Tips on reading from textbooks. Vol. Honor Roll Students

freakydestroyer

freakydestroyer

28,179
12,530
Joined
Sep 28, 2003
frown.gif
I am terrible at reading. I could go through chapters and notunderstand a damn thing. I know there has got to be tips and tricks to get the most out of your reading. Any of you Honor Roll NTers please chime in.

Thanks in advance
happy.gif
 
Originally Posted by freakydestroyer

frown.gif
I am terrible at reading. I could go through chapters and not understand a damn thing. I know there has got to be tips and tricks to get the most out of your reading. Any of you Honor Roll NTers please chime in.

Thanks in advance
happy.gif
Click to expand...
Take notes of what you read on your computer. that way you can go back over what you thought was significant. It helps me to pay attention &it helps me to remember the material better.
 
It helps sometimes if you read the chapter once, then go back over it again for understanding.

Highlighting never hurts.

Also, use the margins to write notes.
 
i always write the main points of each paragraph in the margins... then when i go thru the chapter again, i just read my notes.
 
I sorta know what you mean. My little brother used to go thru this ALL the time....

1st. Clear your mind of everything while reading. Girls, money, after school etc. CLEAR IT.
2nd. It helps if you read paragraphs or sentences twice. Manifest what you read.
3rd. Use a bookmark to underline the words as you read. It eliminates any interruptions with other words.

I hop that helps.
happy.gif
 
So consensus is I should write notes in the margin. But I do not know what is considered important. How do I tell?
 
Its not about the textbook. Its about what the teacher saids in class. Class notes will tell you what to study and focus on reading.
 
Originally Posted by ericberry14

Originally Posted by freakydestroyer

frown.gif
I am terrible at reading. I could go through chapters and not
understand a damn thing. I know there has got to be tips and tricks to get the most out of your reading. Any of you Honor Roll NTers please chime in.




Thanks in advance
happy.gif
Click to expand...
Take notes of what you read on your computer. that way you can go back over what you thought was significant. It helps me to pay attention & it helps me to remember the material better.
Click to expand...


Pretty much. Write down key points. Highlight important text. Skim headlines and then read the text.
 
First sentence of each paragraph tells all. Read the first sentence, understand it, and then read through the paragraph for the sentences/phrases that bestsupport the topic sentence.
 
focau on the main points, reading it the second time is def time consuming, but it def helps, ova time yur reading shud be faster then b4 ahway
 
Try to understand every single sentence that you read before you move on to the next.
 
this helped me a lot. Outline as according to the sections in the book and if there aren't any sections use paragraphs. Highlighting helps with vocab andstuff like that but mostly outlining.

OUTLINE!
 
Also the summaries at the end of the chapter are key! Make sure you fully understand each point outlined in the summary. Most college textbooks have a summarybut if there is no summary make sure you understand at least the bolded vocabulary and titles. Also slow down. Reading quickly does you no good if allcomprehension is lost.
 
1) scan the chapter first, set yourself up
2) Read a section at a time
3) be sure to ask yourself questions as you go along
4) do the review section of course
 
Originally Posted by davidisgodly

Its not about the textbook. Its about what the teacher saids in class. Class notes will tell you what to study and focus on reading.
Click to expand...
Yep. Some teachers even give you the page numbers you need to study. What's more, they may even give you a study guide.

I'd be remiss, however, to say that reading the textbook doesn't supplement class lectures and further understanding.
 
Some of my critics on NT accuse me of taking my replies straight from an economics text book. Well what I am about to say will not help my case.

In Greg Mankiw's principles of Micro Economics, he says right in the beginning of the book that it is more effective to summarize a section than to bepassive and highlight. I also would say that writing in the margin is good but only to repeat or restate something that is bolded, italicized or otherwiseemphasized as being important.

For learning in general, the best way to verify that you know something and can retain it is to teach it or to pretend that you are teaching it. So when yousummarize pretend that you are summarizing the section or chapter to someone who knows nothing about the subject.
 
Originally Posted by ChiqGa

Try to understand every single sentence that you read before you move on to the next.
Click to expand...


Yeah, sometimes it takes me hours to read a chapter but this way I understand everything.
 
breath in and exhale at a rate that is most comfortable to your chi. If your chi is out of order, that that @#! refurbished
 
Originally Posted by MidEastBeast

Originally Posted by ChiqGa

Try to understand every single sentence that you read before you move on to the next.
Click to expand...


Yeah, sometimes it takes me hours to read a chapter but this way I understand everything.
Click to expand...
I am guilty of this but when it comes to the test I realize that what I read was not all on the test, but it was what teachers said that were onthe test.
 
Remember your not reading the textbook and absorbing it. Your just reading it.

If you want to absorb it, you must APPLY what you know - WRITE IT DOWN
y writing a summary of the key points/ outlining it, you are using OTHER parts of your brain making what you read go from SHORT TERM memory to LONG TERM MEMORY

Im a psych major - so i guess im minimally qualified to tell you that almost all of your long term memory has been something that you'veexperienced/applied - never read from a book.
And if you have remembered something from a textbook - its because you APPLIED IT TO WHAT YOU KNOW - wrote it down, talked about it in class -

INTERACTION with your learning is the KEY to UNDERSTANDING
 
It depends on the teacher. I took a Philosophy final this past Friday with the questions almost exclusively over the 200+ pages of reading. With all of thatinformation, I made the mistake of not beginning to read until four days before the final. Basically, begin reading small amounts well before the test. Do notcram a couple months of reading into a few days. Easier said than done.
 
Try reading it out loud. Whenever I try to read a textbook normally, my mind just wanders on to other things. If I'm hearing what I'm reading I seem tofocus on it a lot better.
 
1.) Make sure your not eating...my teacher told me that if you eat while reading or studying you won't remember anything.
2.) I can't study in silence so I just turn on some random TV channel or put some music on at a low level.
3.) Skim through and look for the main points/highlighted words.
4.) Read slowly, don't just try to rush through it.
5.) Keep your mind on the reading, try not to let your mind wander.
 
This may seem totally unhelpful, but its the best advice I can give.

Read. Thats it. Read everything, not just textbooks. You have to have a base of reading "skill" before you can expect to be able to retain lots ofinformation. People always ask me how I score so well on critical reading type tests, and I can never tell them anything besides that. I've always read alot, so I've always been good at it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

NikeTalk was created as a way of giving back to both the sneaker enthusiast community and to the greater global community of which we are all a part.

NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom