Critical Reading Strategies – Unit 7

Prepared by Professor Josette Valtierra

School of Legal StudiesKaplan University

Agenda

Housekeeping In the home stretch now, catch up right NOW

if you are behind Final paper should be in polishing stages

( due at end of Unit 9) How to Improve Your reading SQ3R Methods Critical thinking improves reading and

learning Bottom Line

Cornerstone of your academic success revolves around reading skill What is reading well?

Reading at an appropriate speed and with strong comprehension of what you are reading.

Reading well is a skill that can be learned and improved upon forever.

For whatever reason, reading skill levels will vary. Simple things can make big improvements.

How fast do you read and how important is that? Reading quickly is a

good thing but comprehension is more important.

Do the little test in the text book and see how you measure up.

Tools to improve speed and comprehension

The material you are reading An open mind Pencils to make notes with Highlighter A notebook or notebook paper Dictionary

To improve you reading style you need to be an active reader Take the tests within

the chapter and see if you are a passive or active reader.

Passive reading is okay for pleasure reading

Active reading is a must for academic reading and professional reading.

How to improve speed and comprehension Concentration Vocabulary Fixation Frequency

Focus on improving these four aspects of reading to improve your speed and comprehension.

How to Improve Concentration

Reduce or eliminate outside distractions Reduce internal distractions like fatigue,

hunger, emotions, negative self talk, or daydreaming

Set a concrete goal of reading X amount of material by Y time

Take breaks every 20 minutes for about 3-5 minutes

Take notes as you read

Build a Strong vocabulary

If you don’t know the word, look it up Keep words on a list that you can review daily Work crossword puzzles and other word

games. ( like scrabble) Personally, I like crossword puzzles and I am a scrabble nut! I also

like to Reader Digest vocabulary tests as well. They are kind of fun. Keep it fun! ( play Scrabble on your Ipad or Iphone or better yet with your family with the low tech board available at ToysRus, Kmart, Target or Walmart, etc. Everyone can improve their vocabulary

Fixation

Fixation is when you eyes stop on a single word for a fraction of a second.

Your mind might see it like this Nutrition is important to good health

To improve your fixation try to see words in bigger groups in groups of two or more instead of singly as indicated above. Nutrition is important to good health

Frequency

Read a lot! The more you read the better you read. It doesn’t matter what you read, read for pleasure for fun!

SQ3R – a specific Reading Strategy for Academic or professional reading Survey Question Read Recite Review

Survey

Generally, skim or pre read the chapter Skim the headings and subheadings Look at any charts or graphics Read the summary if there is one Read first and last sentence of each

paragraph Surveying is NOT a substitute for reading the

chapter

Question

As you survey turn the headings into questions.

Think as you survey in terms of who, what, where, why, when questions

After you actually read the chapter answer the questions you’ve posed.

Read

Surveying WAS NOT reading. Now you read slowly and carefully

Read actively – taking notes, highlighting, thinking about what your are reading as you read it.

Do the following as you read:■ Read the entire paragraph before you mark anything.■ Identify the topic or thesis statement of each paragraph and highlight it.■ Highlight key phrases.■ Don’t highlight too much; the text will lose its significance.■ Stop and look up words that you do not know or understand.

Read ( cont’d)

Take elaborate notes Several note taking methods listed in the text

book. Try one or two of those methods listed. Circle unfamiliar words and look them up as

you read. Next slide shows some sample methods.

Recite

After you’ve read the chapter just ask yourself, what was that about? Try and teach it to a classmate or friend.

Review – A Crucial Step!!!!

A crucial step in any effective reading strategy, if you do nothing else DO THIS!!!!if you do nothing else DO THIS!!!!

Go back and read it again – including all your marginal notes and highlighting! This is crucial!

What follows next is a different way of saying what we just said! Active reading applies critical thinking to your

reading!

Similarities to the SQ3R method, but just broken down a bit more

Apply Critical Thinking to Improve your Reading Comprehension

Organize

Review

Compare Evaluate

Interpret

Active Reading

Prepare to Read

Critical Thinking

Skills

Prepare to Read

How does this information relate to your life? How can this information be useful to you? Be familiar with the material that you are

about to read.

Active Reading

Take notes as you are reading. Highlight the most important material. As you read, ask yourself questions to

determine your comprehension of the material.

Interpret

Determine the purpose for which the material is being written

Evaluate

Is this information credible? Did the information come from a reputable

source? Is there anyone to verify the information?

Compare

How do the ideas of this author compare with similar material written by other authors?

Review

Review the material. Review the concepts and think about the

most important points. Pay particular attention to those points that

you made an effort to highlight the first time through

Organize How does all of the How does all of the

info fit together? info fit together? What’s the big What’s the big

picture? picture? Outline the dataOutline the data

What you bring to the printed page will affect how you understand what you read, and

may be what is most important in understanding what you read, so…...

Broaden your HorizonsBroaden your HorizonsDon’t limit your reading to school Don’t limit your reading to school

readingreading..

Read Everything!Read Everything!

Strategies to activate your prior knowledge: Brainstorming:

Examine the title of the selection you are about to read. List all the information that comes to mind about this title. Use these pieces of information to recall and understand the material. Use this knowledge to reframe or reorder what you know, or to note what you disagree with, for further research.

