A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
1
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance!
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. by:ofEsteban Sanabria, English Teacher A Created Publishing the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Getting Ready to Read Why should you as a teenager read frequently and effectively?
I, as a teacher, would like to give you 6 of the most important reasons why you must give reading a chance to become part of your life: Reason Number
Explanation
1
Become an expert. Whether you are interested in science or fiction, reality or fantasy, reading can help you become an expert on the topic and use that in your life.
2
See the world—and travel through time. Books can take you from the frontiers of the Old West to the frontiers of space...and from the top of the Eiffel Tower to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
3
Find a cause. You are idealist. Reading can help you learn more about people and organizations that support the causes you believe in.
4
Discover new interests. Through reading, you may discover an interest in something you knew nothing about.
5
Get some free advice. Lots of novels feature teenager’s characters that have problems and pressures like the ones you may be facing.
6
Finally, you should read because that makes you SMARTER! As simple as that. 2
Reading Strategies to Effectively Understand Texts 1
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by:ofEsteban Sanabria, English Teacher A Publishing the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Basic Reading Strategies The three most basic reading strategies are Skimming & Scanning, Guessing Meaning From Context, and Identification of Main Ideas.
Strategy: Skimming is a method of rapidly moving the eyes over text with the purpose of getting only the main ideas and a general overview of the content. With skimming, your overall understanding is reduced because you don’t read everything. You read only what is important to your purpose. Tips:
Look at the title of the text to easily get the topic.
Read the first sentence of the first paragraph; that's usually the topic sentence or main idea.
Read the last paragraph of the text so you can get the conclusion.
Read any headings and sub-headings.
Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs.
Notice any italicized or boldface words or phrases.
This way you avoid reading every single detail of the reading without losing the important aspects of it
3
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance! 2
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Example: Pay attention to the first sentence .
Read the following text and apply skimming on it: The Personal Qualities of a Teacher
Look at the title to get what the text will talk about
Here I want to try to give you an answer to the question: What personal qualities are desirable in a teacher? Probably no two people would draw up exactly similar lists, but I think the following would be generally accepted. First, the teacher's personality should be pleasantly live and attractive. This does not rule out people who are physically plain, or even ugly, because many such have great personal charm. But it does rule out such types as the over-excitable, melancholy, frigid, sarcastic, cynical, frustrated, and over-bearing : I would say too, that it excludes all of dull or purely negative personality. I still stick to what I said in my earlier book:
Read the entire last paragraph to get the conclusion of it.
that school children probably 'suffer more from bores than from brutes. Finally, I think a teacher should have the kind of mind which always wants to go on learning. Teaching is a job at which one will never be perfect; there is always something more to learn about it. There are three principal objects of study: the subject, or subjects, which the teacher is teaching; the methods by which they can best be taught to the particular pupils in the classes he is teaching; and - by far the most important - the children, young people, or adults to whom they are to be taught.
4
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance!
3
Pay attention to the first sentence.
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Sanabria, English Teacher A Publishing of Esteban the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Strategy: Scanning is another useful tool for speeding up your reading. Unlike skimming, when scanning, you look only for a specific fact or piece of information without reading everything. You scan when you look for your favorite show listed in the cable guide, for your friend’s phone number in a telephone book, and for the sports scores in the newspaper.
Tips:
State the specific information you are looking for.
Try to anticipate how the answer will appear and what clues you might use to help you locate the answer. For example, if you were looking for a certain date, you would quickly read the paragraph looking only for numbers.
Read the title of the text so you know what the text is about.
Use headings and any other aids that will help you identify which sections might contain the information you are looking for.
Selectively read and skip through sections of the passage.
Look only for the words or answers that you need.
5
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance!
4
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher 
Take keywords into account. For instance, if you are looking for an address, then try to find verbs like dwell, live, stay, etc., and avoid the rest of them.
