Techniques for Skillful Reading
“…it is crucial for college students to develop reading strategies and techniques which will aid in learning, understanding, and retaining key concepts from textbooks, essays, novels, technical materials, and other kinds of reading…these reading strategies will undoubtedly guide you in becoming a stronger, more critical reader…”
“…can help to improve your critical comprehension of a text…will enhance the other reading strategies…also your understanding of the way the pieces of an essay/novel/story work together and allows you to make connections between a number of texts.”
“A good reader is one who reads actively, interacting with the text in many ways…thinking about and considering what a writer does not say as well as what she does say are all parts of critical thinking and reading…reading ‘with and against the grain‘ enables you to fully engage with a text and an author's ideas, moving toward developing your own reading.”
“Do not be reluctant to mark your textbook. Marking or annotating a text is your response to what you are reading, and it might prove valuable to you later as you study for a test or write an essay…marking a text is your way of discovering what you find important, what you want to explore, and/or what puzzles you about a text…this is an exciting process.”
“…can help with critical thinking skills while refining your writing skills…allows you to put your thoughts about the text into writing…”
The five steps involved with this method of studying “should result in faster reading, picking out the important points, and fixing them in memory.”
“To maximize your comprehension of a text, adjust your reading style, technique, and rate to accommodate the type of text your are reading…chart can be used as a guide to determine which reading rate is most suitable for the different types of texts…”
A description of techniques for improving reading rate through rhythmic eye movement, absence of vocalization, and infrequent regressions.
“Because most of your vocabulary is gained through reading, it is important that you be able to recognize and take advantage of context clues.”
“Transitions or signal words help you, the reader, follow the directions of a writer's thought…Common signal words show emphasis, addition, comparison or contrast, illustration, and cause and effect.”
Understanding the speech patterns of a writer should enable the reader to “follow the writer’s sequence of ideas more readily and improve your comprehension.” Writers use various terms to signal “which organizational method is being used.”