Wednesday 3 October 2012

Weekly Study Tips # 4

Always be a smart reader, not a robot...

I think the title explains itself pretty well...
You should always think while you read... don't just... read and instantly forget everything afterwards...

At school, teachers would occasionally make you read the textbooks, or some novels... ect.
However, the context you have to read aren't always that interesting. In fact, most of the time, it is rather quite boring, which makes it really hard to absorb the information in the texts. (and... sometimes it might cause you to fall asleep... =.=")
So how to you understand the text? Are there some steps you have to take?
YES! BINGO!

haha, here are the steps...
(I learned this from my SAT class!)

BEFORE READING...
1. Look at the title or maybe some pictures printed on the side...
2. Quickly scan the text to glean any more information about its topic, genre, purpose, and tone.
3. Think about what you already know:
    - about the topic
    - about the genre and purpose
    - about the tone
4. ask youself some questions, and predict what the context is about...

DURING READING...
1. think about how what you are reading relates to the prior knowledge you activated before reading. Did you make correct predictions? Are you revising your initial assumptions? How is the text helping you answer the Questions you asked yourself?
2, When you find vocabulary that you don't know, don't stop. See if you can understand the meaning of the sentence or paragraph without the meaning of that word. See if you can guess the meaning of the word using context clues. (underline the new words to write in your vovabulary notebook later *if you ACTUALLY have a vocab notebook...*. Do not interrupt your reading to use a dictionary unless the level of the text is truly too high for you. And you should always check your dictionary later to check your accuracy when you write the meanings in your vocabulary notebook.)
3. Each time you finish one paragraph or section of text, mentally summarize to yourself in one sentence what you have read. If you can't do this, you have to read it again and summarize more often!
4. engage your mind in dialogue with the text as much as possible by allowing your mental voice to react what you read. (ex: "Whoa! That surprises me!", "Huh? I don't get it!", "Why would anyone do that?", "Oh, this reminds me of...",... ect)

AFTER READING...
1. mentally summarize the whole text to yourself in one or two sentences!
2. ask youself how this text relates to your life or your world.


Alright... those are the steps...
If you use them correctly, they would really benefit your reading skills! :D
Anyways, I hope this reading tip really helps you at school!

bad example... this dude fell asleep while reading... SHAME ON HIM!!!


lol! even cats fall asleep from reading boring books!!! XDDDD