Example: Read the following text and apply scanning on it by answering these questions: 1. When were X-rays discovered? (Tip: Here look for dates, years, moths) 2. Who discovered them? (Tip: Look for names to answer this one) 3. What are the four characteristics of X-rays? (Tip: look for numbers like I, II, III or 1, 2, 3) Answer of question 1
The Discovery of X-rays
Answer of question 2
X-rays were discovered in 1895 by Roentgen while studying the phenomena of gaseous discharge. Using a cathode ray tube with a high voltage of several tens of kilovolts, he noticed that salts of barium would fluoresce when brought near the tube, although nothing visible was emitted by the tube. This effect persisted when the tube was wrapped with a layer of black cardboard. Roentgen soon established that the agency responsible for the fluorescence originated at the point at which the stream of energetic electrons struck the glass wall of the tube. Because of its unknown nature, he gave this agency the name X-rays. He found that Xrays could manifest themselves by darkening wrapped photographic 6
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance! 5
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. by:ofEsteban Sanabria, EnglishRica. Teacher A Created Publishing the University of Costa Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
plates, discharging charged electroscopes, as well as by causing fluorescence in a number of different substances. He also found that X-rays can penetrate considerable thicknesses of materials of low atomic number, A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica.
whereas substances of high atomic number are relatively opaque. Roentgen Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher took the first steps in identifying the nature of X-rays by using a system of slits to show that (1) they travel in straight lines, and that (2) they are uncharged, because they are not deflected by electric or magnetic fields.
Answer of question 3
The discovery of X-rays aroused the interest of all physicists, and many joined in the investigation of their properties. In 1899 Haga and Wind performed a single slit diffraction experiment with X-rays which showed that (3) X-rays are a wave motion phenomenon, and, from the size of the diffraction pattern, their wavelength could be estimated to be 10-8 cm. In 1906 Barkla proved that (4) the waves are transverse by showing that they can be polarized by scattering from many materials. Strategy:
Guessing
Meaning
From
Context.
Sometimes
unfamiliar words in a text are actually explained by the own author by using synonyms, antonyms, giving some details of the meaning, and family by rewording the word. However, it is our responsibility to look for these helps in the text, as they not always are as visible and obvious as we would wish.
7
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance!
6
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher A Created Publishing by:ofEsteban the University Sanabria, of Costa EnglishRica. Teacher Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Rewording
Rewording is when the author says the word in another way that is typically easier to understand. Let's Look at an Example:
Resentment, a feeling of bitterness and anger, is often felt by people who are passed over for promotions. What does the word resentment mean in this sentence? According to the text, it means "feeling of bitterness and anger"
Synonyms
A
writer
sometimes
uses synonym
context
clues to help with hard words. A synonym context clue is one or two words that mean almost the same as the one that the author does not expect us to know. Let's Look at an Example:
The young girl was very aloof. She always seemed unsociable, What
unapproachable,
does
the
word aloof
and
uninterested.
mean
in
this
sentence? According to the text, it is a synonym
of "unsociable,
unapproachable,
and
uninterested" 8
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance! 7
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by:ofEsteban Sanabria, English Teacher A Publishing the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Antonyms
Writers are using antonym context clues when they use a word with opposite meaning to give us hints about the word that they do not think we will know. Let's Look at an Example:
Dianna appeared to be a very moral and upstanding young lady, but those who knew her knew that she was iniquitous. What does the word iniquitous mean in this sentence? The word "BUT" indicates the possible
presence of an antonym. According to the text, it means the opposite of moral, which is immoral, and the opposite of upstanding which also could be immoral.
Giving Details
A writer is using details as context clues when he/she gives us explanations or examples as hints about the word that he/she does not think we will know. There are several different kinds of Context Clues that are Details. Details that are examples of the unknown word, details that tell why the unknown word has taken place, and finally details that explain how the word relates to other things
9
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance! 8
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by:ofEsteban Sanabria, English Teacher A Publishing the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Giving Details
the author has stated. Let's Look at an Example:
Father was ecstatic because Joshua decided to go to the college that he wanted him to. What
does
the
word ecstatic mean
in
this
sentence? "Ecstatic" is how the father felt, it is a
state of humor.
