10 Tips to Improve Your Reading Comprehension
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Published 2012-06-22
1. "Never read a book without a pen in your hand." ~ Benjamin Franklin - That's great advice whether you write in your books or take notes in a notebook. Personally, I write, scribble, highlight, argue and draw symbols in all my books.
2. Read a whole paragraph / section BEFORE you stop to highlight or take a note. Don't stop right when you see something interesting; keep reading to get the "big picture" or context of what stood out to you. Then "reread" when you make your notes.
3. Read important sections out loud. A person reads much slower when you read out loud than when you read silently, but studies show that if you read out loud, you tend to retain things better because you're engaging multiple senses (hearing and seeing).
4. Read silently with quick "check-marks." There are times when you should read silently and simply use a pencil to "check" sections in the margins you want to go back and reread later. This will help you get through a book quicker without being distracted by stopping to highlight or write.
5. Explain what you read. When you finish a chapter / section of a book, take a break and "think" about what you've read and, in your mind, "explain it" to someone. See if you can structure your thoughts so as to be able to repeat back to someone what you've read. This is a great exercise. I do this A LOT when I read - and actually "talk through it" out loud to myself walking around my office or in the car.
6. Learn to "X-ray" a book by reviewing the Table of Contents and only reading the sections / chapters that will be benefit you. And don't feel like you have to read an entire book.
7. Pay attention to summary words - "therefore" or "as a result" or "in conclusion." When you see a summary / conclusion word, make sure you understand the author's points and argument that has led to his conclusion.
8. Circle / Underline key words in a sentence.
9. Mark words you don't know - and look them up! If you have a Kindle this is much easier. Looking up words you don't know increases your understanding of the author's intent, but it also increases your vocabulary!
10. You should read How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren. This is a "must read" book! You can get a great price on it at Amazon or WTSBooks.com.
All Comments (21)
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TIP 1 - Never read a book without a pen in your hand 0:45 TIP 2 - Read the whole paragraph before highlighting 1:40 TIP 3 - Read out loud 2:47 TIP 4 - Read silently 4:28 TIP 5 - Internalise the paragraph or page you just read and say what you understand out loud 5:26 TIP 6 - Xray the book. Skim through and pick out certain chapters that pique your interest to read first. 6:19 TIP 7 - Pay attention to summary words 7:21 TIP 8 - Highlight, circle, and underline words or sentences that you think are important. 8:23 TIP 9 - Mark words you don't know and google them 9:42 TIP 10 - Read Mortimer J. Adlers "How to read a book" 10:54
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Always use a pen --> always comment or talk with the book Read out loud --> as you are the author Explain out loud --> as you help an imaginary friend Discuss with a Real friend Be attention to the KEY words
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I’ve was the type of person who really disliked reading. The only time i would read is for school assignments, and I slugged through the books, unless it was something i was really passionate about, in that case i would persevere. Other than that, the one way that really helped me get through the books and comprehend them was to listen to the audio version while reading the book. That’s the only thing that got me through the assignments
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READING OUT LOUD HAS TO BE THE BEST ADIVCE I HAVE PERCEIVED YET, appreciate the time and effort
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My tip: 1 .Write everything you have read for ten minutes for every 30 minutes of study session
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Tip 5 is great. Understanding how your memory works helps you to remembering more of what you read. When you fill your mind with too much information at once it either gets discarded or forgotten. So pauses or breaks in reading after 1-3 sentences helps information sink in as well as summarizing what you just read.
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Great tips, extra points for adding them in the description as well! Thank you.
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Excellent strategies! Thank you for sharing. These are the strategies that I use with my second graders. As young readers, they will often be able to read many words and sentences with ease, however, when I ask them to summarize, they struggle. These strategies help them to read for comprehension. As a child, I remember going through elementary school as a student who had no reading concerns until I entered 7th grade. Then teachers began to realize that although I could read a paragraph quite quickly without errors, I was unable to retell what I read. It was a huge wake up call for me and I then received comprehension support and strategies. I also, became a slower reader. I share this story with my students so they understand that it's not a matter being smart enough or reading super fast. They are all capable to be good readers with the right strategies.
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I agree with many of your points and I gained some new insight! Thanks for the video.
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this is so true it helped me a lot thank you.
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I love how you put the tips in the notes section. This was awesome. Thanks!
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Thanks for your video. Very clear, well done and with valuable tips.
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Your second point was especially helpful. That's the first time I've heard somebody say that. Thank you.
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You have a lot of great tips! I have my Book and my Pen in my hand now. Also being a college student I am a quick draw with my highlighter, I will slow down as you have suggested because your idea makes so much sense. Thank You for your video. Keep up the good work.
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Thank you so much for an awesome & thorough video. Great great tips. Will put them to use.
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Its people like you who help others that really make the world a better place.
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Brilliant! Thank you so much for your insight! Added a few tips to turn it up the memorypower.
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Thank you, Coqueta, for the very kind note. I'm glad you found the video helpful. I'm actually expanding these thoughts in an upcoming talk I'm giving on read comprehension, so it's been a lot of fun.
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My class loved your video! Thanks for posting.
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Brian, WOW! Thank you for these suggestions! I have always forced myself to read silently thinking that to read "out loud" proves that I am not a good reader. Your suggestion to read out loud at times has freed me from this foolish thinking. Also, the tips to explain what you've read and circle words you do not know and then look them up are excellent! Thanks again, I can't wait to read my next book with pen and highlighter in hand!
