| This article provides helpful advice to 6th Form | | | | they would back skim the sentence, mentally |
| Students regarding the reading skills needed for | | | | finding the keywords. |
| this stage of their educational careers. The tips | | | | By practising this for a while and it could take, |
| and techniques are also useful for when they | | | | sometimes up to three months before they |
| progress to university and beyond. | | | | perfected the art, students were able to then |
| So here you are - fresh into college, and despite | | | | read through a paragraph by training their eyes to |
| having read a few books in your life thus far, you | | | | focus on the most IMPORTANT sentences only. |
| suddenly find yourself faced with a mountain of | | | | Once they were able to master this technique, I |
| knowledge bulging out of text and reference | | | | then showed them how to read paragraphs |
| books that you need to read and digest ... in a | | | | quickly to improve comprehension. |
| pretty short space and time. I have to concede, it | | | | All well-constructed paragraphs, regardless of their |
| seems a pretty daunting task, and quite | | | | function, will contain at least one sentence that |
| off-putting if you are not a regular reader or | | | | acts as the topic sentence for that paragraph. |
| someone who has trained himself to speed-read. | | | | This is the sentence around which the whole |
| It appears there are two issues here: the sheer | | | | paragraph is constructed. Most writers tend to |
| volume of necessary reading that needs to be | | | | place their topic sentence at the start of the |
| done, and the ability, not only to read it all, but | | | | paragraph, so students are trained to look there |
| also to comprehend and digest most of it | | | | first in order to find it. This means that if they are |
| meaningfully. Let us deal with each issue | | | | faced with a chapter from a book which contains |
| separately as, on the surface, they appear to | | | | many paragraphs - instead of reading every |
| contradict each other. | | | | sentence word for word, I get them to skim |
| First, there is the problem of the amount of | | | | read only the first sentence in each paragraph |
| reading that is expected from college students. In | | | | first. This allows them to get an overview of the |
| many cases, this may well exceed anything that | | | | chapter's contents. Then they go back and repeat |
| you have had to read so far: whereas before you | | | | the process, this time with a little twist. |
| may have read one or two fiction works to | | | | Once they have found the topic sentence in a |
| study, you pretty much would have worked your | | | | paragraph, I get them to mentally enlarge the |
| way through other text books at a pace | | | | sentence so that it grows bigger and bigger until it |
| determined by the curriculum demands and | | | | exceeds their scope of vision. This is something |
| teacher lesson plans. Now, at college, where more | | | | that takes only a second or two to do. Then |
| emphasis is placed on individual self-study, you are | | | | students are asked to skim read the rest of the |
| going to find yourself having to read less for | | | | paragraph, and while they are doing so, to ask |
| pleasure, and more for study-based | | | | themselves how the other sentences expand |
| comprehension. | | | | upon the topic sentence. |
| There will be more reference books to read, and, | | | | Topic sentences, however, are not always placed |
| unless you are already accustomed to reading | | | | at the start of each paragraph. When they are, |
| such material regularly, you are going to find it a | | | | they create what are known as loose or open |
| bit difficult to read and concentrate for long | | | | paragraphs. Topic sentences can also be found in |
| periods of time. Learning to speed read, then, is | | | | the middle (which creates what is known as a |
| an option to help you cope. And this is where the | | | | balanced paragraph) and they can be found as the |
| apparent contradiction occurs: many people | | | | last sentence of a paragraph (which creates an |
| cannot comprehend how speed reading, which, by | | | | end-stopped paragraph). So another technique |
| its very nature implies haste, can in any way | | | | which students found useful was to ask |
| improve comprehension, which, for some, refers | | | | themselves the question: Is the paragraph I am |
| to slow intense focus. The truth of the matter is | | | | going to read an OPEN, BALANCED OR |
| that those people who have trained themselves | | | | END-STOPPED one? Regularly asking themselves |
| to speed read properly, have no difficulty | | | | this before reading a paragraph trained their minds |
