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Advice to Students |
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| 1) Realize how
important it is for you to master reading, writing, and vocabulary.
These are skills which you will utilize throughout your life,
regardless of your profession.
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| 2) Many students who do not like to read,
cheat themselves because they read summaries of works from Internet
sources (Monkey Notes, Monarch Notes, Cliff's Notes, etc.) instead
of reading the required assignments. As a result, as time
progresses, the reading skills of these students decline to such an
extent that they truly may encounter trouble understanding the
reading assignments they are given in class.
Here are some things you can do to increase
your reading comprehension: ■ Read often. Read everything which you are assigned in school, and then find additional magazines, newspapers, and books which you can read on your own. Make it a habit to read for a certain period of time each day. With practice, you will improve your reading skills. If you want suggestions for books to read, check HERE. ■ To improve your comprehension while you read a long article or a chapter in a book, stop at the end of each page and summarize in one or two sentences the information on the page. If you are reading a book which you own, write this sentence (or sentences) in the margin of the book. If you are reading a school or library book, write this sentence on a separate sheet of paper and keep the page of sentences in the book. Because you know that you will have to summarize each page, this forces your mind to concentrate on obtaining meaning from the text. Also, if you later have a test on the reading, you will have your list of sentences to review before the test. NOTE: This is a practice you can use with all types of reading, including the reading you complete in textbooks for other subjects. ■ To increase your reading rate, select a book or article that is easier than your normal reading matter, and practice reading it at a faster rate than you would normally read. At the end of each page, pause and summarize the material. This is a great strategy to use with reading materials that you read strictly for fun. In time, you will see that you are able to read even difficult passages faster and with greater comprehension. College students are generally frustrated when they discover that their reading assignments may average 40-50 pages of text each night. If you practice increasing your reading rate throughout high school, you will reap the benefits for many years to come. You will also score higher on college-entrance tests which include timed reading passages and questions. ■ What should you do if you just simply do not like to read? Most students who do not like to read either have never discovered books that will really interest them, or their reading skills are so poor that reading takes forever and becomes cumbersome. If you just don't like to read, ask friends and teachers to help you select books you might enjoy. Tell them your interests - and tell them the types of movies and television shows you like. Again, if you improve your reading skills and make it a habit to read each day, you may find out that you actually enjoy reading. Another way you can find a book is to go to an online bookstore such as Amazon.com and call up a book which you have read and liked. Most online stores will offer you suggestions for similar books which you may like to read. ■ Form reading groups with your friends. This is a great strategy to use for summer reading. Get three or four friends together and select a book which all of you will read and discuss together. You might want to read an occasional chapter aloud together, but most of the reading should be done independently. As you read, write down several questions you might like to discuss later. You might include questions regarding things you do not understand in the book, or you might include questions regarding why characters behave in a certain way. Mark specific passages in the book you will want to discuss with your friends later. Note: some popular books have prepared discussion questions for reading groups. Check Amazon.com or the publisher's website to see if there are questions on the books your group selects to read.
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| 3)
What should I
do to increase my vocabulary? ■ Take your vocabulary lessons seriously. Most teachers require students to learn 20 words each week and take a quiz over the words on Friday. The biggest mistake students make is to wait until Thursday night to study, and then they remember the words only long enough to take the quiz. Study new words each night, and also review all of the previously learned words each day. The simplest method most students use is to make flashcards of words. On the flashcards, list the word on one side, and on the flip side list the definitions, parts of speech, antonyms, synonyms, and one sentence which uses the word. Don't limit yourself to learning only the definitions. Practice the synonyms, antonyms, and sentences as well. ■ Keep your old vocabulary flash cards. These cards will be excellent aids for you to use to prepare for college-entrance tests. In fact, as time progresses, you will be amazed at how easy your "old" words will become. You will be amazed that you once thought they were difficult. ■ Throughout your life, you will increase your vocabulary. You will hear new words used daily, and you will encounter new words in print. Keep a list of new words which you read and take the time to look up the definitions of these words. Most importantly, if you are to learn new vocabulary words, you must USE THEM. Try including these new words in your writing and in your speech. ■ Games are great ways to improve your vocabulary. Practice with some of the language games that are available through this web site. Click HERE.
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| 4)
How can I
improve my writing? ■ Writing is a skill which must be practiced. In order to become a good writer, you must write frequently, and you must practice writing with all types of assignments. ■ Follow the Writing Process for all writing assignments. Click here for more information. ■ When you write a paper in an English class, look at all comments your teacher includes on the paper. If your are making grammar or mechanical errors, you may need to go back and review the rules. Click here to look at Internet links on grammar, mechanics, and writing which may help you. What comments does your teacher make regarding the content of your paper? From the comments, make a plan of what you need to do for your next paper. Do you need to condense your ideas? Do you need to go into more detail? Do you need to include additional specific examples? Do you need to exhibit greater understanding of the topic or analyze the topic in greater detail? If you are unsure what you need to do to improve your writing, make an appointment with your teacher and ask this specific question: What do you think I need to do to improve my papers? Don't get upset if your teacher makes negative remarks. We can all improve, and this improvement can happen only if we learn to recognize our strengths and weaknesses in writing. ■ Read other students' papers. Find a student who generally makes good grades on writing assignments and read his or her papers. See if you can determine what makes these papers better than other students. For each paper which you read, see if you can find one thing the student does in his paper that you may be able to do in your next paper. For example, does he give better examples? Does he include a better introduction? Is his paper better organized than your papers? Does he include poignant stories, or specific statistics, or humorous anecdotes? ■ Look at some of the on-line practice tools which are available for students who want extra help in writing. Click here for the links page and look for the WRITING sites. ■ Try some of the writing practice assignments which are located on the Writing Page. Share your work with your friends and family and ask them for suggestions for improvement.
As you can see from the above suggestions, the primary way to improve in reading, writing, and vocabulary is to PRACTICE these skills diligently and frequently! |
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