Despite television, cell phones, and Twitter, traditional reading is
still an important skill. Whether it is school textbooks, magazines,
or regular books, people still read, though not as much as they
used to. One reason that many people don’t read much is that
they don’t read well. For them, it is slow, hard work and they
don’t remember as much as they should. Students, for
example,may have to read something several times before they
understand and remember what they read.
Why? You would think that schools teach kids how to read well.
Schools do try. I work with middle-school teachers and they tell
me that many students are 2–3 years behind grade level in reading
proficiency. No doubt, television, cell phones, and the Web are
major contributors to this problem, which will apparently get
worse if we don’t emphasize and improve reading instruction.
Some of the blame can be placed on the fads in reading teaching,
such as phonics and “whole language,” which sometimes are pro­
moted by zealots who don’t respect the need for both
approaches. Much of the blame for poor reading skills can be laid
at the feet of parents who set poor examples and, of course, on
the youngsters who are too lazy to learn how to read well.
For all those who missed out on good reading skills, it is not too
late. I summarize below what I think it takes to read with good
speed and comprehension.
1. Read with a purpose.
2. Skim first.
3. Get the reading mechanics right.
4. Be judicious in highlighting and note taking.
5. Think in pictures.
6. Rehearse as you go along.
7. Stay within your attention span and work to increase that span.
8. Rehearse again soon.
1) Know Your Purpose
Everyone should have a purpose for their reading and think about
how that purpose is being fulfilled during the actual reading. The
advantage for remembering is that checking continuously for how
the purpose is being fulfilled helps the reader to stay on task, to
focus on the more relevant parts of the text, and to rehearse con­
tinuously as one reads. This also saves time and effort because rel­
evant items are most attended.
Identifying the purpose should be easy if you freely choose what
to read. Just ask yourself, “Why am I reading this?” If it is to be
entertained or pass the time, then there is not much problem. But
myriad other reasons could apply, such as:
to understand a certain group of people, such as Muslims, Jews,
Hindus, etc.
to crystallize your political position, such as why a given govern­
ment policy should be opposed.
to develop an informed plan or proposal.
to satisfy a requirement of an academic course or other assigned
reading.
Many of us have readings assigned to us, as in a school environ­
ment. Or the boss may hand us a manual and say “Here. We
need you to read this.” Whether the order comes from a teacher
or boss, we need to ask, “What do you want me to learn from
this?” In the absence of such guidance, you should still formulate
your best guess about what you should learn and remember
from the reading.
2) Skim First
Some reading tasks require no more than skimming. Proper skim­
ming includes putting an emphasis on the headings, pictures,
graphs, tables, and key paragraphs (which are usually at the begin­
ning and the end). Depending on the purpose, you should slow
down and read carefully only the parts that contribute to fulfilling
the reading purpose.
Even material that has to be studied carefully should be skimmed
first. The benefits of skimming first are that the skimming: 1)
primes the memory, making it easier to remember when you
read it the second time, 2) orients the thinking, helping you to
know where the important content is in the document, 3) creates
an overall sense and gestalt for the document, which in turn
makes it easier to remember certain particulars.
Browsing on the Internet encourages people to skim read. The
way content is handled on the Web is even causing writers to
make wider use of Web devices, such as numbered or bulleted
lists, sidebars, graphics, text boxes and sidebars. But the bad
news is that the Web style makes it even harder to learn how to
read in-depth; that is, the Web teaches us to skim, creating bad
reading habits for in-depth reading.
3) Get the Mechanics Right
For in-depth reading, eyes need to move in a disciplined way.
Skimming actually trains eyes to move without discipline. When
you need to read carefully and remember the essence of large
blocks of text, the eyes must snap from one fixation point to the
next in left– to right-sequence. Moreover, the fixations should not
be one individual letters or even single words, but rather on sev­
eral words per fixation. There are reading-improvement machines
that train the eyes to fixate properly, but few schools use them. I
know from personal experience with such machines that they can
increase reading speed markedly without a cost in lower compre­
hension. Poor readers who stumble along from word to word
actually tend to have lower comprehension because their mind is
preoccupied with recognizing the letters and their arrangement in
each word.That is a main reason they can’t remember what they
read. Countless times I have heard college students say, “I read
that chapter three times, and I still can’t answer your questions.”
When I ask thought-provoking questions about the material, they
often can’t answer the questions because they can’t remember the
meaning of what they read. Even with straightforward simple
memorization questions, they often can’t remember, because
their focus on the words themselves kept them from associating
what their eyes saw with their own pre-existing knowledge and
thus facilitating remembering. In short, to remember what you
read, you have to think about what the words mean.
I am not arguing against phonics, which in my view is vital for the
initial learning of how to read. But phonics is just the first step in
good reading practice. At some point, the reader needs to recog­
nize whole words as complete units and then expand that capabil­
ity to clusters of several words.
Among the key tactics for good mechanics of reading, I list the
following:
Make eye contact with all the text not being deliberately skimmed
See multiple words in each eye fixation
Strive to expand the width of each eye fixation (on an 8.5″ width,
strive for three fixations or eventually two per line). This skill has to