Group discussions: 

Group discussions in and out of class will help you to discover what you bring to your reading, what

your fellow students bring, as well as shared experiences

If you find they have new background information, ask for more information from them.

Pre-questions: Often chapters in texts provide organizing questions. 

You can also write out a series of questions you expect to be answered when reading:Examples: Definition

What is....?Where does ... fit?What group does ... belong to?

Characteristics How would I describe...? What does ... look like? What are its parts?

Examples What is a good example of ...?What are similar examples that share attributes but differ in some way?

ExperienceWhat experience have I had with ....?What can I imagine about ...?

Visual Aids:

Pictures and other visual material can activate your prior knowledge.Use the Internet to search for pictures related to your title/topic to give you visual images of what you are about to read.

Advance Organizers:

Relate new reading material to something you already know, to your background or experiences.

Additional Strategies Overviews:

Discussing information about the selection or assignment prior to reading must take place.This may take the form of class discussions, printed previews, photographs, outlines, or films.  Spend enough time before the students begin the assignment to ensure understanding of it.

Vocabulary Previews: Unfamiliar key words need to be taught to students before reading so that new words, background information, and comprehension can improve together. List all words in the assignment that may be important for students to understand. Arrange words to show the relationships to the learning task. Add words students probably already understand to connect relationships between what is known and the unknown. Share information with students.  Verbally quiz them on the information before assigned reading begins.

Structural Organizers:  Before reading an assignment, basic frameworks which are included in the text should be pointed out such as cause-effect or problem-solution.  It can be beneficial to call attention to specific plans of paragraph or text organization such as signal words, main idea sentences, highlighted phrases, headings and subtitles.  A review of skimming techniques might also be appropriate as these various areas are covered. A Purpose for Reading: When students have a purpose for reading a selection, they find that purpose not only directs their reading towards a goal, but helps to focus their attention.  Purposes may come from teacher directed questions, questions from class discussions or brainstorming, or from the individual student.  Along with the question, it is a good idea to pose predictions of the outcome and problems which need to be solved.  These may be generated by the student or the teacher, but the teacher should use these to guide students in the needed direction for the assigned selection.

Author Consideration: Depending upon the content area, a discussion of the author of the particular work can be helpful to the understanding of it.  What is the author trying to say?  What is his point of view and his reason for writing the particular work?

KWL:  This strategy consists of three steps for students to use with expository text: What do I Know? What do I Want to learn? What did I Learn? A good strategy for group discussions.  Develop a three column poster with each question in a column and list out responses.See also:  K - W - L (Saskatoon Public Schools)Adapted from Porter, Karla, M.Ed., Prereading strategies, funded by the State Board of Education from Federal Funds, Weber State University.

Kaplan Tips to Improve Reading Comprehension

The ability to improve your reading comprehension depends on at least three (3) factors:

1. Your Motivation to learn;

2. Your Concentration skills;

3. The use of a good Reading Method.

In addition to these three factors, you may also benefit from the tips and strategies listed below.

Kaplan tips and strategies

1. Broaden your background knowledge. Read newspapers, magazines,books, and professional journals. Become interested in current events,particularly those happening within your career field. This will help you build astronger mental framework for ideas and concepts.

2. Create motivation and interest. Discuss ideas with your friends, family, coworkers, and classmates.

3. Highlight what you think is most important. If you want to fullyunderstand what you are reading, reading it once is not enough. Highlight themain ideas and review them after you have read the entire piece.

4. Strengthen your vocabulary. Building your vocabulary is a long process,not an event that happens overnight. However, the more you know about thelanguage, the more you will understand. Keep a dictionary handy and look upwords that are not familiar.

5. Use a systematic reading method, such as SQ3R! SQ3R stands forSurvey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review.

My personal tips

My personal tips are an amalgamation of everything that we’ve covered, but I do have a few special things that have helped me in college and law school.

I have read interesting stuff and deadly dull stuff and stuff in Old English. There is a way to do it all!

Personal Tip #1

Read a lot and read everything Find a genre, a favorite

newspaper and read it religiously.

The only way to get good at reading and reading comprehension is to read..

If you don’t read a lot for pleasure… you just haven’t found the right thing to read yet… go to the library and look for something that interests you or go to the comic book store.

Personal Tip #2: What to do if the reading is DULL Mr. Cargile

My 5th grade English Teacher! He had an amazing voice. Whenever I couldn’t stand to read another word in the 18th century novel I had to read, I’d imagine Mr. Cargile and that would get me through.

Choose your own Mr. Cargile! – Hugh Jackman, Susan Sarandon, James Earl Jones, whoever can keep you focused!

Personal Tip #3

Don’t read when you are sleepy. Go to bed and read when you are MOST awake. Morning person? Night Owl? If you aren’t awake you

won’t retain much. Read when awake, not asleep!

Bottom Line

This may seem like it will take MORE time than less.

It’s about where you spend you time and how your result from time spent is improved.

Putting this time in at the front end of your academic work will improve you’re the back end – your work product.

Ultimately, this results in LESS time so you are working ….

WORKING SMARTER NOT HARDER