Before Reading
Summarize the text in your
Establish your purpose for
reading
Speculate about the author’s
purpose for writing
Review what you already know and
want to learn about the topic
Preview the text to get an
overview of its structure,
looking at headings, figures,
tables, glossary, etc.
Predict the contents of the text
and pose questions about it. If
the authors have provided
discussion questions, read
them and write them on a
note-taking sheet.
Note any discussion questions
that have been provided
(sometimes at the end of the
text)
During Reading After Reading
Annotate and mark (sparingly) own words (note what you
sections of the text to easily learned, impressions, and
recall important or interesting reactions) in an outline,
ideas concept map, or matrix (for
several texts)
Check your predictions and Talk to someone about the
find answers to posed author’s ideas to check your
questions comprehension
Use headings and transition Identify and reread difficult
words to identify relationships parts of the text
in the text
Define words on your
Create a vocabulary list of
vocabulary list and practice
other unfamiliar words to
using them
define later
Try to infer unfamiliar words’
meanings by identifying their
relationship to the main idea
Connect the text to what you
already know about the topic
Take breaks (split the text into
segments if necessary)
How should you read?