READING METHODS

READING METHODS

Reading Daily News:

Disregard redundant news to save time now.

News is redundant; previewed yesterday…………..detailed today……………….summed up tomorrow

When reading news, whether from report, newspaper, magazine or newsletter, skip what you already know. Make sure to get the new information you need.

Look for the most important information to match the purpose of your reading. A strong purpose immediately increases your speed & comprehension. Be clear about what you want & then quickly search to find it. Don’t just read for sake of reading unless you have chosen to pass leisure time.

Give yourself just 10 to15 minutes in the morning   to review the news. This time constraint gently forces you to get focused.   Come back in the evening to get whatever you have to or want to.

Reading Newspapers

Read headlines & first paragraph only.

Review headlines & select the articles you want to read based on your interest or purpose of reading. Read the first paragraph to preview the article.

Reporters present 80% of the news in first paragraph only. Subsequent supporting text should be read only if needed.

Ask yourself what other specific details you want. Let it go if there are none.

Skim the details for the desired details. Dip into the articles & read those paragraphs. Don’t read all the paragraphs unless you have luxury of unlimited time.

When finished with one article, go over quickly to the next article. Don’t spend more then 15 – 20 minutes on newspaper.

CLOSE READING:

Close reading is the essence of academic experience. It aims at mastery of the material with full retention& details. It is divided into number of steps, each vital but complete as a whole,

HOW TO INSTANTLY IMPROVE YOUR READING EFFICIENCY

Before reading a difficult piece of writing, take a few moments & close your eyes & relax while taking two or three breaths. Say to yourself that you can read with full concentration, recognize key information & achieve high comprehension quickly to accomplish your needs.

Believe you can & you will.

This may simply sound like positive mental attitude. Yet if you don’t purposely affirm the positive, you may be shutting off your true capabilities by subtle anxieties about the task.

For example, if the material is dense & difficult to read, any anxiety about getting through it can lower the performance. The secret is simply to see the material as new & different, not as dense & difficult…. & to be relaxed about it. Early confusion can cause curiosity that guides you to search for & recognize the information you need. Your comprehension & overall reading performance will improve –all with just a few seconds of preparations.

READING TOLEARN

Although many of us believe that reading is a passive process, we couldn’t be more mistaken. Reading is actually a highly complex process of interaction between the reader & the text. Reading is processing the information. To any text we bring our own store of general information based on our cultural, educational & personal experiences & normally some specific knowledge about the topic being read.

We also possess linguistic competence which includes our knowledge about the words, the grammar of the text & linguistic conventions used in different types of texts. For example, news stories, poetry & research papers & reports are all distinctly recognizable text types.

When we read, we have a particular purpose in mind & in most cases we have a motivation to read. However, we use different strategies to assist us in our reading according to the purpose. We would not read newspaper the same way we would read a physics or mathematics chapter.

There are different types of reading styles & we make choices about the most appropriate style as per our purpose, Skimming involves moving our eyes rapidly over the page to get a gist of what the text is about. This skill can be used to skim a particular book or article to see if it is useful. This technique is used to judge material after rapid inspection.

Two approaches to help you learn to skim are described below:

1.    Scanning is the strategy we use when searching for a particular piece of information such as dates or names. This type of reading is useful when you are researching a topic. You can use this strategy to check through the catalogues, scan a contents page & index to see if a particular thing is mentioned. Check the abstract or the introduction or conclusion of a chapter/article for key words to see how relevant the relevant text is to your purpose.

2.    Intensive reading is the style we employ when we want to gain understanding of the information contained in the text. Extensive reading is the term used to strategies we use to read longer texts either for pleasure or information. The strategies like scanning, skimming & reading for details are employed by reader according to the individual’s interest in the various parts.

The reading style we employ to any text depends upon the type & content of the text as well as our purpose in reading. It is important to use these strategies appropriately & flexibly to maximize the benefit.

READING STRATAGIES FOR READING TEXTBOOKS

Decide the purpose. What is that you want to get from the printed page? Terms & definitions? Problems & solutions? Research methods? Preview the printed page to review how the materials organized. Read the title, the introductions & the headings. Read the conclusion if there is anywhere will you find the information you have decided to look for? Point your pacer & start reading the introduction. You can race through that because you have already read that. Read rapidly, only slowing down when you approach something relevant to you for the purpose you have set. After you read a page or section, mark the lines or words you want to remember. If you mark the text as you read, you are likely to become nervous & mark nearly everything until the page becomes a sea of yellow.  That slows you down & serves no useful purpose even after you finish reading. When you reach the end of the page, quickly look back at the marked text for rapid review. This should answer the question or the purpose that you set before you started reading.

