Reading More Effectively

Listed in the table below are documents to help you read more effectively.

Follow each link to find out more. You can work through the materials sequentially by using links at the bottom of each page.

How to Read More Effectively
SQ3R
Text Marking and Highlighting
Graphic Organizers
Close Reading
Finding Main Ideas

Keeping up with all the course reading is in itself a challenge, but remembering all the important information you've read and making connections between ideas are also crucial. The SQ3R Reading Strategy provides key steps in undertaking academic reading so that you can read more efficiently and effectively.

The main ideas of the SQ3R are captured in "Summary of SQ3R Reading Strategy" .

The "SQ3R Reading Strategy" handout gives an extensive overview of the strategy including examples.

What will I be able to do after reading this handout?	Read with better comprehension and the ability to make connections between sections and chapters. Test yourself on what you have read to ensure that you know what you understand and what you need to work on.
When might I use this handout?	When you get a sense that although you're reading required texts, you're not retaining key information. When you feel unmotivated and need to focus on your reading. Before falling behind in reading. Anytime.
How should I use this handout?	As a guide to better reading.
Why should I use this handout?	To improve your understanding of what you're reading and store the information in your long term memory. To waste less time reading while getting nothing out of the process.

This "Text Marking and Highlighting" handout explains the benefits and purpose of text marking (writing interactively in your texts), as well as what to mark and when to mark it.

What will I be able to do after reading this handout?	Understand that thinking and writing about the material in texts and using a system for text marking can improve your concentration and comprehension of course readings. Begin to approach text and develop a system to select and highlight key information. Use a number of concrete tools to identify different types of information in your texts.
When might I use this handout?	Before reading texts. While reading texts to double check your system.
How should I use this handout?	As a guide for making notes in the text and margins of your textbooks.
Why should I use this handout?	To develop strategies to help you engage with texts, so that you understand, remember and engage reflectively with what you read.

Readers often engage in some form of close reading. More than just reading the words on a page, close reading involves actually thinking about the author’s purpose, word choice, and tone. This reading approach is especially useful for reading literary texts but can definitely complement a critical reading of informative texts. Not only does close reading help you understand the texts better, it can also help you organize and synthesize your ideas, which prepares you for the writing stage.

Close reading often involves taking notes while, or shortly after, you read, and these notes are the beginning ideas for writing essays or critical analyses of works. The following links guide you, step by step, to ask questions about the text in order to grasp the more complex meanings often embedded in writing. The last link is specifically designed to help readers thoughtfully process an article or persuasive text.

What is Close Reading?
Click here for a thorough analysis of close reading. The authors categorize the elements of close reading and show what kinds of thinking are required for each element. You will find a handy checklist and, best of all, an example of close reading with a brilliant Charles Dickens excerpt.

Close Reading of a Literary Passage
Though fairly short, this linked website offers some excellent questions to ask as you’re reading but at times demands a fairly good understanding of literary terms. A novice could use this well but may need to look up some terms in a dictionary.

Critical Reading: What is Critical Reading, and why do I need to do it?