As you read, write down questions that you have about the text.
MY FIRST STEPS TO READING BOOKZ HOW TO
Check out our handout about skimming to read about how to skim effectively and purposefully. Check out our note-taking handout for more recommendations on effective note-taking. When you do take notes, keep them brief, focus on main ideas, and put them in your own words. Convert major headings and topics into questions, then read for answers.įinish an entire section or page before taking notes. These often contain the main idea, while the other sentences in the paragraph provide support and details. Focus on first sentences and text features for main ideas of each paragraph or section as you read. Strategies while you readįigure out the main idea. Right after previewing, make a prediction about what you think this chapter or section is going to be about. 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. Make a list of what you already know about the topic and what you want to know about it/questions you have about it. 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.Īctivate prior knowledge. 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.īegin at the end. Digital or e-textbooks may have some additional features. Get to know your digital reading platform. Special interest boxes and notes in margins.Pay special attention to these features when previewing your textbook: 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. Below are some practical and effective active reading strategies that you can try to get the most out of your reading time. Active reading strategies are ones in which you force your brain to actually do something (something effective and research-backed) while reading your textbook. Instead, research shows that active reading strategies lead to comprehension and retention and help students perform better in classes. Neither approach leads to a high level of comprehension or retention of what you just read. Though very different, both approaches are passive in that they don’t involve active, critical thought-the first approach turns the reader into a copying machine, and the second is much less time-consuming but doesn’t include any active engagement with the text. They then typically fall into one of two categories: those who painstakingly read each word and copy pages of notes for hours, or those who casually skim over the words and flip the pages. Many students approach reading textbooks by opening up the book and starting with the first sentence in the chapter. This will help you to have a better purpose and focus going into the reading and will help you to be able to pull out the important ideas more easily. You should always spend a few minutes previewing a chapter or section before you start to read so that you can get an idea of the main concepts in that section. These features provide a wealth of information and clues about the text. Textbooks contain numerous features that you don’t always encounter in novels, articles, or other types of texts. Effective reading strategies can ensure that you truly comprehend the course material, come to class prepared, and perform better on class assignments and exams. This handout will provide practical strategies to help you read textbooks more effectively. Do you feel like you spend too much time reading textbooks? Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the amount of information they contain? Do you have a hard time focusing or figuring out what’s important? Textbooks can be tedious and difficult, but they contain many features designed to help you learn.
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