Overview of Active Reading Techniques
Active learning strategies are the various processes that readers utilize before, during and after reading a text to maximize comprehension of reading materials. By actively working to promote and enhance these fundamental skills, students can improve reading speed while increasing retention and comprehension. Below are active reading strategies that can be used before, during and/or after reading to maximize effectiveness.
Before reading
Preview the text to identify and understand its components prior to reading. This can be used to get an overview of the work and make predictions about its content.
Components to Preview and/or Scan Include:
- Titles & Headings
- Graphs/Tables/Figures/Illustrations
- Authors
- Abstract
While reading
Marking up important points and notes throughout the text. This can include highlighting, underlining, and notations and questions within the margins.
Skipping over unknown words/concepts and using context clues within the text to define and understand the term.
Breaking a text into smaller chunks to comprehend and retain information more easily. This is particularly useful for more challenging texts. For instance, you might divide your weekly readings into 5-10-page chunks, to be undertaken daily across the week.
Utilizing and activating one’s senses to envision the ideas within the text. Examples:
- Begin creating a “Mind Map” while reading, showing how the text’s primary words/concepts link together.
- Draw a narrative arc, to understand the beginning, middle, and end of a text’s argument.
- Use your mind’s eye to imagine specific words, concepts, and ideas from the text.
NB: These visualization techniques can be initiated while reading and completed after reading. See “After Reading” techniques, below.
After reading
Re-writing the primary points of the text in the reader’s own words. This can improve reader comprehension and retention.
Visually representing the text to connect ideas and their relationships to one another. This can take the form of concept maps, outlines, flow charts or diagrams.
Anytime after reading
Re-reading sections of or the entire text for increased comprehension and deeper understanding.
Develop conclusions and take-away messages from the text by synthesizing it with existing knowledge and experiences.
Synthesizing information being read with current experiences and knowledge.
Thinking critically about the text by asking questions. Questions may surround the author’s intentions and/or methods.
Promoting Active Reading in the Classroom
In higher education settings, active reading skills may not be explicitly targeted in courses, especially if reading comprehension is not a learning outcome of the course. However, supporting student’s reading skill development does not need to interfere with the delivery of course content. In fact, it can enhance the communication of key course ideas and concepts.
There are several ways that active reading skills can be facilitated within a class or tutorials without disrupting planned course content. This can be done simply by indicating the importance of active reading strategies to your students.
You can highlight the importance of active reading to your students in a number of ways. McEwan (2004) suggests a 3-step process for teaching fundamental active reading strategies:
Steps:
- Direct instruction on a particular reading strategy including the definition of the technique and its purpose, and how to use it.
- Model how to use the strategy.
- Guided practice (i.e., Observe and serve as a resource while students undertake an active reading strategy on their own, in class.)
During classes and tutorials, you can take time to briefly describe the importance of using relevant active reading strategies, before modelling or practicing them. This is a key component of pedagogical transparency. Explaining to students why a certain exercise is important, and what it’s meant to teach them can motivate students to undertake the exercise with a higher degree of commitment.
Modelling Active Reading Techniques
You can use content-focused questions, prompts or activities in your classroom to model active reading strategies, or allow students to practice them themselves. Some examples include:
- Guided reading prompts
- Guided visual organizing
- Reading-centered assignments or activities
Guided Reading Prompts
Readings are often assigned and discussed within a course, without much guiding from instructors or TAs. To emphasize the use of active learning strategies within these discussions you can:
- Include probing questions prior to reading that prompt the use of active reading strategies. Examples:
– What was the takeaway message of this reading?
– What concepts are new to you?
– How does this reading apply to last week’s lesson on X?
– What are three pieces of evidence that the author uses to support their argument?
– What does the author mean when they say Y or Z? - Use connection activities, asking the student to apply the work to their own lives (i.e., text-to-self), to other readings (i.e., text-to-text) and more globally to society/societies (i.e., text-to-world).
- Use thesis/concept search activities, probing students to search for the thesis statement or a specific context within a reading. You can, for example, ask students to underline the thesis statement(s), while circling key concepts/ideas.
Guided Visual Organizing
Walking your students through a visual organizing assignment together can help to show students how this active reading strategy can be used. As a class, you can collaborate to outline important concepts within a reading and their relationship to one another. You can connect concepts between readings and previous course concepts as well. This can ensure students are understanding complicated course concepts while modelling how to create such visual organizations of texts on their own.
After working through this activity as a class, be sure to discuss the importance of using this active learning technique.
Reading-centered Assignments or Activities
In higher education, reading can exist behind the scenes. While students are often asked to read from textbooks, scholarly articles, or works of literature to learn course content, this is often done independently leaving little opportunity in higher education to gain feedback on the quality of their reading. Given the importance of utilizing active reading strategies for information comprehension and retention, allowing opportunities for students to gain feedback on their reading comprehension can enhance the use of such techniques. Reading comprehension assignments can take the form of larger course assignments and/or be simple, low-stakes active learning activities. For instance, a graded course assignment that prioritizes reading might take the form of a “Glossary Definition” or “Keyword” assignment, wherein the student must select a key concept from an assigned reading, define it in their own words, and connect it to larger course ideas. Low-stakes reading activities are ungraded, and can provide useful knowledge check-ins for you as the instructor. See below for more on low-stakes activities.
Enhancing Active Reading through Low-stakes Active Learning Activities
Low-stakes reading activities are ungraded activities that are used to get students practicing their active reading strategies. These reading activities can often take the form of active learning activities. Active learning is a great way to enhance student understanding of course concepts and can be implemented in a variety of class settings. Active learning techniques allow students to actively engage with and reflect on course content. The TATP toolkit has an excellent resource outlining how to use various active learning activities.
Below are some examples of active learning strategies that can be used to focus on active reading skill development:
- Note-Taking Pairs
- Say Something
- The Fish Bowl
- Jigsaw Reading
- Spider Web Graphic Organizer
Please visit the Active Learning resource from the TATP Toolkit for instructions on using these techniques and more examples of active learning.
Resources for Students
New College Writing Centre, “Reading and Researching”
The Open University, “Critical Reading Techniques.”
Purdue Global, “10 Strategies to Improve Your Reading Comprehension for College.”
Learning Scientists, “Reading Strategies for College Students”
York University, “A Guide to Active Reading and Asking Questions: A Handout for Students”
The McGraw Center for Teaching & Learning, “Active Reading Strategies.”
Resources for Educators
TATP toolkit: Active Learning in the Online Environment
TATP toolkit: Active Learning Strategies
TATP toolkit: Creative Learning Techniques
References
McEwan, 2004. 7 Strategies of Highly Effective Readers: Using Cognitive Research to Boost K-8 Achievement. Wood, Woloshyn, & Willoughby, 1995. Cognitive Strategy Instruction for Middle and High Schools.