Suggestions for Teaching Chapter 2:
SQ3R: A System for College Reading

Copyright 2001 © Laraine Flemming.


1. Some students may have learned other systems for reading textbooks besides SQ3R. That’s all to the good. Encourage them to use whatever system works for them. What needs to be stressed is that students shouldn’t read textbooks as if they were reading a magazine. Students need a study plan when they start an assignment, one that makes use of the devices textbook authors increasingly use to highlight key points. To make your students more aware of those devices, hand out copies of the Textbook Clues to Meaning checklist. Tell them to fill it out right after they have surveyed a chapter. Once they finish the chapter, they should consider how effectively they have used available clues to meaning and significance. In other words, if the author opened chapter sections with a focus question, did students use that question to check their comprehension when they finished reading? If they didn’t, they failed to make effective use of a textbook feature specifically created to aid comprehension.

2. If I were asked what two reading strategies I use religiously, I would name the following: (1) Always break an assignment into manageable chunks of no more than ten to fifteen pages; and (2) Unless you’re reading for fun, always, always annotate. I believe students tend to take more seriously suggestions that teachers personally endorse, so I always talk about the ones I particularly value and use.

3. Many students lack a clear-cut sense of the various reading strategies they can employ to get the most out of their assignments. To put it another way, they aren’t very flexible readers. Asking them to fill out a strategy checklist is a good way to make students more aware that there are different ways of reading. Student readers in particular need to recognize that mastering some texts doesn’t require much beyond reading and underlining, whereas mastery of others requires two separate readings, underlining, extensive annotating, and a sheaf of notes.

4. Ask students to choose two different reading strategies they will put into practice when completing their next reading assignment. Tell them to be prepared to come to class and evaluate those two strategies, explaining why each one did or did not work.

5. Many students assume that the ability to concentrate is a special talent some have and some don’t. They don’t realize there are strategies for concentration that they can use to stay focused. In my experience, the questionnaire on Improving Concentration helps students realize that the ability to concentrate is an acquired talent.



Last change made to this page: August 13, 2001

Questionnaire 1: Textbook Clues to Meaning
Questionnaire 2: Strategies for Reading
Questionnaire 3: Improving Concentration
Additional Material