Active Reading Strategies Can Help in Your Revision For Exams
View PDF | Print View
by: GeorgetteAdanas
Total views: 31
Word Count: 503
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2011 Time: 10:21 AM
Reading capabilities are extremely vital for anyone who dreams to acquire info , whether for a job, an education or simply a personal interest. Yet literacy alone is not a guarantee that one can read effectively. Everyone has had an experience of reading a page just to realize that not a single sentence on that page might be recalled. This is an unfortunate instance of distracted, inattentive reading which wastes the reader's time and contributes nothing to her or his knowledge of the reading material's subject.
Powerful reading credentials are especially critical for students, who're supposed to study independently and absorb a bulk of written material. Preparing for class, reading for homework, researching for essays and studying for exams all desire the ability not just to read yet to understand and retain what has been read.
For this reason, active reading strategies that engage the mind of the reader and heighten comprehension are invaluable for students who're preparing for exams. By keeping the mind working through the reading process, active reading strategies can help students maximize the results of their studies and stay away from wasting time.
Just about the most essential things to keep in mind about active reading techniques is that the mind ought to be participating in the reading process. Active reading isn't about taking notes or marking passages to reread later, so a student who is engaged in active reading should avoid highlighting passages of text, taking notes in a book's margin or underlining key phrases. Instead, the student should attempt to write notes on a different piece of paper, forcing the memory to retain the ideas from the reading material and prompting the mind to reproduce the key concepts.
In order for any of this to happen, the student must have a basic understanding of the material, and any inability to write down notes on a separate sheet of paper need to be taken as a sign that the passage needs to be reread with greater attention.
One of the best ways to make certain that your reading time is productive is to produce easy-to-read visual aids according to the material as you have read it. For example, after reading a description of historical events, close the book and attempt to produce a rough timeline of the occurrences you simply read about. Anticipation of the need to create a timeline need to keep your mind active during the reading process.
Rather than passively observing the material, you need to attempt to retain as much of the information as possible. After making a first attempt at a timeline with the book closed, reread the passage and discover whether you missed any crucial points.
This technique won't just help you keep in mind facts and dates from the passage, it will also alert you to the types of information that you tend to miss while reading. Eventually, your practice with active reading techniques will make engaged reading second nature to you and will spare you the frustration of wasted study time.
About the Author
Georgette Adanas has been writing content articles on interactive phonics games since 1999.
