AS YOU READ

Now that you’ve already gotten into the file cabinet in your head by pre-reading, you want to be ready to add new folders or information to your file cabinet. You need to be able to hold onto the new information you’ll acquire as you begin to read the article or chapter.

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When you wrote down or recorded your pre-reading ideas and questions, you began your reading log. This is a notebook (or audiotape) that helps you keep track of what you’re reading, what it means to you, what questions you have, and what answers you are discovering.

You add to it when you write and/or draw pictures to make sense of new information. It’s a good idea to take notes on everything you read. You might want to use thin notebooks that you can easily carry anywhere you find yourself reading. Perhaps your instructor has test booklets you could use for reading logs. These can be folded into a pocket or purse,

You might want to make a narrow column on each page of your reading log to jot down the page numbers of the text you’re writing notes about. This makes it easy for you to go back to check information. If you’re expected to write a report on what you read, your log provides you with a head start. In it, you’ve already written pages that refer to specific information, quotes of what’s important or questionable, your feelings on what you read, questions that you had, and what associations and experiences came to mind.

You can also keep a reading log on audiotape, though this is a little less convenient. However, if you’re strongly oriented to using your ears rather than your eyes, you may find that speaking into a tape and listening to it later is more useful than writing in a notebook. In that case, make sure you have a small tape recorder you can carry with you any- where.

This reading log is just for you. No one else will ever see or hear it unless you choose to show it to someone. So you can write or say whatever you want. Even if the associations you make seem a little silly to you, even if your questions seem too stupid to ask in class—write them down. Those silly associations may help you remember, and those stupid questions can’t be answered until you ask them, even of yourself.

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Every time you read something new, you’re adding to your experience. To help you hold onto the new information, continue to connect it with what you already know. If something is new to you and you have little experience that relates to it, be prepared to stop. Stopping helps you remember and gives your brain time to process what you’ve just learned. After you’ve read the first couple of sentences of a reading, ask your- self what it means and how it goes along with your pre-reading idea of what it was going to be about. Look for the main idea of the reading, which is usually found either in an introduction or first paragraph. (You may wish to review Chapter 8, “Knowing When You Don’t Know.”)

For example, Sally, who is studying marine biology, should stop and ask herself, “What was in that first paragraph that sticks out in my mind? Is this what I expected from reading the title and subheadings of this chapter?” If nothing stands out about the first paragraph or two, she should go back and read them again.

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What about when there’s little of your own experience to connect with the reading? You’ll probably have trouble understanding. So stop. Take some time to go over the section that’s giving you trouble. Use your reading log, re-read the text, and use your learning style to help you understand.

Put It in Your Reading Log

If you’re having trouble understanding something you’re reading, start by writing about it or talking into your tape recorder. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What does this make me think of? • What pictures come to mind?

• What is the most important word in the sentence?

Sally found the book’s reference to a marine biology lab strange because she had never been in such a lab. She tried to pretend she was a marine biologist. She used her experience of being in her dentist’s office. She thought of the different tools her dentist used, and she applied that to imagining what a marine biologist’s office might be like. She decided it would be on a boat. Then she went back to the reading and focused on the word laboratory. She felt much more comfortable and secure now that she had formed a picture in her mind. She knew what she was reading.

If the text is yours to keep, circle important words, and draw a pic- ture in the margin of what comes to mind. For now, skip over any words you don’t know. This way, you’ll keep your pace and hold onto the idea of what you’re reading. If the text is not yours, use scrap paper or, better yet, your reading log.

Re-Read the Text

When a text has you stumped, what do you do? Read the text over again, looking for:

Once you know which parts you understand, you have a key to help you with the parts you don’t understand. Ask yourself, “What do I need to know to make the pictures and order clear?” Perhaps some answers will be found in a passage that comes before the section you’re reading. Start with the part you do understand, and use information from the dif- ficult section to add to your picture or order.

If more questions come to mind, read the text over again until you’ve discovered your answers. You’re putting new material into the file cabinet in your head. Don’t rush; it takes time. (You may wish to review Chapter 4, “Making Images, Making Order, Making Sense.”)

Use Your Learning Style

Use your learning style or styles as you stop and become comfortable with the new material, thinking about what you just read or listened to. Your brain needs time to file what you’re learning so you can pull out the file later when you need it for a test. Read aloud, draw pictures or car- toons, make a timeline—whatever works for you. (You might also want to review Chapters 2 through 5 about the different learning styles.)

Go to a chapter you haven’t seen yet in this book. Choose a para- graph toward the end of the chapter. Make sure you don’t read what comes before the paragraph! Follow the suggestions above for pre-read- ing and beginning to read. Then read the paragraph, and write your observations and questions in your notebook.