Pre-Reading Techniques
Welcome to the world of building reading speed and comprehension!
Most of us are looking for a way to be more efficient at what we do. This lesson will focus on how to approach reading technical materials, textbooks, manuals, etc. For those of you who are in school, pay attention because this will save you untold hours of study, frustration, and fear before your exams.
Simply by learning how to approach new material you will discover how to improve not only your reading speed, but your overall comprehension of the material the first time you read through it.
Yes, when you go back to study for a test, you will certainly review the same material again; but when you approach it with the techniques learned in this lesson, you can expect to do much, much better on your exams than you have done previously.
For those of you who have to read a great many technical manuals or trade journals for your job, this lesson will also help you to be able to get through the piles of material at a much faster rate and with much more accurate comprehension.
The Purpose of Reading
The idea behind reading is to connect ideas in the book or on the paper to what you may already know. When we are unfamiliar with a subject or topic, we don't absorb what we read very well, because we have little to connect the new ideas to.
In order to understand something that we read, there must be some kind of underlying foundation. How can you improve your understanding about something you've never studied before? Well, we all have to dive in somewhere. This lesson will focus mainly on how to approach a new topic so that you can be instantly successful from the very beginning.
Building Blocks of Materials
When you first begin a class, you typically have a textbook, and sometimes you will have other materials, as well such as a lab book, a syllabus, and other workbooks. Begin at the beginning. Rather than just looking at the materials, begin by asking questions. Asking questions is the first step toward developing an interactive reading style. It helps to develop a connection between what you already know and what you will be learning.
Here are some questions to consider:
- What is the title of the main book?
- What is the subject of the class?
- What do you know about this subject already? If you know anything at all about it, it may help to list what you do know.
- Is this subject related to anything else you may already know? For example, if the class is about the American Civil War, perhaps you know something about the historic figures who are later featured in Civil War history.
Remembering anything you already know about a topic will help to improve your reading comprehension.
Now, begin to look through the materials. Reviewing the syllabus for the class or the table of contents of the book will begin to give your brain some direction as to where the course or book will take you. Again, be on the lookout for things that you already know.
Now, open the main book to the first lesson. Most textbooks have titles, headers, and subheadings. Scan through these to familiarize yourself with what you will be learning. Are there any pictures or graphs? Do they have captions? Read the captions. Ask yourself how this relates to the information you have gotten from the titles, headings, and subheadings.
Now go to the end of the chapter. Many times there are Review Questions, Vocabulary or Helpful Terms. Read through the review questions, look through the vocabulary or helpful terms. Do you know any of them?
It might even be beneficial at this point to look up any of the vocabulary words, or helpful terms in the book's index or glossary. Understanding what a single word means can make or break your ability to comprehend a reading selection.
Tip: Anytime you do not know the meaning of a word, or understand a term, LOOK IT UP! This is CRITICAL to comprehending new material.
Think back to a time when you listened to a lecture, speech, or sermon. If you did not understand what the speaker was talking about, you probably tuned out. You may have given every indication that you were listening, but you were no longer hearing or understanding what was being said.
The same applies to reading. As soon as you begin to skip over single words, multiple word phrases, or even entire paragraphs because you cannot understand what is being stated, you have tuned out. You might look like you're reading, but you are no longer seeing the words, and you are certainly not comprehending what you are reading.
Make a dictionary your very best friend. Have a notebook where you define terms that are new to you so that you can quickly and easily refer to them as you continue to study this new material. You will be absolutely amazed at how quickly you begin to comprehend and retain what you are reading when you improve your understanding of the basic terms and vocabulary or language of the new topic.
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