Active Reading Strategies Can Help in Your Revision For Exams

Reading capabilities are extremely important for anyone who wants to acquire information, whether for a job, an schooling or simply a personal interest. Yet literacy alone is not a guarantee that one can read effectively. Everyone has had an experience of reading a page just to realize that not one single sentence on that page could possibly be recalled. This is an unfortunate example of distracted, inattentive reading which wastes the reader’s time and contributes nothing to her or his knowledge of the reading material’s subject.

Successful reading credentials are especially important for students, who’re expected to study independently and absorb a majority of written material. Preparing for class, reading for homework, researching for essays and studying for exams all demand the ability not only to read yet to understand and retain what has been read.

That is why, active reading strategies that engage the mind of the reader and heighten comprehension are invaluable for students who are preparing for exams. By keeping the mind working through the reading process, active reading strategies can help students maximize the results of their studies and avoid wasting time.

Probably the most essential things to don’t forget about active reading techniques is that the mind should be participating in the reading process. Active reading just isn’t about taking notes or marking passages to reread later, so a student who’s engaged in active reading should avoid highlighting passages of text, taking notes in a book’s margin or underlining key phrases. Instead, the student should try to write notes on a different piece of paper, forcing the memory to retain the ideas from the reading material and prompting the mind to reproduce the key concepts.

In order for any of this to happen, the student must have a basic understanding of the material, and any inability to write down notes on a separate sheet of paper should be taken as a sign that the passage requires to be reread with greater attention.

One of the best methods to be sure that your reading time is productive is to produce easy-to-read visual aids dependent upon the material after you have read it. For instance, after reading a description of historical events, close the book and try to create a rough timeline of the occurrences you simply read about. Anticipation of the need to create a timeline ought to keep your mind active throughout the reading process.

Rather than passively observing the material, you need to attempt to retain as much of the information as possible. After making an initial attempt at a timeline with the book closed, reread the passage and learn whether you missed any important points.

This technique won’t just help you bear in mind facts and dates from the passage, it will also alert you to the types of data that you tend to miss as reading. After some time, your practice with active reading techniques will make engaged reading second nature to you and will spare you the frustration of wasted study time.

Georgette Adanas has been writing articles on phonics lesson plans since 2004.