Exploring Active Reading: Techniques to Improve Student Reading Skills

This essay discusses the significance of effective reading skills in higher education, emphasizing the importance of active reading techniques for student success. It explores four key techniques: creating a shrinking outline, reading with a pencil, developing a preliminary outline, and repeated reading. The report reflects on personal reading habits and suggests improvements for attaining active reading skills, such as note-taking and implementing various reading techniques. It concludes that mastering these techniques is crucial for enhancing reading comprehension and information retention, ultimately leading to improved academic performance. Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students.

Individual essay

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
References:.......................................................................................................................................4
Books and Journals.................................................................................................................4
Online.....................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
In the higher education there is huge significance of the specific set of skills as this allows a
student to perform explicitly in effective manner in order to gain success. There are different
skills such as communication, listening, management and much more. The present report will
discuss one of such skills i.e. effective reading skills for which learning and knowledge of Active
reading techniques is important (Masharipova and Mizell, 2021). Active reading is the term that
take place when the student in the education system proactively involved and engaged into the
reading the text. In order to optimize the learning and understanding on the particular subject a
student must have appropriate technique of reading so that it is memorized easily. The present
report is discussion on four of the reading techniques and their importance for student. Further
there is reflection on my own reading habits and ways to improve reading techniques are
mentioned in the report.
MAIN BODY
For the active reading there are the several techniques that can be useful for the student to
stay focused, determined and concentrated in order to retain maximum information from the
reading (Fleming, 2020). But these are the skills that take time and efforts in order to developed
or improved. There are different techniques of active reading out of which four techniques are
mentioned and discussed below in context of its importance to students:
Make a Shrinking Outline
Shrinking outline of what a person is reading is important and a useful tool for the active
reading of a student as it helps in reinforcing the information that a student read in a text or a
notes. In order to build shrinking outline student is required to write materials what is read into
the text. It is obvious that it is a time consuming technique in order to learn and improve active
reading but it is a repetitive exercise to write the notes of what a student read is very effective as
is necessary part of the art of reading. While developing these drinking notes few paragraphs of
key terms are written at the margin in order to actively understand in memorize what is read by
the student over the time in the particular text or notes. It is highly important for a student to be
prompt with every remembered concept of each paragraph in order to maximize the learning of
the read content (Nafde and et. al., 2021). Does it is very important it and useful reading
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technique for students in order to have lot of material to memorize easily using the keywords and
acronyms and this also helps a student during the revision.
Read With a Pencil
Reading with pencil means highlighting the important words, subject, and sentence is
highly important in order to learn active reading. It is one of the most likeable techniques among
the students as this help the make the data differentiable using different colour highlighters
(Futra, 2021). But it is very effective to use pencil and make some notes by underline, circling
and defining the words in the margins as this makes easy for student to memorize the whole
conceptual framework of the read content through highlighted keywords
Create a Preliminary Outline
In order to read effectively and precisely students before diving into the text of difficult
book or subjects. Firstly, take some rest to scan the pages and their subtitles, diagrams, figures
and other glossary indications for gaining the online of the structure. This is important for the
student to craft a preliminary outline of the text in order to divert the reading in two absorption of
the information that a student is reading this will help the mind of the student to become active
and better able to pluck the information into the mental framework.
Read Again and Again
In order to have active reading it is very important to read and again and again for the
student as science completely states that in order to retain more information repetitive reading is
compulsory and mandatory. Therefore reading again and again is the most important technique
and a good practice for reader to once get a b understanding of the material then grass or plug the
information more thoroughly in order to have active learning, understanding and most
importantly active reading (Dennis and et. al., 2021).
I am a moderate level active reader. I've observed while reading that I mostly prefer to read
by creating a preliminary outline in which I go through the subtitles and Sub subjects of the
chapter of the books this help me to develop interest in reading the particular book as student.
Also while reading I have a habit to read loud rather than reading silently because it makes me
understand and learn the material more precisely and also this makes reading more interesting. I
also have habit of reading with a pencil or highlighter in hand in order to highlight specific
important key points. But all this habit is still not proper and precise therefore, I need to improve
my reading techniques in order to attain active reading skills. Firstly to improve my reading
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habits I must start with making notes and sticky notes of what I read consecutively while
reading. I must also learn about the reading techniques and implement them into my reading time
as this will improve my reading habits and also help me in becoming the good and active reader
that has potential to understand and retain large amount information read by me.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that for becoming active reader it is important to learn and
understand the different reading techniques. Also among different reading techniques shrinking
outline and reading with pencil are most important key techniques that will improve the reading
practice and skills of the students. Thus, to improve the reading habits it is important to
empathise on the improving or implanting reading techniques into my daily reading and learning.
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References:
Books and Journals
Dennis, L.R and et. al., 2021. Practice-based coaching to support paraeducator implementation of
shared book-reading strategies in preschool. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 53(6),
pp.433-440.
Futra, W.N., 2021. THE INFLUENCE OF SPEED READING TECHNIQUES ON READING
ABILITY OF THE ENGLISH CLASS AT SMK N 5 SELUMA (Doctoral dissertation, UIN
Fatmawati Sukarno).
Masharipova, F. and Mizell, K., 2021. Active reading strategies in content-based
instruction. Central Asian Problems of Modern Science and Education, 2021(1), pp.37-
56.
Nafde, A and et. al., 2021. Hands-On Reading: An Experiment in Slow Digital Reading. DHQ:
Digital Humanities Quarterly, 15(2).
Online
Fleming, G (2020) 7 Active Reading Strategies for Students. Available at:
https://www.thoughtco.com/active-reading-strategies-1857325 (Accessed 10 January 2022)
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