| absorbing what is read. The trick lies in training | | | | to actively seek out the most important sentence |
| your eyes to focus on the key words in a | | | | quickly and helped them to better understanding |
| sentence and to recognise the triggers and | | | | what they were reading. |
| supports. What this means is, in a reasonably | | | | Another technique which students found useful |
| short sentence, not every word is necessary to | | | | when reading paragraphs is the SING technique. |
| convey the full sense of the sentence. Let us | | | | Simply put, this is an acronym for STOP |
| take this following sentence as an example: | | | | IDENTIFY THE MAIN POINT NEVER MIND THE |
| Did you know that Walt Disney was afraid of | | | | DETAILS GET THE GIST OF IT. |
| mice? | | | | So, after reading a paragraph, students would |
| The art of finding keywords is a simple one to | | | | stop reading. That is, they would not immediately |
| practice. If you were writing the above sentence | | | | start reading the next paragraph. Instead they |
| down as notes, not every word is needed for | | | | would stop, and then pause to identify the main |
| you to remember the main ideas. So what you | | | | point of the paragraph (younger students used to |
| are aiming to do is to identify the fewest words | | | | enjoy turning away at this point and pretending, |
| possible to convey the message. One way I do | | | | with their hands, that they were on the phone |
| this is the 3:1 method. Once I have read a | | | | gossiping to a friend about what they had just |
| sentence, I then decide which the three most | | | | read). Only after doing this would they then read |
| important words in that sentence are. For me | | | | the next paragraph. |
| they are DISNEY, AFRAID and MICE. | | | | It amazes me still how many students, when |
| Then I mentally place a dot above the three | | | | faced with a comprehension reading test, gleefully |
| words. Once I have done this, I then focus on the | | | | read paragraph after paragraph without actually |
| three words, and mentally underline the most | | | | absorbing anything. Training younger students to |
| important of the three (Disney). This is my trigger | | | | use the SING method, most definitely improves |
| word. That means, when I hear or read that | | | | comprehension. But if you are a college student |
| word again, I am going to be reminded of the | | | | and you are not used to reading this way, then |
| other two supporting words, and thus, be able to | | | | there is little point in tackling book after book |
| remember the whole sentence. | | | | without learning some basic comprehension skills. |
| Practising finding the trigger and support words in | | | | The techniques I have mentioned so far work, |
| the keywording process does, admittedly, take | | | | but need to be practised regularly. So try starting |
| time. Having taught many a student the system, | | | | off slowly at first. Learn to identify key words in |
| what I discovered was that, over time, students | | | | sentences. Longer sentences may require more |
| began to read so that they saw sentences as | | | | than one trigger word, and that is okay, as long |
| whole sentences first - i.e. trained their eyes to | | | | as each has two supporting words. The more |
| read a line at a time, not one word at a time. | | | | sophisticated you become at this technique, the |
| Then they would mentally bounce their eyes off | | | | easier it will be for you to read sentences by |
| inconsequential words like "if", "and", "the" and train | | | | reading groups of words at a time and training |
| their eyes only to stop on the words which were | | | | your mind to mentally identify the main point. |
| important. | | | | Then, once you have practised this and feel |
| This technique is not too dissimilar to the speed | | | | confident that you can do this quickly, move on |
| reading process of training your eyes to read | | | | to skim reading paragraphs, and mentally enlarging |
| groups of words at a time, allowing your eyes to | | | | the topic sentence in each. Asking yourself to |
| pause two or three times in a line, rather than at | | | | determine the type of paragraph (loose, balanced, |
| every single word. | | | | and end-stopped) before and after you have read |
| Students found it useful to practice by reading | | | | a paragraph also allows you to slow down long |
| single sentences very quickly by trying to see the | | | | enough to digest the meaning. |
| whole line at a time, rather than start at the | | | | These ideas very much support the notion of |
| beginning and focus on every single word. Then | | | | PURPOSEFUL reading. |