Activity 3: What problems do you have when reading academic assignments?
Take a minute to think about what you do when you read.
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Student Dialog - Reviewing
Deena: Well, don't forget we need to review what we read after we finish reading. So far we have covered previewing the text, thinking about the information we are reading in context, and activities to do when reading the text.
Jose: So, are we closing in on the finish line?
Deena: Yes. What we want to do next is to review the text, especially those things that challenge our attitude about something, our beliefs, or responses to current issues, and to look for patterns among these things.
Sage: How do we organize this?
Deena: You may want to outline themes and summarize sections. We could look for the critical links in the patterns.
Sage: To me, outlining means distinguishing between main ideas and supporting ideas, consolidating examples, and then writing them down.
Deena: Condensing and putting things into your own words and ideas helps accomplish the review process. Keep in mind that when you summarize, you also want to test the credibility, logic, and emotion of what you have read into it.
Jose: Okay, so if I felt like it wasn't true or valid I should challenge it?
Deena: That's right. The author will make an argument for an opinion or belief, but their conclusions may not be the same as yours. What works for someone else may not be appropriate for you.
Sage: So, active reading is like having a conversation with the author who could be in front of us in the classroom or in print.
Deena: Very good, Sage. But don't forget that you are also having a continuous interview with yourself.
Jose: So, I think we've pretty much covered what to do when reviewing. You definitely have the idea about active reading.
Deena: But, remember that the important idea is going through the process and getting as much as you can from the written information.
Reviewing will refine your mental organization and begin building memory. Here are some tips for "Reviewing," the fifth step in active reading.
- Once you have completed the whole chapter:
- Reread your outline, look away, and recite the outline from memory.
- Look back over all of your questions.
- Continue this process until you feel that you understand and know the material.
- Take a short break and reward your success.
- Decide when you are ready to work again, center your thoughts, take a few minutes to review the information you just learned, and go on to the next chapter or another subject
- Review areas that challenged your attitudes, beliefs, or responses to current issues. Look for patterns.
- Outline themes and summarize sections.
- Outlining distinguishes between main ideas, supporting ideas, and examples.
- Summarizing begins with an outline, but ends by putting all the ideas together in your own words in condensed form.
- Test the credibility, logic, and emotional impact of what you have read. Do not just accept everything as truth. The author will make an argument for an idea, opinion, and belief, but the author's conclusions do not necessarily have to be the same as yours, and vice versa. As you read, you can have a "conversation" with the author, as well as having a continuous interview with yourself.