Is it a list of facts? An understanding of a concept? A sequence of events? What sort of learning do you need to do?
Why am I being asked to read this? What is the purpose of the assignment? How does this assignment fit in with the rest of what we have been doing? It is the main idea? Or, is it just an example or sideline to the main idea? What am I supposed to be getting out of this? (Ideas, background information, procedures, overview?) What level of detail am I going to need to retain? (Do I need to understand everything, or will the main ideas be sufficient?)
Who wrote it? What do I know about this person? When was it written? What do I know about that time?
Scan TOC (Table of Contents) Scan chapters and headings. Look at pictures and graphs. Read the introduction and conclusion. Scan introductory sections.
Find 2 highlighters and a pen. The first highlighter is for key points and things you want to remember. (Be judicious—only highlight a few items per page. ) The second highlighter is for things you don’t understand, questions, and places you disagree. The pen is to write comments in the text. (Writing comments keeps your learning active and helps you remember the content you read. )
Reflect on your pre-reading (fit it into the course goals). Write a summary. Here are some sample questions you could discuss: What is this writer’s purpose? Who is the audience? What are the main points/topics covered? What reasons and evidence support these main points? How is it relevant to this course? Context. What am I supposed to learn from this? How and how strongly do I react to this? Why? Question the material. What do I think is wrong/right? Why? What reasons do I have for my beliefs?
