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- The key to any reading assignment is
setting a purpose for the reading. It is the purpose that determines how
fast or slow the reader should proceed." Speed reading" is much more about
having a clear purpose in mind for the reading than any set of reading skills
that can be taught.
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Skipping the Unimportant
Material:
The best way for students to improve the speed at which they read is to
recognize the parts of a selected reading that are unimportant to their
reading purpose and skip them. All good readers use this skill constantly.
Many students are concerned that they will miss something important if they
skip parts of the reading. However, many parts of a textbook and other types
of reading may not be important to a reader depending
on their reading purpose.
Students need to be encouraged to use their reading purpose as a guide and not
to be afraid to skip material.
What should I skip? The most common information in a textbook
to skip are examples. Examples are important only if the reader didn't
understand the main idea and details of the paragraph. Examples are only there
to help with what is not understood clearly, but if the information is clear,
fast readers skip over the examples and on to the next paragraph.
Since almost half of every textbook is made up of
examples the reader can choose to skip the example when he or she understands
the main ideas the author is communicating. This is perhaps the best way to
reduce the amount of time it takes to read a textbook.
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The Brain Knows to Stop
You
It is also very important to
realize that your brain is well equipped to let you know if you have missed
something important. If things are not clear the brain will put on the breaks
and tell you to go back and check the information again.
Other Ways to Speed up Reading
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When time is short -- skim
the first sentence of each paragraph. This will give you a good overview of
the material. Most often the first sentence is the main idea of the paragraph.
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Always use the instructor's
purpose as your guide.
If you are to answer the questions at the end of the chapter, then read for
that purpose.
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If you are to have a test on
the material, then identify all test worthy material while reading (main
ideas, significant details, definitions etc.) -- this will require slower and
more careful reading.
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If you are going to discuss
the chapter, then having an overview and general understanding is important
and this requires less careful reading and less time.
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