You’ve been assigned a chapter or two or three in all of your classes and you’re trying your best to read it all, but when you come to the end you may be wondering…what did I just read?  If this scenario is way too close to your actual life than you may need to work on your reading comprehension.  There are numerous strategies to aid in reading comprehension and one important way to improve in this area is to become an active reader. 

An active reader needs to be ready to underline, highlight, and jot down notes while their reading.  While you’re reading you want to constantly acknowledge interesting points that the author makes and mark areas that are confusing.  You can do this with post it notes or by writing in the margins of your textbook.  You may also want to get a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle and write questions about the text on one side.  When you’ve finished your assigned reading go back to your notes and try to reread these areas to help answer your questions. 

Expository texts can be some of the most difficult to comprehend and many times these make our minds wander or cause us to be extremely sleepy!  Unfortunately, your textbooks are written in this fashion and these are probably your key source of getting information for your classes.  When reading your textbooks break up the reading into manageable sections and apply the above strategies of an active reader.  Before you attempt your reading for class read the next section which will allow you to practice this skill with great news stories from CNN. 

Time for Practice!

        I suggest that you click on the website below because it offers great news stories that you can read.  This website also offers questions to help you practice your comprehension skills.  Go to the website and then click on a section of news that you’re the most interested in.  After finding the list of news articles click on a title that you’d like to read.  Make sure you click on story to get the full article.  In order to be an active reader of the article I suggest that you print it out!  Now you can underline, highlight, and write on the article.  After reading the article click on the question areas in order to quiz yourself on your reading and understanding.  The following sections are the most helpful in monitoring your reading comprehension level: multiple choice, sequencing, and conclusions. 

Go ahead and click now!  http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/ 

There are numerous stories so don’t limit yourself to just one.  I challenge you to practice being an active reader with a new article every week!   

- contributed by Kelley Kaunisto, LTCY 524