The Foundation of College Success

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The Foundation of College Success

• Reading Comprehension Strategies
• Presentation provided by UTPB West Texas Literacy
  Center, an HSI funded program. HSI is a federally
  funded program granted by the Department of
  Education Title V programs.
• Developed by Ana Miller, M.A., Reading Specialist
  

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What is Reading?

• Reading is Thinking.
• Has dual purposes decoding and comprehension
• Requires your background knowledge and prior
  experiences
• Interactive You and the author
• Constructive
• Metacognitive Awareness of your own thinking
• Strategic
• Involves all of you Mentally, physically,
  emotionally, and sometimes spiritually

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What Proficient Readers Do

• Interact with text in a multisensory way
• Search for connections between what they know and
  the new information
• Ask questions of themselves, the authors, and the
  texts they read
• Make inferences (reading between the lines)
  during and after reading
• Distinguish important from less important ideas
  in text

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What Proficient Readers Do

• Are adept at synthesizing (formulating a new
  perspective or idea) information within and
  across texts and reading experiences
• Repair faulty comprehension
• Monitor the adequacy of their understanding
• Findings based on research by Pearson, 1992
  and Keene Zimmerman, 1997.

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First Stage of ReadingPre-Reading

• Preview Text
• SURVEY
• Title, subheadings, bold print, italicized
  words, margin notes
• Pictures, captions, graphics, maps, etc.
• Chapter questions
• Summary

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Pre-ReadingAs you Preview the Text

• Link your prior knowledge and experiences to the
  text
• Ask yourself
• What do I already know about this subject?
• What personal connections can I make to this
  information?
• Take no longer than 5 minutes to Preview the
  Text.

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Pre-Reading

• Set a Purpose for Reading to Get Focused and
  Engaged in the Reading Process
• QUESTION
• Mentally or in writing BEFORE you read the first
  section of the chapter,turn a chapter heading,
  subheading, or boldface term into a question,
  using why, how, what, when, where, who?

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Second Stage of ReadingDuring Reading

• READ
• To find the answer to your question(s)
• Read only a short section, one paragraph to one
  page, depending on the difficulty of the text
• Read quickly and selectively, improving your
  comprehension by seeking the answer to your
  question(s)

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During Reading

• As you read
• Interact with the text by
• Using all of your senses to see, hear, touch,
  taste, and smell what the author is describing
• In expository (nonfiction) text visualizing is
  most beneficial
• In narrative (storytelling) text all of your
  senses should be engaged, especially your
  emotions

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During ReadingMake Connections with the Text

• What does this remind me of?
• How can I apply this?
• How does this relate to lectures, class notes,
  other textbooks, other courses?
• How does this relate to what I am needing to
  learn?
• I wonder
• I have heard, seen, read about this

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Third Stage of Reading After Reading

• RECITE
• To find out what you comprehend from reading the
  section
• Answer your question ALOUD, in YOUR OWN WORDS
• If you cant say it, you dont know it!
• Reciting is your most important tool for
  remembering information it requires complete
  multisensory concentration needed to move
  information from short-term memory to long-term
  memory

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After Reading

• RITE
• To prepare for later review follow the RECITE
  step
• with any of these steps
• Underline or highlight, using the
  telegrammatic method, if the material is fairly
  easy
• Make very brief notes in the margin or in your
  notebook, if the material is detailed and complex
  
• Record key names, dates, terms, and definitions
• Mark any confusing portions so you can clarify
  later
• When you dont want to mark in the text, use
  post-it-notes

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Telegrammatic Underlining or Highlighting

• The Objective
• Your underlined or highlighted words should
  provide a sufficient, correct SUMMARY of the
  material.
• Avoid random marking
• Difficult texts or those you must know in great
  detail, may require marginal notes, outlines, or
  other note- taking methods
• Telegrammatic underlining or highlighting works
  well for easier or more general information

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Repeat the Cycle

• Move to the next section of the text and
• QUESTION
• READ
• RECITE
• RITE

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After ReadingFinal Step

• REVIEW
• At the end of the chapter, take about 5 MINUTES
  to do an IMMEDIATE, brief review to double
  retention
• A WEEK LATER, review again briefly to strengthen
  long-term memory
• Review again EACH WEEK UNTIL YOU ARE TESTED,
  adding new chapters as they are assigned
• Reviewing cuts total study time by up to 90

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SQ4R Study-Reading Method

• S SURVEY
• Q QUESTION
• R READ
• R RECITE
• R RITE
• R REVIEW

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Research ShowsStudy-Reading Methods Do Work

• Reading alone is a short-term memory operation
• In a study, of upper-level students from a major
  university who used the SQ4R method for a
  semester-
• Every student
• Had a higher GPA
• Faster reading rate
• Improved comprehension
• Spent 30 less time on studying than before
• The key is repetition!!!

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Psychological Advantages of Study-Reading Methods

• Provides mental organization or structure
• Sets a purpose for reading
• Produces sense of accomplishment
• Creates sense of security
• Multisensory

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READING REQUIRES READER AND TEXT INTERACTION

• If there is no understanding, reading did not
  occur.
• Tell me, and Ill forget.
• Show me, and I may remember.
• Involve me, and Ill understand.
• Author
  unknown

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Adjusting Your Reading Rate

• Scanning 1000 to 2000 WPM
• Skimming 800 WPM
• Speed Reading 300 to 800 WPM
• Study Reading 100 to 200 WPM
• Careful, Intensive Reading - lt 100 WPM

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References

• Feldman, Shattles, McKenzie. (2004).Oracle
  EDU 1110. Unpublished manuscript, Southern
  Methodist University, Dallas, TX.
• Harvey, S. Goudvis, A. (2000). Strategies That
  Work.
• Portland Stenhouse.
• Leonard, E. (2007). What Every Student Should
• Know AboutStudy Skills. New York Pearson.