Where Do I Begin?

Academic Reading Strategies

 How Do I Begin? Class Overview
1. Am I A Smart Reader?

2. Improving Reading Comprehension

3. Active Reading Strategies

4. Do You Read Fast Enough to be Successful?

5. Reading Speed in Perspective

6. Calculate Your Reading Speed

7. What is Slowing Down Your Reading?

8. Improve Reading Speed

9. Strategies for Speeding Up Your Reading

Reading
Expectatio
ns
 Am I A Smart Reader?
Do you have strategies for approaching your reading?
Which strategies do you use? What strategies will you
try?
Take the
AM I A SMART READER? SELF-EVALUATION
to find out!
 How Do I Begin? Class Overview
1. Am I A Smart Reader?

2. Improving Reading Comprehension

3. Active Reading Strategies

4. Do You Read Fast Enough to be Successful?

5. Reading Speed in Perspective

6. Calculate Your Reading Speed

7. What is Slowing Down Your Reading?

8. Improve Reading Speed

9. Strategies for Speeding Up Your Reading

 Improving Reading Comprehension

Do I understand what I
read?
Do you:

Understand most of what you

read?

Know how much you understand?

Understand uninteresting
material?

Actively monitor your

understanding?
Active Reading Strategy #1: Start with
something general
Gain context and an
overview 1.
Read the most basic text
See main issues and
vocabulary

2.
Active Reading Strategy #2: Monitor
Comprehension
Read a few sentences, stop
Sum up what you read in a few words (Dont look at
text!)
Jot them down

If you cant do, read again and try...

 Active Reading Strategy #3: Guide Your
Reading
Write specific questions before you read
Adapt the questions as you read
If focus your search, easier to find answers in the
text
Active Reading Strategy #4: Re-read Difficult
Passages
Academic texts contain difficult passages

Dont panic!

Re-read slowly, several times

Active Reading Strategy #5: Highlight Key
Words & Phrases
Underline information (use pencil); star important
points
Look at headings; first and last sentences of
paragraphs
Active Reading Strategy #6: Color-code
Be selective!
Information
Use different colors for different kinds of
information
Ex: Names and dates, major theories, etc. get own
Active Reading Strategy #7: Ask In-depth
Questions
Look for the underlying issues:
What point is the reader making?
Why is this detail relevant?
Is the writer trying to answer a particular question?
What lessons can be learnt from this text?
Additiona
l
Strategie
s
 How Do I Begin? Class Overview
1. Am I A Smart Reader?

2. Improving Reading Comprehension

3. Active Reading Strategies

4. Do You Read Fast Enough to be Successful?

5. Reading Speed in Perspective

6. Calculate Your Reading Speed

7. What is Slowing Down Your Reading?

8. Improve Reading Speed

9. Strategies for Speeding Up Your Reading

Do You Read Fast Enough to be Successful?
WPM = Words Per Minute

250 WPM = Eighth grade students

300 WPM = Average reading speed for an adult

450 WPM = Average reading speed for a college student

575 WPM = Average high level executive

675 WPM = Average college professor

4,700 WPM = World speed reading champion

 Reading Speed in Perspective
At 300 WPM
Newspaper and blogs

If read 20 articles/day (500 words) = 33 minutes/day

(including weekends)

Magazines

(900 words and 25 pages) = 75 minutes in one day

Super-successful types read 5 publications (over a month) =

50 minutes/day

Books

(100,000 words) and a goal to read 1/month = 11 minutes/day

If add a How To guide = total of 15 minutes/day

Daily total minutes of reading = 2 hours
Emails, texts, etc.
Not a luxury; what it takes to keep up!!!
 Modifying Reading Speed
If you want to read faster
1. Calculate your reading speed
2. Track your progress
3. Practice, practice, practice!

Two ways to calculate your reading speed...

 Calculate Reading Speed Option A: Online
Press the play button below when you're ready to start the
timer. Youll be given an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article
to read. Hit the stop button when youre done. See how your
speed stacks up, then take a short quiz to test your
comprehension. Once youve taken this first quiz, try again using
some recommended speed-reading tips and see if your score
changes.

How Fast Can You Read?

http://projects.wsj.com/speedread/
Source: Michael Masson, University of Victoria; Stanford E. Taylor, "Eye Movements in Reading: Facts and Fallacies" published in American Educational
Research Journal
Calculate Reading Speed Option B: Print
 How Do I Begin? Class Overview
1. Am I A Smart Reader?

2. Improving Reading Comprehension

3. Active Reading Strategies

4. Do You Read Fast Enough to be Successful?

5. Reading Speed in Perspective

6. Calculate Your Reading Speed

7. What is Slowing Down Your Reading?

8. Improve Reading Speed

9. Strategies for Speeding Up Your Reading

 What is Slowing Down Your Reading?
1. Do you read advanced texts very infrequently?
2. Do you track with your finger along the line?

3. Do you read out loud under your breath, or mouth the words?

4. Do you read books from cover to cover?

5. Do you start reading before you have worked out what you need to know?

6. Do you start reading before you know what you are looking for?

7. Do you read word by word?

8. Do you keep checking back along the line, re-reading what you have just
read?

9. Do you read difficult sections before you have worked out the general
gist?
Improving Reading Speed: Vary Strategies
Scan rapidly Recall and Review

Scan the page. Which key words leap out at you? Check that you understand what you have read.

Look for patterns of the argument or main ideas. How does what you read relate to what you
already knew?
How can the organization help you?
Does it confirm or challenge your views?
What can you pick up from the section headings, diagrams, the first
lines of paragraphs, conclusions? What else do you need to find out?

Read at the right speed

Read at the appropriate speed for the task.

Fast = novels, well-developed arguments, case studies, etc.

Slowly = detailed information in short passages, unfamiliar

specialist vocabulary, etc.
YouTube: Learn How to Speed Read - Best Reading Techniques