages, or are there other ways to save your progress? If you follow a hyperlink, how do you get back to where you were before? Getting to know the structure of your e-textbook and seeing how page or section navigation works will save you time in the long run.
Begin at the end. Read the summary, vocab list, chapter questions, and practice problems first to gain an idea of the most important aspects of the section and what you are expected to know and understand after reading it.
Set a purpose. Based on what you gathered in your previewing, set a purpose for why you are reading this chapter and what you need to understand, know, or be able to do after reading it.
Figure out the main idea. Focus on first sentences and text features for main ideas of each paragraph or section as you read. These often contain the main idea, while the other sentences in the paragraph provide support and details.
Generate questions. As you read, write down questions that you have about the text. Also, create questions that you would ask on a test if you were a professor giving a test about this chapter (use them to self-test later).
Keep it short. Tackle no more than 5-10 pages at a time. Space your reading out across the day and week as opposed to cramming it all into hour-long sessions. Check out our time management handouts to find some calendars and resources to help you chunk your reading.
Re-visit the chapter later. Instead of re-reading the chapter this time, focus on the main concepts. Make note of how content covered in class connects with the material in the chapter.
Textbooks are organized by headings and subheadings. You can find these sections first listed in the table of contents. They provide readers with important clues as to what topics are considered more and less important. The bigger the heading, the more important the topic.
Interacting with the material is one of the most effective reading strategies out there. According to the educational psychologist Francis P. Robinson, the more senses you use in storing your information, the better your retrieval and retention.
Take notes while going through the pages. You can also highlight important themes and concepts. This kind of visual note-taking makes complex information easier to digest and remember. This approach really forces you to pay attention to the text. It will also help you pick out the most important information on the page.
The last thing you want to do after reviewing complex textbook material is dive into charts, pictures, diagrams, and other illustrations. However, these data points are important. In some instances, particularly when it comes to STEM topics, these sections may actually be more valuable than the actual text.
We know, this one might make you feel a little silly. But we promise it works! According to a growing body of research, reading out loud can help adults improve memory and better understand complicated text information.
One of the best ways for a college student to enhance their reading comprehension is by taking notes on assigned material. This is especially important for instances in which the tests may cover more than the teacher has time to talk about in class. Review the list below for tips on how to take notes on textbook reading.
The good thing about textbooks is that they present information in highly organized sections. Use this layout to your advantage. Pay attention to headings and subheadings, in particular. Pepper these terms into your outlines. Create a section for all terms listed in bold or italics as well.
Too often, students spend more time worrying about the quality of their notes than they do retaining the information in front of them. Try reading short sections of your assigned chapter. Pause and think about what you just read. Then, take notes based on what you remember. This will help you focus on core topics instead of getting caught up in the details.
Research shows that reading out loud, paraphrasing information, and revisiting the text can help improve reading comprehension. It is also a good idea to discuss the material with other students during your lunch break or arrange to meet with your professor one on one after class.
The following strategy, SQ4R, is built around the idea that what you do before and after you read is as important as the reading itself. Learning is an active process which requires concentration and energy. Understanding and using the following strategies will increase your comprehension and your retention of the information.
Read the summary at the end of the chapter. Reread it to see which ideas the author restates for special emphasis or what general conclusions he or she comes to. If there is no summary, read the last sentence or two before each new heading.
Turn each heading and subtitle into a question. Form questions from all three sections of the "Levels of Comprehension" attached at the end of the packet (Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?). You should be able to answer these questions when you finish reading and studying the paragraph, section, or chapter.
Tell yourself the major concept(s) of the section. Put the ideas into your own words. If you simply read a textbook chapter, you will probably remember less than one-third of what you read by the following week. In two months, you will remember about 14% of the material, hardly enough to do well on a test. In order to transfer a greater portion of the material you read from your short-term to long-term memory, you must do something active with the information to help "attach" it to your memory. If you take time after reading each section of the chapter to recite the information, you will ensure that more of it goes into long-term memory. If you recite, you are likely to remember 80% of what you read after a week and 70% after two months. Now check your answers by referring to the book.
After having read a section and reflected on what you have read and questioned yourself about the material, you are ready to take notes. Taking notes at this point in time will almost ensure that you are noting the important parts of the section. Go back over the paragraphs and highlight or underline only the main ideas and supporting details with no more than 10-15% of the page highlighted. Use marginal notations as a way to separate main ideas from examples and each of those from new terminology.
Predict test questions based on these main points, especially questions which would fall into the critical and creative levels of reading comprehension. Try true/false and completion-type questions from details. Essay questions are easy to make from the main headings. Answer your test questions.
This article was co-authored by Michelle Golden, PhD. Michelle Golden is an English teacher in Athens, Georgia. She received her MA in Language Arts Teacher Education in 2008 and received her PhD in English from Georgia State University in 2015.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 96% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 88,541 times.
Reading a textbook can often feel like a daunting task. The language can be dry and there can be many unknown words and phrases. You may feel overwhelmed by the very number of pages that you have been assigned to read. However, there are ways that you can become more comfortable with your textbook and more confident in reading it.
Think about it. Textbooks are the only books you read today that have pictures on nearly every page (Dr. Seuss fans excluded). In fact, should you be forced to read a textbook without pictures, you are in real trouble. Those books get seriously tough. Nevertheless, understanding how to read a textbook is vital.
The goal of the Harry Potter books is very different. Novels tell stories. Textbooks communicate ideas through explanations of information. Because of this, you need a different strategy for reading a textbooks. Follow these four easy steps to get on your way.
From that point you can then work through the chapter from front to back. By taking this out-of-order strategy, you are focusing not on the chronological order, but rather connecting the ideas found in the chapter together. This is infinitely more important than reading things in the order they were written.
While this looks different in each subject, they should be relatively easy to pick out. Key people, places, and events often make up the key details in history books. Grammar rules are the important details frequently in grammar books. For languages, vocab are some of the most important key details of the chapter. Check your notes against the questions at the end of the chapter. If they reflect the same key details, you know you are barking up the right tree.
For some classes, this will mean doing all of the reading assignments. For others, you can get by with skimming the reading or focusing only on certain sections. And, finally, there are some classes where cracking the textbook is almost unnecessary. 2ff7e9595c
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