1. ACTIVE READING
Learning to Read and Remember
Lunch and Learn
Sponsored by Student Success

2. READING FOR LEARNING
Reading for learning from your texts is a three-step process:
1. Ask questions about the headings and figures.
2. Read actively by staying engaged in what you
are reading, answering the questions you posed, and
taking notes as you read.
3. Review and rehearse the information so you’ll remember it.

3. STRATEGIES FOR ACTIVE READING
The best strategy to help you set and keep your reading purpose is
annotating, that is, taking notes in your text.
Annotating is the process of writing the key information (such as
major points, definitions, and examples) in the margins of your text.
You are looking for and marking all of the information you will need
to remember from your chapters.
Because it gives you a purpose, you’ll find that annotation helps you
concentrate while reading and actually helps you learn from the text.

4. STRATEGIES FOR ACTIVE READING
Text Annotation works because it:
 Gives you a purpose for reading
 Improves your comprehension
 Provides an immediate test of your understanding
 Increases your concentration
 Keeps you from having to reread the chapters over
again
 Creates a study tool that will help you prepare for
exams

5. THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF ANNOTATION
READ BEFORE YOU WRITE
Before you annotate, you need to get a sense of what the chapter or section is
about. Read at least one paragraph before you write anything down in order to figure out what
might be important and get a sense of the big picture.
THINK ABOUT THE IDEAS YOU’VE READ
If you were going to talk to someone else about the information, what would be
important to tell them? This is the material you will annotate.
WRITE KEY IDEAS IN THE MARGINS
Definitions Examples of the main idea
Lists Details or characteristics of the main ideas
Names, Dates, Events Cause / Effect or Compare / Contrast
Possible test questions Confusing Information
REVIEW YOUR WORK
Check your annotations to be sure they make sense. If you only had your annotations
to study from, would you have enough information? If not, go back and fill in any gaps.

6. A SAMPLE ANNOTATION

7. STUDYING YOUR ANNOTATIONS
1. Cover up the text. You don’t want to reread entire pages, just your annotations.
2. Read your annotations and rehearse the material. Ask yourself questions. Do you
understand all the key ideas? Do you understand how all the concepts relate to each other
and how they relate to the larger concepts?
3. Reread selectively. If you find a section that is not entirely clear to you, uncover the text
and reread that section only.
4. Test yourself. Once you are comfortable with the material in the text, try to self-test.
Look at chapter headings and subheadings. Cover up the text and the annotations then try
to say the information to yourself.
Once you have tested yourself several times on the information, you may want to compare
what you’ve read with the information in your lecture notes.
This will help you start to pull the ideas together.

8. If nothing else, remember these tips:
 Good readers are active. Active reading means that you
are focused on the text and learning as you go. Highlighting your books
does not usually lead to reading actively.
 Annotation encourages active reading. Gone are the days of reading and
not learning. To annotate, you summarize the key ideas of the text in the
margins using your own words (a good test of your understanding).
 Use your annotations to study. Annotations provide a way to test
yourself on the information you’ll need to remember for the exam.