How to Develop Reading Skills in Students: Most Effective Techniques to Develop Reading Skills

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How to Develop Reading Skills

When we read something, most of the time students read the same page spending half an hour looking at it. If you ask what are you reading, in most cases we get the answer, “Do not know sir”. It is because the mind is elsewhere. It happens. But now, how do you control that and how to develop reading skills in students and how do you make your reading more effective?

Definitely, there is effective and easiest remedy for improving reading skills. For that purpose there is a simple and significant mantra or rule to develop the reading skills. You should follow the technique as described in education “SQRRR”. In this article, we provide the most effective technique to develop reading skills

Best Ways How to Develop Reading Skills:

Now, what is “SQRRR”. S means ‘Survey’, Q stands for ‘Question’. Then three R. R one is ‘Read’, R two is ‘Recite’, third R is ‘Review’ or ‘Revise’. What does it mean?

1. Survey:

You see, first of all, survey. Normally, when we start any book, history or commerce or any physics book, what we do is we start at the first page of the chapter one and then we start reading one after another. What is there in the book? Where are we going? We don’t know. We have no idea in our mind.

For example, when you go to a new city, when you are visiting a new city, what do you do? First thing you look at the map of the city. Now, it is very easy, that we have Google Maps. You see the map and can get the idea of the important places to visit, and then you proceed in the city. You will never go into a city and start walking in the streets here and there. You will get lost, and you will not be able to see anything.

how to develop reading skills in students

So, in the same way, when you start a book, a chapter, you look at the contents of the chapter quickly. So, to develop your reading skills effectively, what do you do? Quickly turn the pages, two minutes or three minutes, and go through the quick survey of the chapter or the pages. What will you look for? Look for the headings, sub-headings, diagrams, charts, tables and key terms which are there. Very quickly, you look at it. What will happen with this? What is the use of it? You will get a chart in your mind, a map of the chapter in your mind.

So, when you start studying later on, all the time, you will know where I am in this chapter, what is behind me and what is ahead of me. You will have a clear idea. This is psychologically very important to develop reading skills in students. As the educationalist says, to have this clear idea of what I am doing, where I am – survey of the contents is very important.

2. Questions:

The second thing is ‘Question‘. What does it mean? Normally what we do is when we study a chapter from school onwards, we have got this habit to read the chapter first, then try to solve the questions at the end. First we study and then we try to solve the questions at the end. But educational psychologist tell us that this is completely wrong. Why is it wrong? Do you know why people learn? When we learn, why do we learn? What is the motive power behind learning? The motive power behind learning is curiosity. I want to know.

Unfortunately in school and college, many students learn or read as it is in their syllabus. That’s why we don’t learn also. That’s why a lot of effort is put before examination and after examination most parts of the chapter are forgotten. Because they never wanted to learn it in the first place.

Now, how can you create that sense of curiosity? Educational psychologist say whatever subject you are studying, it may be maths, physics, history, commerce, whatever. First you go to the questions. Look at the questions, at least five or 10 questions. You may write it down or keep it in your mind.

When you will start reading, what will happen is that the questions will appear in your mind. Now you are not reading mechanically but you are discovering. You are seeking the answers. You are curious and you want to know the answers to those questions. So, when you are reading, you need to seek the answers of your questions. That’s a much more powerful psychological mode of learning than simply turning the pages one after another. So, question first, then study. Not study first and then question.

3. RRR to Develop Reading Skills:

And then the third part is the ‘RRR’. After survey and questions, then you start reading. First is R1 that stands for ‘Reading’. How do you read? You have to read actively. There’s something called active reading. What is active reading? Don’t simply hold the book and stare at it. If you stare at it, after some time what will happen? Eyes will go heavy, book will fall out of the hand.

You can keep a pen or a pencil and you mark the important points, your own comments in the side. Point out what you understood, what you did not understand. You can put a small question mark in the side of the part that is not understood by you. You can put down relative references found in another book. So this is called active reading where you underline, you comment, you take notes. That helps you to concentrate on what you are reading and develop your reading skills. Use your hands. Use your verbalizing skills. Read out aloud what you are reading there. So active reading is very important to develop reading skills.

R two is ‘Recite’. After reading one page or two pages, don’t go further. Stop. Mentally you recite, not like a poem. Just mentally recite the main points. You may feel I’m understanding. When you try to recite by covering the book, you will find one or two places you’ve got doubts. You don’t remember, or you don’t understand some parts of the chapter.

Then, you have to go back there and take a look. That is called R3 that stands for ‘Revise’. So R3 or revise plays a significant part for fruitful reading.

Final Thought on How to Develop Reading Skills:

Bacon famously stated, “Reading maketh a full man……” So, go through reading of chapter with clear and holistic mindset with the purpose to fill your mind with knowledge. In this article, you can find a very concrete way how to develop reading skills. So this is SQRRR – Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Revise. This is just one technique how to develop reading skills in students. our thinking, our studying skills.

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