An Organized Approach to Textbook Reading

Make your textbook your tool!

 Do you
grab a
highlighter
and begin?
 What is
important?
The example you just looked at encourages
passive reading. The student is not
organizing information, and recognizing
major details and central points
 This results in a text that has been
marked to show key ideas, major details
and notes to study from and prepare for
the test.
It is not how much time you put in , but what you
put into the time
Lets apply the organized approach
of SQ5R

to a chapter in a business textbook

Marketing Throughout the

Product Life Cycle
 If you are in the reading lab ask an
instructor for a copy of the textbook
chapter.
1. Before you start look the chapter
over

2. Read all of the subheadings, look

at the diagrams charts and graphs
1. Think about what you already know about the topic
and what you would like to know

2. Example: You know some products like Tide or Ivory

soap have been sold for many years and other
products dont last. Why do some products
disappear?
1. Go to the first Subheading of the
chapter and turn the title into a question and
2. Write your question next to the heading

Example:
The Introduction stage
What happens in the Introduction stage?
Do all products make it past this stage?
1. Now you are ready to read this section of the
chapter. Keep the questions you created in
mind as you read and look for answers
2. Circle words you dont know the meaning of
and clarify
3. Ask questions and respond to the text

Always have a pen in hand while reading

1. Now you are ready to mark the text.
Underline selectively key words, major
details and main ideas

2. Summarize ideas in the margin

Before going to the next section of the
chapter

Read aloud what you underlined in

the passage and your summary notes
in the margin
1. Go to the next heading and repeat the process
2. Turn the heading into a question
What happens in the Growth Stage??
3. Read once and circle unknown words and look
for answers to the questions you created. Ask
questions as you read
4. Read a second time and underline selectively.
Also, be sure to summarize Key Ideas in margin
of the text.
 1. Read

2. Record

3. Recite
 Recite or read aloud the key
words in the passage and
your summarized notes in the
margin
Now compare the rest of your annotated chapter to the following:
Now you are ready to use the tools
you created to prepare for the
exam by going back over the
important ideas and memorizing
information
Since college tests often ask you to apply the
information you have learned, think of some BIG
questions.
Examples-
How does the Growth stage differ from the Maturity
stage?
Why do some products not successfully make it
through the Marketing life cycle???
 Follow these strategies for reading a college textbook

Remember
Active Readers get the most out of the time they spend
studying and reading.

Passive readers have little to show but a bright yellow

page for the time spent reading