Friday, March 6, 2009

How To-134: "How to Improve Your Reading Skills"



How to Improve Your Reading Skills

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Many people have trouble with reading. Reading is a process of the brain where you look at symbols on a page, and your mind sees the patterns of characters and understands the meaning in them. If you develop good reading skills, it'll be very helpful to your future. Aren't your school teachers always saying 'Read more books!'? Here are a few steps and tips to get started.

Steps

  1. Find some easy reading material. Find a children's book or a newspaper article, or something on wikiHow.
  2. Sound out each letter as best you can and you will notice they form some sort of word. Some letters fit together. For example, "th" is not pronounced as t + h, but rather as one unit. This is called a 'phoneme'.
  3. Find a place to read where you can concentrate. This may be someplace secret where no one will bother you, or simply your home at a time when it is quiet.
  4. Begin your reading by looking at the pictures, or listening to the music to get a feel for what you are going to be reading about.
  5. Start with titles, names, or other large print items that you may know.
  6. Read as much as you are able. When you start getting bored or need a break, take one. Reading should be fun and enjoyable, don't force it. After your break, return to where you were, and continue.
  7. Reread the material. It is okay to reread something if you do not understand it fully the first time.
  8. Go to the library and pick up lots of books. Pick books depending on your age level.
  9. Read the page carefully. Don't rush, take your time. Most people think that skimming the page(skimming means to just scan the whole page and hardly take in a couple of words)is a way of fast reading, but this is definitely not true.
  10. Use context clues to find out a word's meaning. Context clues are when a person figures out the meaning of a word by seeing how the word was used in a sentence. For example, you were reading the following sentence and wanted to know what 'pessimist' means:My mother is always happy and optimistic, the total opposite of my brother, the pessimist. So from the sentence, you can gather that 'pessimist' means the opposite of happy, so pessimist means being moody and angry. Good, experienced readers always use context clues! If you find a word that you're totally stumped on, use the dictionary! If you want to save time and the hassle of turning pages, go to the online dictionary.
  11. Reread! If you don't understand what you are reading, read over the sentence(s) again. Try reading the words out loud to yourself. If you still don't understand something, ask a good reader nearby to explain the sentence(s)to you, or simply pick up a book that is easier to read and more appropriate to your age level.
  12. Keep reading! Try to read as much as you can on your free time. Reading will help you in lots of ways; your vocabulary will become larger and more sophisticated and you will notice your grades change for the better in school. Have fun reading!

Tips

  • Standing works better for some people. Some read while walking on a treadmill or a track, exercising both the body and mind!
  • While most people disagree with this, most things you need to know are in books. Therefore it is wise when you are comfortable reading general material to increase your reading speed as soon as possible. A good guide to this is Wade E. Cutler's Triple Your Reading Speed.
  • Use a spreadsheet creatively. ( spreadsheets and not word processors) Engage in a lively dialog, spend time making sure that you get the gist, make it entertaining.
  • Remember that you should read at your own pace.
  • If you want to see how efficiently you're reading, take a pencil and make a dot with the pencil for every time you reread the page.

Warnings

  • Sitting in one position for a long time can make you sleepy or even injured. Make sure you stretch before and during reading to keep awake and comfortable.
  • Reading in the dark can be potentially damaging to one's eyesight, so ensure that you have sufficient lighting before reading.

Things You'll Need

  • Reading material: book, magazine, song lyrics, newspaper, etc. Try to pick something interesting, otherwise you will most likely be using your reading material for a pillow.
  • Table or other place to put your reading material. This could also be your lap.
  • Comfortable place to sit. Find a quiet place without distraction.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Improve Your Reading Skills. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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