Reading Strategies Worksheet
Identify two reading goals, one short-term and one long-term.
• Long-term reading goal: To build a better plan for active reading. • Short-term reading goal: To build my vocabulary.
Write a 100- to 150-word response to each of the following questions:
• How do you currently approach the weekly readings in the course?
Reading for me has always been a struggle. I cannot seem to get interested enough to have a positive active plan for reading course books, novels etc.
Currently I have the worst way to approach reading for anything. I tend to just scan through the text and try to cram as much as I can in a short period of time. I hate reading, especially if I am not interested in the book. I just try to get through the reading as fast as possible. I do not take notes, highlight main points, or really go back though things I do not understand. Because of this, most of the time I have no clue to what I have just read, but just small bits and pieces. An if there is questions that I have to answer ( which most cases there are) or if someone asks me to summarize the chapter I usually have to skim back through to find the answers.
• How might you incorporate three of the suggestions covered this week into your study time?
The three main points that I will incorporate into my study time are, previewing, marking, and monitoring my reading.
Previewing will help me better understand if what I am about to read connects with what I already know and which topics we have covered in class. (As it states in Ch. 7 Reading Strategies) The first step is to read the title and ask yourself “what do I already know about this subject?” Next, read the introduction and then read the summary. Finally, take a few minutes to skim the chapter. By doing this I give myself a better picture to what I am about to read. In addition, I will consider how many pages the textbook has. By doing this I can set an amount of pages to get through instead of worry about how long the book is and trying hurrying up an getting through the book.
Marking will help me to focus and concentrate on the material as I read. By marking notes, pointing out the focus points in chapters and paragraphs helps me just skim back through a section if I forget what the main points were or what that section was completely about.
An important thing to remember when marking though is “Read before you mark” and