Decide what else you need to know. Plan: Prime your brain. Establish a good environment. Place yourself in surroundings that help your ability to concentrate and encourage good posture, and a ready-to-work attitude. Relax and set positive mental attitude. Set yourself up to be successful. Do your study-reading when you are at your mental best. Have confidence in yourself; know that you can read successfully and accomplish the goals you set. Review instructions. Check any comprehension guidelines you have been given such as "read this in preparation for tomorrow's lecture," or "read to see how this author differs from what I've said today," or "review all of the material we covered in preparation for the exam." Review any lecture notes. Reread any notes you have on this topic looking for topics or ideas you need to clarify, words you need to define, or names and dates you need to fill-in. Set your purpose. Match the way you read to your purpose. For instance, reading for enjoyment does not require the full understanding that reading to prepare for a psychology lecture requires, and those demands are different from reading for a chemistry exam. Clarify your purpose before you begin to read, and you're more likely to be successful and less likely to waste time. Preview the assignment. To preview: read the chapter objectives, read headings/subheadings, read introductory and concluding paragraphs, read boldface and italic words and phrases, highlight/clarify unfamiliar vocabulary, examine graphics, and review end-of-chapter summaries and questions. Take advantage of anything that will help you understand the organization and core ideas. Organize your thoughts. Based on the chapter objectives and headings/subheadings, jot down the major topics you are going to be reading about. Then, write a few words about what you know on each of the topics. Clarify what you want to know when you finish reading. If you don't read to find out something specific, you probably won't. One way to read for something specific is to phrase the chapter's objectives or headings/subheading as questions and then read to answer those questions.
Decide what else you need to know. Plan: Prime your brain. Establish a good environment. Place yourself in surroundings that help your ability to concentrate and encourage good posture, and a ready-to-work attitude. Relax and set positive mental attitude. Set yourself up to be successful. Do your study-reading when you are at your mental best. Have confidence in yourself; know that you can read successfully and accomplish the goals you set. Review instructions. Check any comprehension guidelines you have been given such as "read this in preparation for tomorrow's lecture," or "read to see how this author differs from what I've said today," or "review all of the material we covered in preparation for the exam." Review any lecture notes. Reread any notes you have on this topic looking for topics or ideas you need to clarify, words you need to define, or names and dates you need to fill-in. Set your purpose. Match the way you read to your purpose. For instance, reading for enjoyment does not require the full understanding that reading to prepare for a psychology lecture requires, and those demands are different from reading for a chemistry exam. Clarify your purpose before you begin to read, and you're more likely to be successful and less likely to waste time. Preview the assignment. To preview: read the chapter objectives, read headings/subheadings, read introductory and concluding paragraphs, read boldface and italic words and phrases, highlight/clarify unfamiliar vocabulary, examine graphics, and review end-of-chapter summaries and questions. Take advantage of anything that will help you understand the organization and core ideas. Organize your thoughts. Based on the chapter objectives and headings/subheadings, jot down the major topics you are going to be reading about. Then, write a few words about what you know on each of the topics. Clarify what you want to know when you finish reading. If you don't read to find out something specific, you probably won't. One way to read for something specific is to phrase the chapter's objectives or headings/subheading as questions and then read to answer those questions.