Intermediate Reading Strategies Strategy: Typographic Signs: Typography is the visual attributes of written language (Waller, 2010). Typographical cues are similar to road signs. The reader, like a driver, must be able to read the signs to navigate their way through the roads or pages of text. Using these signs, we can provide readings with more sense to us, due to they guide us about the tone that we can have when reading. What are the most important typographic signs that we have to take into account when reading? Have a look at the following chart in which they all are explained:
10
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance! 9
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Sanabria, English Teacher A Publishing ofEsteban the University of Costa Rica. Typographical Signs
Comma
What Do They Mean?
Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher Examples
Pause reading; placement of
Henry, my dog is happy to see
comma can affect meaning.
you. Henry, my dog, is happy to see you.
Period
Longer pause because it marks The boy loved his new book. the end of a sentence.
Question Mark Exclamation
Raise intonation at the end of
What is that?
the question. Read with emotion.
I can’t believe it!
Someone is speaking.
Ben said, “What are you
Mark Quotation
doing?”
Marks Underlined,
Read with special stress.
That is what she thinks. That is what she thinks.
enlarged, and/or bold print Combination
Read meaningful unit with special stress
My father yelled, “Lindsey, you get back here right now!”
11
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance! 10
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. by:ofEsteban Sanabria, Teacher ACreated Publishing the University of English Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Have a look at the following text: The Winepress
Look at the quotation mark.
by Josef Essberger
"You don't have to be French to enjoy a decent red wine," Charles Jousselin de Gruse used to tell his foreign guests whenever he entertained them in Paris. "But you do have to be French to recognize one," Look at the question mark.
he would add with a laugh.
“How many bottles of wine have these people drunk today?” asked Jack. “I don’t have idea,” replied Charles.
Look at the apostrophe.
"Come on, Charles, it's simple arithmetic. Nothing to do with race or color. You must've had bags of experience of this sort of thing. What d'you say?" "Yes, let’s say 4!"´
Look at the exclamation mark.
Explanation: In the previous text, quotation, exclamation, quotation, and apostrophe marks are key to understand the text. They indicate the tone of the text and allow the reader to be guided through the story.
12
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance! 11
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. by:ofEsteban Sanabria, Teacher ACreated Publishing the University of English Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Strategy: Outline The outlining method is perhaps the most common form of note taking used by college students; an outline naturally organizes the information in a highly structured, logical manner, forming a skeleton of the textbook chapter or lecture subject that serves as an excellent study
guide when preparing for tests. This method of note taking is extremely useful in most instances. Tips: Write points in an organized manner based on space indentation. Place major points farthest to the left. Indent each more specific point farther to the right (level of importance is indicated by distance away from left margin). Advantages The outlining method emphasizes content as well as relationships between the materials. Also, it reduces the time needed for editing and allows for easy reviewing. Disadvantages This method requires more thought for accurate, understandable
13
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance!
12
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
organization and, therefore, cannot be used during lectures that move too quickly. How to write an outline? Imagine that you read a text in which the things that makes X person feel powerful are explained.
Write in a paper the thesis of the text, in other
words, what the text is about.
THESIS: Though many things make the character want to score goals, he loves scoring most of all because it momentarily gives him a sense of power. I. Common reasons for wanting to score goals A. Help team B. Gain glory
Write the supporting points of the idea. In other words, how the idea is defended
Write the main idea of the first paragraph or first point discussed in the reading.
C. Hear cheers of crowd II. Reasons for wanting to score goals A. Feel relaxed 1. Know he’s going to score a goal
Write the main idea of the second paragraph or second point discussed in the reading.
2. Move smoothly, not awkwardly 3. Get relief from pressure to do well B. Feel momentary sense of power
Write the supporting details of the point. In other words, how the supporting point is exemplified.
1. Do better than goalie 2. Take ultimate mind trip 3. Conquer anxiety 4. Return to earth after a moment
14
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance!
13
A Publishing of the University of Costa Rica. Created by: Esteban Sanabria, English Teacher
Strategy: Inferences The outlining method is perhaps the most common form of note taking used by college students; an outline naturally organizes the information in a highly structured, logical manner, forming a skeleton of the textbook chapter or lecture subject that serves as an excellent study guide when preparing for tests. This method of note taking is extremely useful in most instances.
Ver http://dhp.com/~laflemm/reso/inference.htm
15
Reading Is Nothing But Fun! Give Reading a Chance!