be developed in stages. First, learn how do read at five or six fixa­
tions per line. Then work on four per line. Then three.
Snap eyes from one fixation point to another (horizontal snaps on
long lines, vertical snap if whole line in a column can be seen with
one fixation).
Learning how to do this takes practice. If you can’t do it on your
own, consider formal training from a reading center.
Keep reading…
4) Be Judicious in Highlighting and Note Taking
Use a highlighter to mark a FEW key points to act as the basis for
mental pictures and reminder cues. Add key words in the mar­
gins if you don’t find useful clues to highlight.
Almost all students use highlighter pens to identify key parts of a
text. But many students either highlight too much or highlight the
wrong things. They become so preoccupied in marking up the
book that they don’t pay enough attention to what they are read­
ing. A better approach is to highlight just a few key words on a
page. If many pages don’t require highlights, sticky tabs on pages
with highlights can greatly speed a study process for
whole books.
It is crucial to think about the meaning of text. Highlighted text
needs to be rehearsed in the context of how it fits with the pur­
pose, why it needs to be remembered, and how it fits with impor­
tant material that preceded it. Every few paragraphs or pages,
depending on the information density, the reader should stop and
self-quiz to make sure the important material is being memorized.
Making outline notes of such material after it is first read can be an
important rehearsal aid for forming immediate memory and for
later study. The act of creating such an outline from working
memory, and checking it against the content just read, supports
memory formation in very powerful ways.
5) Think in Pictures
A picture may not be worth a thousand words, but it can certainly
capture the essence of dozens of words. Moreover, pictures are
much easier to memorize than words. Those memory wizards
who put on stage shows owe their success (as do card counters
in casinos) to use of gimmicks based on mental pictures. Ordinary
readers can use to good effect the practice of making mental
images of the meaning of text. The highlighted key words in text,
for example, if used as a starting point for mental pictures, then
become very useful for memorization. One only has to spot the
key words and think of the associated mental images. Sometimes
it helps to make mental images of headings and sub-heads. Pic­
tures also become easier to remember when they are clustered
into similar groups or when they are chained together to tell
a story.
Mental pictures are not the only way to facilitate memory for what
you read. I understand that actors use another approach for mem­
orizing their lines for a play, movie, or TV show. Actors “get into
the part” and study the meaning of the script in depth, which
seems to produce memory automatically for them. When the
same script is memorized with mental images, it appears that the
text is being looked at from the outside, as something to be mem­
orized. Actors, on the other hand, appear to be looking at the
same text from the inside, as something to be experienced. The
actors probe the deep meaning of the text, which inevitably
involves attending to the exact words. For example, they seem to
explore why their character would use a given set of wordsto
express a particular thought. This is still a process of association,
except that actors are associating words with real meaning and
context as opposed to contrived visual image meaning and
context.
Both approaches require engagement. The reader has to think
hard about what is being read, and that is what helps you to
remember what is read.
6) Rehearse As You Go Along
Read in short segments (a few paragraphs to a few pages, depend­
ing on content density), all the while thinking about and paraphras­
ing the meaning of what is written.
To rehearse what you are memorizing, see how many of the
mental pictures you can reconstruct. Use headings and high­
lighted words if needed to help you reinforce the mental pictures.
Rehearse the mental pictures every day or so for the first few
days after reading.
Think about the content in each segment in terms of how it satis­
fies the purpose for reading. Ask yourself questions about the con­
tent. “How does this information fit what I already know and don’t
know? Why did the author say that? Do I understand what this
means? What is the evidence? Do I agree with ideas or conclu­
sions? Why or why not? What is the practical application?” How
much of this do I need to memorize?” Apply the ideas to other sit­
uations and contexts. Generate ideas about the content.
It also helps to focus on what is not said. To do that you also have
to keep in working memory what was said. This not only helps
memory, but you get the opportunity to gain creative insights
about the subject. In short, thinking not only promotes memory
formation but also understanding
7) Operate Within Your Attention Span
Paying attention is central to memorization. Trying to read when
you can’t concentrate is wasting time. Since most people have
short attention spans, they should not try to read dense material
for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time. After such a session,
they should take a break and quiz themselves on what they
just read.
Ultimately, readers should discipline their attention so they can con­
centrate for longer periods.
Rehearse Soon After Reading Is Finished
At the reading session end, rehearse what you learned right away.
Avoid distractions and multi-tasking because they interfere with
the consolidation processes that enable longer-term memory.
Answer again the questions about content mentioned in the
“Rehearse As You Go Along” section.
Think about and rehearse what you read at least twice later that
day. Rehearse again at last once for the next 2–3 days.
In Summary
1. Read with a purpose.
2. Skim first.
3. Get the reading mechanics right.
4. Be judicious in highlighting and note taking.
5. Think in pictures.
6. Rehearse as you go along.
7. Stay within your attention span and work to increase that span.
8. Rehearse again soon.

Also SQ3R and Mnemonics

Daah!! I'm supposed to read all this!?

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Ipledge

Why U con add ur Picture

djkushlee:
Ipledge

Why U con add ur Picture ...remove pix