how can we read a textbook

1. BSCS=1ST
SEMESTER
Instructor: M Aamir Shahzad
How To Survey Your Textbook
Survey each textbook as soon as possible—at least before the first textbook
assignment, even better before the course begins. Here’s what to do:
First, grab your textbook and look for the following:
Ø Preface—In the front of the book. This part often goes by other names such
as “to The Student,” “About this Book,” “How to Use this Book,” etc.
Foreword-A foreword is written by someone other than the author and tells
the readers why they should read the book. A preface is written by the author and
tells readers how and why the book came into being.
Ø Table of Contents—The book’s formal outline. a list, printed at the front of
a book, of chapters or divisions together with the number of the first page of each
Ø The Glossary—The book’s dictionary—may be in the back or in each
chapter. A list of often difficult or specialized words with their definitions, often
placed at the back of a book. ... The alphabetical listing of difficult words in the
back of a book is an example of a glossary.
Ø The Index—In the back—An alphabetical listing of the topics in the book and
the pages on which you can find them. An index is a copy of selected columns of
data, from a table, that is designed to enable very efficient search.
Ø Appendix—A supplemental section or short chapter in the back of the book
that provides additional help and information. You may find more than one—
then we say “appendices.”
Ø Bibliography--In the back or at the end of each chapter. Lists the sources
the author used in creating the book. You can use these sources, too, for
additional information and research. The term bibliography is the term used for a
list of sources (e.g. books, articles, websites) used to write an assignment (e.g.

2. an essay). It usually includes all the sources consulted even if they not directly
cited (referred to) in the assignment.
Next, pick an interior chapter to continue the survey.
First, turn to the beginning of the chapter and look for the following:
ü Objectives
ü Goals
ü Pre-tests
ü Introduction
ü An Outline
ü Questions
Next, turn to the end of the chapter and look for the following:
ü Summary
ü Review Questions
ü Study Questions
ü Tests and Quizzes
ü Skill Statements
Different Reading Techniques And When
To Use Them
One of the first things you learn about teaching is that there are
different reading techniques and the students should be aware of which
technique is most suited, depending on the reading task required by the text or
by their teacher.
Training students to know the different reading techniques and when to use
them is very important, especially under exam conditions when time constraints

3. come into play and students need to have faster reading, learning and memory
skills.
The four main types of reading techniques are the
following:
 Surveying
 skimming
 Scanning
 Intensive
 Extensive
Surveying
In academic contexts you will have much to read, and you will need to use
various reading skills to help you read more quickly. Surveying a text is another
example of such a skill (skimming and scanning are two others). This page
explains what surveying is and what parts of the text are needed.
What is surveying?
The literal meaning of survey is to take a broad look at something, such
as a piece of land, to see what the main features are or how valuable it
is. Surveying a text is similar in meaning to this. It is a broad look at a
text, focusing on the general aspects rather than details, with the main
purpose being to decide on the value of the text, to determine whether
it is worth reading more closely. If it is, then you can proceed to read in
an appropriate way, such as skimming for the main points or taking
notes. If it is not valuable, then discard it: there are too many texts
available, and you will not have time to read them all.
What parts of the text should I look at?
As surveying looks at the general aspects of a text, it is similar
to skimming, and you will need to pay attention to some of the same
main features of a text, for example the title and introduction, in order
to understand the gist and assess whether the text is relevant. In

4. addition, however, you will also need to consider other aspects such as
who the author is (is the writer an expert?) and when it was written (is
it recent?) in order to decide if it is a credible source. These are
examples of critical reading skills which are used in evaluating a text.
Other aspects, such as information in graphics such as charts or
diagrams, may also be useful. In short, when surveying a text, the
following will be important (note that not all texts contain all of these,
e.g. many texts do not have abstracts or section headings).
 Details about the author
 Date of publication
 Title and sub-title
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Conclusion
 Section headings
 Graphics (charts, diagrams, etc.)
Skimming(Gist reading)
Skimming is reading a e text quickly to get a general idea of meaning. Skimming
allow you to digest the main idea of text quickly.
For example: Newspaper, Magazines, Travel Brochure etc
Skimming is sometimes referred to as gist reading where you’re trying to glance
over the material to grasp the main idea.
The way you do this is to read the first and last paragraph and check for any
dark headings.
Skimming may help in order to know what the text is about at its most basic
level.
You might typically do this with a magazine or newspaper and would help you
mentally and quickly shortlist those articles which you might consider for a
deeper read.
You might typically skim to search for a name in a telephone directory.
You can reach a speed count of even 700 words per minute if you train yourself
well in this particular method. There are unique courses with speed reading
techniques that you won’t find elsewhere online that will show you how to use
both traditional and hi-tech speed reading methods.

