Takingusefulactivereadingnotes
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The document provides a guide for taking active reading notes to become a better reader and student. It outlines three areas of focus when taking notes, including passages that contribute to understanding, illustrate techniques, or elicit personal responses. Techniques for active reading include underlining key ideas, asking critical questions, and testing recall. The active reading plan involves recording notes, reducing them, recapping learning, reciting without notes, reflecting, and periodically reviewing notes.
Takingusefulactivereadingnotes
- 1. A G U I D E T O B E C O M I N G A B E T T E R R E A D E R A N D A B E T T E R S T U D E N T Taking Useful Active Reading Notes
- 2. Three Areas of Focus 1) Focus on passages that significantly contribute to your understanding of the chapter/novel. 2) Focus on passages that illustrate a particular literary technique or characteristic of the text. 3) Focus on passages that create or elicit a personal response from you.
- 3. Techniques to Make Your Reading Active Underline or highlight key words and phrases as you read. When you return to it later on, you can easily see which points you identified as important. Be selective - too much highlighting won't help. Read critically by asking questions of the text. Why is this action/character/section important? Who is the intended audience? Does it link with other ideas in the material? Why was it written this way? How does it relate to larger ideas, such as a theme or motif? Test yourself by reading for half an hour, putting the text away and jotting down the key points from memory. Go back to the text to fill in gaps.
- 4. Active Reading Plan Record First, you will Record notes in the right (wide) column as you read. Your notes will take a variety of forms, including summaries, bulleted lists, and graphic organizers. They will help you understand what you read and will be useful later on when you need to write an essay, read a literary selection, or study for a test.
- 5. Active Reading Plan Reduce Once you’ve taken notes in the Record column, you will Reduce your notes into key words, phrases, and questions in the left (narrow) column. This step will help you clarify meaning, find information within your notes, and trigger your memory when you study.
- 6. Active Reading Plan Recap Use the bottom portion of the page to Recap what you’ve learned. This step helps strengthen your grasp of what you just read before you move on to the next part.
- 7. Active Reading Plan Recite To increase your ability to recall your notes, you will cover the Record column and Recite—or read aloud—the facts and ideas in your notes by using the key words, phrases, and questions in the Reduce column as cues. Check to see how well you can Recite the information in your Record column from memory.
- 8. Active Reading Plan Reflect After you complete the Recite step, you will Reflect on your notes. Consider how your notes relate to what you already know, your other classes, and your life experiences.
- 9. Active Reading Plan Review Finally, you will Review your notes periodically. By following this system, you will produce valuable notes that you can refer to when you study or write.
- 10. Works Cited "Active Reading." - Skills for OU Study. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013. "Dr. Preston's Literature & Composition." : Active Reading Notes. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013. "Glencoe/McGraw-Hill." Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.