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Reading skills

Eight strategies, written in plain language. Each one has steps you can use on the very next thing you read.

How to find the main idea

The main idea is what the whole text is about, not just one interesting detail.

  1. 1Read the first and last paragraph carefully. Writers often state their point there.
  2. 2Ask: what one thing does every paragraph help explain?
  3. 3Say the answer out loud in one sentence, using your own words.
  4. 4Test it. If a paragraph does not support your sentence, your sentence is probably too narrow.

Example

In an article about floating libraries, one detail is that boats sometimes break down. That is a detail. The main idea is that libraries can travel to readers instead of waiting for readers to travel to them.

Try this: After each passage you read this week, write the main idea in a single sentence before you look at any questions.

How to understand unfamiliar words

You can often work out a word without stopping to look it up.

  1. 1Keep reading to the end of the sentence, then read the sentence after it. Meaning often arrives late.
  2. 2Look for a definition hidden in the sentence, often after a comma or the word 'or'.
  3. 3Break the word into parts. A root you recognize gives you a starting guess.
  4. 4Substitute your guess back into the sentence. If the sentence still makes sense, keep going.
  5. 5Look the word up only if it appears again and your guess still feels shaky.

Example

'The path was circuitous, winding back on itself twice before reaching the gate.' The rest of the sentence defines the word: circuitous means roundabout.

Try this: Choose three unfamiliar words from your next passage and guess each before checking.

How to make inferences

An inference is a conclusion the text supports but does not state.

  1. 1Notice what the text actually says. Write down the clue in the author's words.
  2. 2Add what you already know about how people and the world behave.
  3. 3Combine the two into a conclusion.
  4. 4Check that the text does not contradict your conclusion anywhere else.

Example

The text says a character's handwriting climbs uphill and is uneven. You know that young writers often write this way. You can infer the writer is a child, even though the text never says so.

Try this: For each inference you make, be able to point to the exact sentence that supports it. If you cannot, it is a guess, not an inference.

How to summarize a passage

A good summary is short, in your own words, and keeps only what matters.

  1. 1Cover the text. Say what happened, or what the author argued, from memory.
  2. 2Write two or three sentences: the situation, the key change or claim, and the result.
  3. 3Cut examples, numbers, and side comments unless they are essential.
  4. 4Reread and remove anything you added that is your opinion rather than the author's.

Example

A seven-paragraph story about a late bus becomes: 'Theo's bus is delayed by a closed bridge. He decides to take a footbridge he had always avoided. He arrives early and is quietly pleased with himself.'

Try this: Try to summarize in exactly three sentences. The limit forces you to choose.

How to identify important details

Important details support the main idea. Everything else is texture.

  1. 1Find the main idea first. Details only matter in relation to it.
  2. 2Mark facts, reasons, and evidence. These usually carry weight.
  3. 3Ask of each one: if I removed this, would the author's point be weaker?
  4. 4Notice repetition. A point made twice is a point the author cares about.

Example

In an article about the ocean floor, the earthquake map is an important detail because it provides independent evidence. The color of the research ship would not be.

Try this: Underline no more than five details per page. A scarce highlighter makes better decisions.

How to understand an author's purpose

Every text is written to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain how.

  1. 1Ask what the writer wants you to do after reading: know something, agree with something, feel something, or follow steps.
  2. 2Look at word choice. Emotional or one-sided language usually signals persuasion.
  3. 3Look at structure. Headings and facts suggest information; scenes and dialogue suggest a story.
  4. 4Notice what is left out. What a writer omits often reveals what they want.

Example

An article that lists both funding problems and long-running successes is informing you. An article that lists only successes is likely persuading you.

Try this: Name the purpose of each thing you read this week in one word.

How to improve reading comprehension

Comprehension improves when you read actively instead of passively.

  1. 1Preview: skim the title, headings, and first sentences before reading properly.
  2. 2Predict: guess what the text will say. A prediction gives your attention something to check.
  3. 3Pause: after each section, say in your head what just happened.
  4. 4Question: write one question you still have. Reading to answer a question is stronger than reading to finish.
  5. 5Reread the parts you skimmed past. Confusion is information, not failure.

Example

Readers who stop at the end of every section to restate it recall noticeably more than readers who read straight through without pausing.

Try this: Set a timer for ten minutes of focused reading with your phone in another room.

How to become a stronger reader

Reading strength comes from volume, variety, and small daily habits.

  1. 1Read every day, even for ten minutes. Frequency matters more than length.
  2. 2Choose texts slightly above comfortable. Too easy builds nothing; too hard builds frustration.
  3. 3Vary what you read: fiction, articles, poems, instructions. Each teaches a different structure.
  4. 4Keep a short list of new words with the sentence you found them in.
  5. 5Talk about what you read. Explaining a text to someone else exposes the parts you did not follow.

Example

A reader who finishes one short passage each day reads more than three hundred texts a year without ever setting aside a long block of time.

Try this: Pick a regular time and place. Habits attach to circumstances more reliably than to intentions.

Strategies stick when you use them immediately.

Practise on a passage