Chapter 6: Keeping Track of Information

Active Reading Skills, 2/eKathleen McWhorter

Brette McWhorter Sember

PowerPoint by Gretchen Starks-Martin

Five Ways to Keep Track of Information

1. Highlighting2. Marking3. Outlining4. Mapping 5. Summarizing

Highlighting Effectively 1. Read a paragraph or section first.2. Highlight important portions of any

topic sentence.3. Be accurate.4. Highlight the right amount. (No more

than 20 to 30 percent of the material.)

Marking to Record Ideas

1. Circle the words you do not know.2. Mark definitions with “def.”3. Make notes to yourself. (“example,” “test

question,” “reread,” “ask instructor.”)

4. Put question marks next to confusing words or passages.

Outlining

I. Major topicA. First major idea

1. First key supporting detail2. Second key supporting detail

B. Second major idea1. First Key supporting detail

a. Minor detail or exampleb. Minor detail or example

2. Second key supporting detailII. Second major topic

A. First major idea

Outline of an Essay: Your Friend’s Vacation in San FranciscoI. Favorite Places

A. Chinatown1. Restaurants and markets a. Fortune cookie factory

b. Dim sum restaurants2. Museums

a. Chinese Culture Center b. Pacific Heritage Museum

B. Fisherman’s Wharf1. Pier 39

a. Street performers b. Sea lions sunning themselves on the docks

2. Ghiradelli Square

Suggestions for Outlining

1. Don’t worry about following the outline format exactly.

2. Use words and phrases or complete sentences.

3. Use your own words, and don’t write too much.

4. Pay attention to headings.

Mapping: A Visual Method of Organizing Information

1. Identify the overall topic or subject. 2. Identify major ideas that relate to the

topic.3. As you discover supporting details that

further explain an idea already mapped, connect those details with new lines.

See Figures 6.1 to 6.4 in your book for examples of maps.

Example of Mapping

How children learn to manage emotions

They learn how they’resupposed to

feel

They learnto show or hide

feelingsThey learn how to

change their feelings

Example of Mapping

Process: How to Prepare A Garden Bed

Find a sunny spot.

Remove weeds,rocks, and

debris.

Smooth outlumps withrake and

then plant!

Loosen soiland dig about

12” deep.

Mix compostto a depth ofabout 6-8”.

Summarizing: A Brief Statement that Pulls Together the Most

Important Ideas You Have Read

1. Underline each major idea in the material.2. Write one sentence that states the writer’s

most important idea.3. Use your own words.4. Focus on the author’s major ideas, not on

supporting details.5. Keep the ideas in the summary in the same

order as they appear in the original material.

Evaluating Your Progress

Use the “Outlining and Summarizing-Spring Break in Florida” module in the Reading Skills section on the MyReadingLab Web site at http://www.ablongman.com/myreadinglab.

For more practice visit the Companion Web site.

http://www.ablongman.com/mcwhorter