HOW TO READ MATHS BOOK:

There are a few lucky folks who seem to learn even the hardest math’s problem effortlessly. Rest of us have to pick their brains. Learning maths is hard work. We cannot get by without working at it.

Do the homework exercises.  The home work is for your benefit & not your teacher or lecturer. You cannot learn to play guitar without endlessly practice. No skill can be leant without endless practice. Maths is no different. The exercises will train your mind & sharpen your institution. So, do your work, it will pay off in the long run.

Math books are meant to be read slowly. You cannot speed it if you desire to get any benefit out of it. When you encounter a new concept in a maths book, do not expect to understand it on first reading, no matter how carefully you read it, you should go over each difficult paragraph several time. If you are still uncomfortable with it read ahead or back page or two & then come back to the difficult paragraph. Remember maths books are meant to be read with paper & pencil in hand. Use the paper & pencil to work through any steps that the book skips over.

Always use a pencil to do maths homework. When you make mistake, it will be easy to erase. Make sure that you have a clean, usable eraser as well.

Neatness may not get extra marks but it helps to keep you from confusion. Keep your work organized. Skip a line or two between each row of calculations. It will make your work much easier & you will be able to follow your own work more easily than in a densely packed page. Paper is cheap. Don’t be afraid to use lots of it.

Your greatest assets are in the class with you. Your classmates are in the same boat as you.  Organize a study group. Try to coax one of the ranker in your group. Limit the group size between three to five members. Try to meet at least twice a week. Work together on the home work & compare lecture notes. Be careful to choose like minded students in your group.

In your group activity, take turns. Have one person do the exercise, explaining what he or she is doing as the problem unfolds. If the person doing the exercise gets stuck, others should guide him or her by providing hints or asking questions. Make the person solving the problem to explain each step orally. If anybody in the group is not able to explain understand any step, the person solving the problem should explain it.

When one person has solved one problem, somebody else should solve the next problem. Nobody should opt out.

You will be tested as an individual. Despite the help from the group, your grades will definitely improve. Also, be sure to solve a few exercises on your own after the group exercise.

Try to see more than just procedures.  Learn the concepts & the procedures will become obvious.

In the end maths is fascinating. Be fascinated.

HOW TO RREAD COMPUTER BOOKS

Spend some time reading the chapter headings & subheadings from the index page. Get familiar with the frame work of the book, how the book is organized & broken down into its sub-sections & the overall feel of the book.

Skim the book. Look at the diagrams. Read a sentence here, a sentence there. A diagram here, a diagram there. This will help you to become familiar with new terminology you haven’t come across before you have to really read the book & also to understand the way the concepts have been organized in the book. Skimming will also help you to locate specific charts, diagrams or tables later on.

After you have skimmed the book, read the entire boob superficially.  Only concentrate on the sections of the book you understand. Completely skip over anything which you don’t understand. This includes paragraphs, diagrams, charts. Just everything which you don’t understand. Just skip it.  This may mean skipping even as much as 50% of the book.  This is just the first reading. Don’t get swamped by trying to understand that you don’t understand. This will come later.

Lastly read the book again. This time study it thoroughly. This is essentially the third time you are looking at the book & lot of content & structure will be familiar to you. You will be able to tackle the book much easily now.

HOW TO RREAD NOVELS & OTHER BOOKS of ART

Read any information on the book cover or the forward that gives you an idea about the content of the story or about the author’s reasons about writing the book.

Outside Help:                                                                                                                                 Read articles/reviews about the book which appear in newspapers/magazines or the internet etc.

Significance of chapter one:                                                                                                                      Read the first chapter slowly & carefully. Generally the main characters of the novel/storey & the issues facing them are introduced in first chapter. The rest of the narrative is generally about how they face/solve these issues. The first chapter also introduces traits about the main characters.

Time Management:                                                                                                                   Plan how much of the book you will read in one sitting. If you seriously become restless after half an hour, do not read for more then half an hour. A more mature plan is to read one chapter at a time.  Determine what time of the day you will read; say for one hour before diner & stick to this schedule. Keep a record of your keeping this schedule on a calendar or diary. After you have read a chapter, write a summary paragraph about the chapter. Add a few comments about the characters & events of the chapter. This way after you have finished the book you will have your summary of the entire book.

Book Marks & Pacers:                                                                                                                   Use book marks on the lines as you read. Preferably          place the book mark above the line rather than below it. This way your eyes also move fast & your reading speed increases. A pacer such as finger or pen also helps in reducing regression. Remember that you are not reading maths or science & hence you do not need detailed precision,

Talk about What You Have Read:                                                                                             It is a good idea to discuss the storey with another person. A discussion about the characters & events will be extremely helpful to understand the story.