Learning information from words is something we all do, even unconsciously. Students read assigned textbook chapters, researchers read scientific papers, and friends have text conversations. Reading is a huge part of daily life. It is important to view reading as a skill that can always be improved, because it is one of the main ways that we learn about each other and the world. Reading is a wonderful mind exercise that encourages us to form our own opinions and see from a different perspective. Reading to learn means connecting with a book beyond its content.
Engage with reading material. Reading a book without considering the language, narrative, or theme is still reading, but you might not notice the main purpose of the book. As you read, write down your thoughts, highlight your favourite paragraphs, and ask questions about the text. Think about why a character did something, conclusions you can make from the information, and if you have any experiences that help you understand the book further. Curiosity guides learning, and keeping a few main questions in mind can help you focus your attention on a book. Reading is essentially moving your eyes across a page, but engaging with text as you read can open up so much more information.
Words are not just written. Using more than one sense to read can be helpful for people who get bored easily, or those who cannot read with eyesight. You can listen to audiobooks anytime, anywhere. The great thing about audiobooks is that a group of people can read together, and it can be a conversation-starting social activity. Talking with others about books can influence the way you read, because other people may have different perspectives on the same book.
Bringing books off of the page is another way to involve multiple senses. Build creative projects based on textual questions, or take knowledge from the book and apply it to your environment. You can learn a lot more from a book if you use sight, hearing, and even touch to understand its content.
Reading to learn may seem like a redundant phrase. Don’t you learn simply by reading? Though books offer a lot of information in their content, getting engaged with a book involves taking that information and expanding on it with your own ideas. Learning is not only what you memorize and read, but also what you think and connect with. Reading is an activity that you will encounter in everyday life, in school, and in careers. And it can be so much more than seeing words on a page.
Written by:
Resources
8 Tips to Help Students Build Better Reading Skills. (2017, April 12). Waterford.Org. https://www.waterford.org/resources/tips-to-help-students-build-better-reading-skills/
Shafer, L. (2016, December 13). Learning to Read to Learn. Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/16/12/learning-read-learn