| Reading skills are extremely important for anyone | | | | the student should attempt to write notes on a |
| who wishes to acquire information, whether for a | | | | different piece of paper, forcing the memory to |
| job, an education or simply a personal interest. | | | | retain the ideas from the reading material and |
| Yet literacy alone is not a guarantee that one can | | | | prompting the mind to reproduce the key |
| read effectively. Everyone has had an experience | | | | concepts. |
| of reading a page only to realize that not a single | | | | In order for any of this to happen, the student |
| sentence on that page can be recalled. This is an | | | | must have a basic understanding of the material, |
| unfortunate example of distracted, inattentive | | | | and any inability to write down notes on a |
| reading which wastes the reader's time and | | | | separate sheet of paper should be taken as a |
| contributes nothing to his or her knowledge of the | | | | sign that the passage needs to be reread with |
| reading materials subject. | | | | greater attention. |
| Effective reading skills are especially important for | | | | One of the best ways to make sure that your |
| students, who are expected to study | | | | reading time is productive is to create |
| independently and absorb a bulk of written | | | | easy-to-read visual aids based on the material |
| material. Preparing for class, reading for | | | | after you have read it. For example, after reading |
| homework, researching for essays and studying | | | | a description of historical events, close the book |
| for exams all require the ability not only to read | | | | and try to create a roughtimeline of the |
| but to understand and retain what has been read. | | | | occurrences you just read about. Anticipation of |
| For this reason, active reading strategies that | | | | the need to create a timeline should keep your |
| engage the mind of the reader and heighten | | | | mind active during the reading process. |
| comprehension are invaluable for students who | | | | Rather than passively observing the material, you |
| are preparing for exams. By keeping the mind | | | | should try to retain as much of the information as |
| working during the reading process, active reading | | | | possible. After making a first attempt at a timeline |
| strategies can help students maximize the results | | | | with the book closed, reread the passage and find |
| of their studies and avoid wasting time. | | | | out whether you missed any important points. |
| One of the most important things to remember | | | | This technique will not only help you remember |
| about active reading techniques is that the mind | | | | facts and dates from the passage, it will also alert |
| should be participating in the reading process. | | | | you to the types of information that you tend to |
| Active reading is not about taking notes or | | | | miss while reading. Over time, your practice with |
| marking passages to reread later, so a student | | | | active reading techniques will make engaged |
| who is engaged in active reading should avoid | | | | reading second nature to you and will spare you |
| highlighting passages of text, taking notes in a | | | | the frustration of wasted study time. |
| book's margin or underlining key phrases. Instead, | | | | |