The Reading Edge: Thirteen Ways to Build Reading Comprehension
Pretest: Present Skills Diagnostic Test 1. Quick Tips for Mastering Reading and Reading Tests How do you feel about reading? Prereading activities in this textbook Writing to comprehend How not to read in college How you should read everything What are your thoughts? Words to read by Practice exercises 2. Reading-Related Study Skills for Building Comprehension Take your reading seriously Writing to comprehend Take your reading assignment seriously Take your study system seriously Practice exercises I. Literal Comprehension Skills 3. Determining the Meaning of Words from Context and Word Structure Use the context to your advantage Writing to comprehend Awareness of context is crucial Context clues define new words When context doesn't help Analyze word structure What you need to learn Root words Prefixes Suffixes What to look out for New word margin mark What are your thoughts? Anticipate the topics Practice exercises 4. Recognizing the Main Idea How to recognize the main idea The topic, the topic sentence, and the main idea The importance of summarizing The reinforced idea Three key questions Be aware of test answers that may confuse you No more than one main idea, but... Main-idea margin mark Anticipate the topics What are your thoughts? Writing to comprehend Words to read by Practice exercises Practice essays 5. Identifying Supporting Details Writing to comprehend Not all details are important What are your thoughts? Sometimes there is too much emphasis on details Some details may be very important Questions that help determine important details Answering test questions on supporting details Don't be fooled by a paraphrase What to look out for Supporting-details margin mark Reading on the Web: Can you trust what you read? Words to read by Anticipate the topics Practice exercises Practice essays Literal Skills Test: Part One Review and Diagnostic Test II. Critical Comprehension Skills 6. Identifying the Author's Overall Pattern of Organization Types of prose writing Common overall patterns of organization and their clue words Mixed patterns What to look out for Reading on the Web: Some effective Internet search strategies Writing to Comprehend Words to read by What are your thoughts? Anticipate the topics Practice exercises Practice essays 7. Recognizing Relations Wwithin and Between Sentences Recognizing relations within sentences A similar skill Mixing relations Two perspectives Important note Recognizing relations between sentences What are your thoughts? Why work at this technique? What to look for Words to read by Reading on the Web: Be equally cautious about those web links Practice exercises Practice essays Mid-Test: Mid-Course Review and Diagnostic Test 8. Drawing Logical Inferences and Conclusions Reading between the lines It's not as tough as it sounds Why is skill at inference necessary in reading? Inference questions are a little tricky Inference questions to ask Reading on the Web: Who is the author, and what do we know about him or her? Writing to comprehend What are your thoughts? Words to read by Anticipate the topics Practice exercises Practice essays 9. Recognizing the Author's Purpose Writing to manipulate What are your thoughts? Writing to comprehend Purpose is related to the main idea Possible purposes for writing Clues to identifying purpose Reading on the Web: What is the purpose of this web page? What to look out for Words to read by Anticipate the topics Practice exercises Practice essays 10. Recognizing the Author's Tone Writing to comprehend Why is tone important? Tone is a clue to purpose Don't let tone confuse you Learn common tone words Reading on the Web: Is this just for fun, or is this serious stuff? What are your thoughts? Words to read by Anticipate the topics Practice exercises Practice essays 11. Distinguishing Between Statements of Fact and Statements of Opinion What are your thoughts? "Fact" may be opinion The difference between fact and opinion Statements of opinion Statements of fact Remember these guidelines Writing to comprehend Words to read by Reading on the Web: Seeking objectivity and accuracy on the Web Practice exercises Practice essays 12. Detecting Bias Bias in textbooks Writing to comprehend The need to detect bias How to recognize bias What are your thoughts? What to look out for Anticipate the topics Words to read by Reading on the Web: Bias is present on the Web Practice exercises Practice essays 13. Recognizing Sound Arguments What is a sound argument? Two vital questions Common unsound arguments (logical fallacies) Writing to comprehend What are your thoughts? An important bit of advice Reading on the Web: Why should anyone believe information from this site? Words to read by Practice exercises Practice essays Critical Skills Test: Part Two Review and Diagnostic Test Post-Test: Text Review and Diagnostic Test Skill Analysis Guide Appendix: Understanding and Interpreting Graphs in College Reading Assignments Answers to "Have you thought about..." Index