Improve Reading Skills Articles | Student Study Guides

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Improve Reading Skills - This worksheet is for use in-class to help students discuss and assess their own reading skills. In this activity, students will discuss and evaluate their own approaches to reading for academic purposes.

Part 1: Evaluating a reading list - Your professor may give you a reading list for your class. Many books and articles will be listed. You have competing demands on your time, so you must learn how to read efficiently.

The reading you do should fulfill your purpose. For example, if you are reading for a research paper, the books and articles you read should help you to explain your topic and answer the essay question.

What will you do with a reading list? Rank the activities below, with 1 being the most useful activity.  Then discuss your ranking with the class or in a small group.

____ Look for the shortest books in the library.

____ Read the most recent books.

____ See if any books are marked with a star (*).

____ Send an email to the professor asking which books are most important.

____ Check which books are available through the college's online library catalogue.

____ Go to the library and look at the books.

____ Look for the names of well-known writers.

Part 2: Efficient Reading - The following activity is designed to help you understand reading strategies and to know when to use them.

1. Please go to this website:  Efficient Reading Skills

2. First, click on the “Introduction” button on the left-hand side of the screen and read the information provided.

3. Then click on the “Efficient” button on the left-hand side of the screen.  Read “Scanning”, “Survey”, “Using Title” and “Skimming” at the bottom and answer the following questions.

(i) What is scanning?

(ii)  Which parts of a book should you look at when you survey a text?

(iii)  Why is it important to consider the title of a text?

(iv) What is skimming?

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