5. Skimming Saves You Time
Skimming will certainly save you a lot of time as you grasp the main idea of
whatever you are reading, but do not expect your comprehension to be high
during the process.
However, skimming is useful when your goal is to preview the text to get a
better idea of what it’s about. It will help prepare you for deeper learning.
skimming is a terrific idea to get an overview and mental picture in your mind
which will help improve your memory.
This strategy makes it much easier to recall what you’re about to read.
1. Take a look at the table of contents first.
2. Review the subheadings in each chapter
3. Quicky read the first paragrph in that section
4. Check out anything in your text that is in bold or italics
5. If there is a chapter summary, now is a good time read it over.
This completely prepares your brain to have an overview of what this chapter is
about.
You can then go on to use scanning to find specific important ideas.
Scanning
Scanning is a reading technique to be used when you want to find specific
information quickly. To locate specific fact or piece of information only one
word. Scanning you must be willing to skip over large section of text without
reading or understanding them. Scanning allow you to locate information
quickly.
For example: Train ticket, graph etc
You would most probably just scan the guide book to see which site you might
want to visit.
Scanning involves getting your eyes to quickly scuttle across sentence and is
used to get just a simple piece of information. You’ll be searching for specific
words or phrases that will give you more information and answer questions you
may have. Interestingly, research has concluded that reading off a computer

6. screen actually inhibits the pathways to effective scanning and thus, reading of
paper is far more conducive to speedy comprehension of texts.
Something students sometimes do not give enough importance to is
illustrations.
These should be included in your scanning. Pay special attention to the
introduction and the conclusion.
Intensive Reading
Intensive reading involves learners reading in detail with specific learning aims
and tasks.
For example: The learners read a short text and put events from it into
chronological order.
Other example: insurance claim, contact number, train number etc.
If you need to list the chronology of events in a long passage, you will need to
read it intensively.
This type of reading has indeed beneficial to language learners as it helps them
understand vocabulary by deducing the meaning of words in context.
It moreover, helps with retention of information for long periods of time and
knowledge resulting from intensive reading persists in your long term memory.
This is one reason why reading huge amounts of information just before an
exam does not work very well.
Students tend to do this, and they undertake neither type of reading process
effectively, especially neglecting intensive reading.
They may remember the answers in an exam but will likely forget everything
soon afterwards.
Extensive reading
Extensive reading involves learners reading texts for enjoyment and to develop
general reading reading skills.
For example: A teacher reads a short story with learners, but not set them any
tasks except to read and listen.
Other examples: story books, novels, magazines
Extensive reading involves reading for pleasure.

7. Because there is an element of enjoyment in extensive reading it is unlikely that
students will undertake extensive reading of a text they do not like.
It also requires a fluid decoding and assimilation of the text and content in front
of you.
If the text is difficult and you stop every few minutes to figure out what is being
said or to look up new words in the dictionary, you are breaking your
concentration and diverting your thoughts.
Is the ability to learn and assimilate information also
genetic?
It is not uncommon for people to associate intelligent or bright kids with their
equally intelligent parents.
Often children of parents who have a profession appear to be more intelligent.
However, it is important to note first and foremost, that academic intelligence is
only one form of intelligence and even a university professor who scores high on
academic intelligence, might be the most impractical person, finding it difficult
to pragmatically solve problems to simple everyday tasks.
The notion of intelligence is an extremely complex and diverse one and to pin it
into just a single word means whipping out the multitude of connotations and
meanings that it actually embodies.
Scientists have found no plausible relationship between our genes and our
ability to learn or our intelligence.
There is no genetic DNA test that can predict intelligence because intelligence is
due to your environment. It is likely that children with parents who exercise a
profession appear more intelligent because their parents directly or directly
encourage it.
Likely, it is also evident that parents who neglect their children and do not
enforce their schooling commitments (doing their homework, study periods etc)
will perform less well in school and appear “less intelligent”.
Again, it is evident why children who have had no opportunity for schooling
might be considered anything but “intelligent”.
Use these tips for skimming and scanning to help enhance all your reading and
especially when you are studying for an exam.

8. SQ3R Reading Method
This useful strategy aids reading comprehension and is especially helpful for
difficult textbook material. Each part of the process is helpful by itself, so do not
feel that you must follow all of the steps. Use what works for you.
Survey
Before you begin a new chapter, skim the material and get a feel for the main
topics and ideas in the text. The process below should take 5-10 minutes.
 Read the introduction
 Look at the headings and subheadings
 Look at the pictures, charts and graphs (anything visual)
 Read the chapter summary
 Look at the study questions at the end of the chapter
Question
Use questions to guide your reading.
 Take the first heading in the chapter and turn it into a question before
reading the paragraphs in that section. For instance, if the heading is “A
Limited Partnership”, read it as “What is a limited partnership?” Now you
have created a purpose for reading because you are looking for the answer
to the question.

9. Read
As you read look for answers to the questions you created. Use the following
tips when reading:
 Usually the first sentence of each paragraph states the main idea.
 Look for transition words such as next, for example, in contrast, in
addition, to help you follow the author’s point.
 Make notes in the margin or in a notebook as you read. Paraphrase main
points and ideas; do NOT simply copy information from the textbook.
 Highlight only the most important points. Too much highlighting can make
it difficult to separate the main point from support details.
Recite
After reading, look at the questions you created or those at the end of the
chapter.
 Can you answer them? If you cannot, go back, reread the appropriate
sections, and take notes.
 Take the time and recite or recall whatever you can
remember as soon as you finish reading.
Review
 After you study new material, it is extremely important to conduct an
overall review within 24 hours for maximum comprehension and memory.
You can lose 80% of what you have learned if you do not review within the
next day.