Reading - Time Management

MANAGING YOUR READING TIME

Those in a hurry do not arrive.

                                               Zen Saying

I.                   What is Efficient Reading?

II.                Tips for Efficient Reading

·         Know Reading Averages

·         Track Your Reading Rates

·         Understand Speed Reading 

·         Reading Quickly

·         Regression

·         Subvocalization

·         Pacing

·         Developing a Reading Plan

III.             Test Taking and Time Management

IV.             Practice with Reading

V.                Chapter Summary

VI.             Post-Test

MANAGING READING TIME

Comprehension should be your main reading goal, not how fast you read.

·         Develop a general study schedule that shows specifically when you plan to study for each class and for how long.

·         Choose the times you study based on when you are most alert, and determine the length of time of each study session using your reading averages for the subjects you are taking.

·         Track your reading rates so you can create daily reading plans that set realistic goals for your classes each week.

The following reading tips are presented in this chapter and will contribute to your becoming a more efficient reader:

·         reading quickly, when it is appropriate

·         skimming

·         regressing or rereading

·         subvocalizing

·         pacing

The goal of critical reading is to "slow down" and take time to digest what you are reading. It is a thinking process. Thinking takes time. Explain to students that although they should be aware of how fast they read so they can pace themselves, plan their study time accordingly, and improve their reading efficiency, speed is NOT the goal of critical reading. In this chapter they will learn that different rates are appropriate for different types of reading. Most speed-reading programs are neither too concerned with comprehension nor designed for textbook reading. Have students go back to their learning journals to write about what they just learned.

table 4.1

Number of Pages Read

Subject: ___________________

Session Number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Date
Number of Pages Read

TABLE 4.2

GRAPHING READING RATES

Session	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Date
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
Pages Per Hour

supplemental exercises

There are three supplemental exercises for this chapter. Information about each is provided on this page and the related material follows on separate pages that you can print out for use with your students.

Exercise 4-1: Academic Tracking Calendar. (Student material on page 63)

Have students get into the habit of marking down important dates (appointments, events, exams, and deadlines) for each month. This teaches them that it’s important to be aware of time. The more conscious they are of due dates and other important events, the more they will be in control of their time, and the more effective they will be in using it. This calendar is used to flag unusual dates, unlike a semester schedule that doesn’t vary.

Exercise 4-2: Goal Setting Exercise #1: Goals and Professional Commitment

Have students respond to the following four questions in their learning journals:

1.      What do you intend to accomplish by the end of today?

2.      What do you intend to accomplish by the end of the week?

3.      What do you intend to accomplish in twelve months?

4.      What do you intend to accomplish in five years?

Then ask them to answer questions five.

5.   If you won a million dollars tomorrow, how would you rewrite goals 3 and 4?

      (Give students five minutes to rewrite these goals.)

Explain to students that if they changed their goals as a result of winning money, especially #4, they probably don’t have a strong commitment to pursuing them. If they are planning on becoming a teacher, for example, but would not choose this career if they became rich, they may not have chosen goals that are sufficiently meaningful to them.

If their goals changed dramatically, have them discuss why in class. If they aren’t really committed to a profession, they may benefit from career counseling.

Exercise 4-3: Goal Setting Exercise #2: Defining Specific Goals (student material on page 64)

Have students complete this worksheet which is designed to help them clarify their goals.

 chapter four: exercise 4-1

ACADEMIC TRACKING CALENDAR

Month _______________ Important Dates (Deadlines, Meetings, Exams, Events)

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday

chapter four: exercise 4-3

GOAL SETTING WORKSHEET

In order to manage your time effectively, you need to be clear about your goals. The more clearly defined they are, the more likely it is that you will achieve them. The purpose of this worksheet is to have you think about and select a series of goals, and learn how to write clear objectives to help you attain them.

DAILY GOALS

First: Brainstorm

List five goals – things that you intend to accomplish today.

Second: Prioritize

Number the goals, listing them in order of importance.

Third: Identify

Identify each goal as “M” (mine) or “O” (someone else’s goal for you).

Fourth: Specify

Detail how you will achieve the goals you have selected. Be specific – for example, indicate time, place, reason, method, and priority.

Example: Attend reading class on time

Priority	Goal	Identify	Place	Reason	Method
1	COLLS 053	M	MC-115	Keep grade up	Get up one hour earlier

Intermediate Term Goals:

Using the same method as you did for your five daily goals, select three goals you want to accomplish by this time next week.

