How to Improve High School Reading Skills
Unfortunately, many high school students struggle with reading comprehension. All high school students need to possess good reading skills, but becoming a better reader doesn’t happen overnight. However, with a little time, practice and hard work, you, too, can improve your high school reading skills.
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Instructions
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Establish a reading schedule. Be sure to coordinate your reading schedule around your important obligations like school, work and extracurricular activities. You should also try to read when you are most alert and when there are no other distractions around you. And don’t forget to include the reading schedule on your calendar.
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Locate a variety of materials to read. In addition to your regular homework reading assignments, try to locate additional materials to read that match your interests, skills and hobbies. Also, try to include a few resources that are more challenging than what you are normally accustomed to reading. You may choose to read items such as books, encyclopedias, research papers, magazines, newspapers and Web content.
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Scan through the material before you read it. It is important to glance over the material so you can get an idea of what it is you are actually going to read. Be sure to pay close attention to the title, headings, subheadings, charts, graphs, pictures, introductions and conclusions.
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Read the material carefully and write notes for each section or chapter. Make sure that the notes are in your own words--do not copy the information directly from the book or resource. This helps to ensure that you are comprehending the material well. Be sure to underline or highlight words that are unfamiliar to you and look them up in a dictionary. Also, reread all of the sections that you do not understand.
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Review your notes. Take some time to read over your notes to make sure you that you understand the material. And try to answer the study questions that may be located at the end of the chapters or sections in your books. You may also choose to write a brief summary of what you read in order to confirm that you do indeed understand the material.
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Tips & Warnings
Be sure to take a break after you finish reading a chapter or section in your book. Do not try to read too much information at one time.
Look for a quiet place to read and make sure that there is good lighting in the room.
If you need extra help to improve your reading skills, find a qualified tutor to help you. There are a variety of national educational centers that can provide you with the appropriate tutoring services that you need, such as Sylvan Learning Center or Huntington Learning Center (see Resources below).
