Reading+More+Effectively

Today, we will use Joseph J. Ellis's first chapter "The Year" from his book //American Creation// to practice reading more effectively. I think one of the reasons that you are not able to comprehend and retain your reading is because you are approaching it ineffectively. Here is my guide for reading success:

1. COMFORT Your body must be comfortable for you to read effectively. If you are lying down, propping yourself up, standing on a crowded subway car, or unrelaxed, your mind will not be focused because energy will be taken on those other stimuli. Find a place where you are comfortable (not so comfortable that you fall asleep, mind you!) and can fully focus on your reading.

2. PACING I realize that I have given you lengthy reading assignments. I will try to work on this so that they are more manageable. At the same time, I think many of you are waiting until the last minute to read these assignments, and that was not my intention. For the Ellis reading, I gave you three nights to complete 38 pages of reading (large-print). That meant that you should have read about 12 pages a night, leaving time on the last night or before class to go over your notes so that you remember what it was about. Many of you are trying to tackle these packets in one night; you will be unsuccessful using this strategy because you simply will not be able to concentrate for the period of time required to read and process these texts or any text you will be given in a college classroom. Spread it out, stop when you get tired, and don't wait until the last minute to read for AP class.

3. THESIS Just like I will always look for a well-developed thesis in your work, you should be trying to find the thesis of every work you read in this class in the author's introduction. This will help you figure out exactly what the author is trying to tell you. Sometimes, the author may have multiple thesis statements, so identify all the main thesis points within the introduction before proceeding to the body of the text. From now on, I will be challenging you on these reading assignments to tell me what the author's thesis is and assessing whether he or she proved it successfully. What was Ellis's thesis in "The Year?"

4. SECTION HEADINGS Every section heading in your readings and textbook are a key to the main points being given. Do not just skip or skim these to move on to the text. Take a moment to register these and use them as a guide to help you read more successfully. Ask yourself a question using the section heading when you are done reading and see if you can explain the key ideas competently. For example, what is the first section in Ellis's reading "Hindsights" about? You may also do this as a review tool later when preparing for class or studying for the chapter quiz.

5. KEY IDEAS We have now had two quizzes based on your reading, and the average has been in the 70% range, which is a standard bell curve and shows that a majority of you have a "satisfactory" level of understanding of American history up to the Revolutionary era. However, I know most of you are not content with "satisfactory," and you will certainly want to perform better at the college level. Therefore, I recommend that you actively read to anticipate the key ideas I will assess on the multiple-choice exam and take note of those or underline them in your texts (those of you who have copied or own non-KIS editions of the textbook). Simply highlighting or underlining will not be sufficient; you must interact with the textbook, or simply reading it will not be effective enough to fully understand the materials.

6. FACTS & FIGURES Okay, this may be mind-numbing, but many of you need to add more concrete, specific evidence to your DBQ and FRQ if you want to be successful writers in history class and on the AP exam. After you identify key ideas in your reading, write them down and add some specific details about the key ideas that you could possibly use to reinforce them on a timed essay or on a multiple choice test. Try to psych the test and me out and actively anticipate what types of facts are relevant and which ones you can leave on the page. This skill will take time for you to develop but will be so rewarding later. The question I asked most on the last DBQ was "how?" and "why?." Some supporting evidence would have eliminated these annoying questions.

7. REFLECTION Full reading comprehension only occurs when you reflect on what you read. That means that you must revisit notes you take and highlights you make along the way. It also means that you need to stop and ask yourself, "Why is this important or significant to history and the world today?" and "How did this impact the time period I am studying?" Through reflection, you will hopefully understand your reading more fully and feel more successful on AP-style assessments.