Long Term Goals:

Finally, brainstorm two major goals that you want to accomplish by this date next year. For example, select a major, get your own apartment, apply to UM Law School. Prioritize your goals, identify them as “M” or “O”; and specify how you will accomplish each (when, how, where etc.).

supplemental vocabulary quiz

There is one supplemental vocabulary quiz for this chapter in the form of a crossword puzzle.

Answers

Chapter FOUR vocabulary QUIZ

Across

1              at fault, blame

5              compassion, feel how someone feels

9              thinking about what you are reading

12           comprehending text at an appropriate reading rate

Down

1              struggled

2              reading groups of words

3              using your finger to guide your reading

4              rest, relief

6              small amount

7              diagnose the reason for own demise

8              deep, wise, insightful

10           reading only some of the words

11           summon, call up

 Inference From the Photo:  http://testprep.about.com/od/englishlanguagetests/ss/Inference_SBS1.htm

Answers--Inference from Photos

How'd you do? This should have been an incredibly easy task for you, because we make inferences all the time in real life. In text, it's a bit tougher, but the concept is the same. You use the presented evidence to make an educated guess about what's going on.

Here are some suggested inferences for the previous pictures based on the evidence in the photos:

1. Since the little girl is holding up four fingers and smiling, we can reasonably infer that she's announcing that she's four years old.
2. This picture is so sad! The little girl has unkempt hair, dried, cracked lips, and a look of hurt on her face. Her eyes are filled with tears. We could reasonably infer that someone has hurt this child in some way.
3. Pay close attention to the girl's eyes, here. Does she look scared? Angry? Nope. Maybe she's opening her mouth to get a doctor to peek at her sore throat or check her braces, but that would be a stretch - there's no evidence that she's in a doctor's office. Based on the evidence the picture provides, we could infer that she was merely posing for an artistic picture, or goofing off with a friend, showing how wide she could open her mouth. We can't move too far beyond the constraints of the picture, just like you can't move beyond the constraints of the text to make wild inferences.
4. This woman is obviously worried about something. How do we know? She's biting her nail, her eyebrows are furrowed, and there's a look of uncertainty in her face. We can't name what she's worried about because the shot only shows her face, but we can infer that she's nervous!
5. A casual glance at photo number five, might make you believe that these men are in a tug of war with another group not pictured, which is possible. They are all wearing gym shoes, so they could be participating in some sort of athletic boot camp or something. On the other hand, the men are all on a boat. Perhaps the men are working together to pull up the anchor. It would be a reasonable inference based on their location.
6. This photo shows us a dog holding a deflated soccer ball. We could infer that the owner was letting the dog chase the ball and the dog popped a hole in it during play. The dogdoes look a little remorseful!
7. Even if you've never personally witnessed a mother breastfeeding her child, you could infer that this was going on based on the position of the child against his mother, the pursing of the baby's lips, and the hiking up of the shirt.
8. Yes, you can still make inferences about photos without people! Here, you see a bouquet of roses, a book, and some sort of white material in the bottom right of the picture. Based on the items presented, we could assume that these items were going to be used in a wedding.
9. This photo is of two young people kissing. What can we infer about the photo? Although we can't see where these steps lead, they do not look like your typical porch steps, so we could assume that they were in a public place like a library or university. They obviously didn't care if anyone was watching if they were kissing in a public place, so we may infer that the guy was so in love (note the awkward angle of the girl's neck - she probably didn't initiate the kiss) that he had to kiss her right there on the steps. 
10. Oooh. We've all seen that look before, huh? The girl is immersed in some sort of work - she has a book, a pencil case, and is looking at a test booklet. The boy is either checking her out, or, more likely based on the fact that he's also testing, taking a peek at her work.Ans

from http://testprep.about.com/od/readingtesttips/l/Answers_To_Inference_Practice_Questions_1.doc.pdf

ELEPHANT AND THE BLIND MEN

ELEPHANT AND THE BLIND MEN

Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."
They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.








"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.
"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.
"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."
"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.
The moral of the story is that there may be some truth to what someone says. Sometimes we can see that truth and sometimes not because they may have different perspective which we may not agree too. So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should say, "Maybe you have your reasons." This way we don’t get in arguments. In Jainism, it is explained that truth can be stated in seven different ways. So, you can see how broad our religion is. It teaches us to be tolerant towards others for their viewpoints. This allows us to live in harmony with the people of different thinking. This is known as the Syadvada, Anekantvad, or the theory of Manifold Predictions.

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