Reading, Advising, & Mentoring Program

Four Reading Rates

Texts are written with varying degrees of difficulty and ease that affect comprehension ability. To maximize your comprehension of a text, adjust your reading style, technique, and rate to accommodate the type of text you are reading. The following chart can be used as a guide to determine which reading rate is most suitable for the different types of texts listed.

RATE PURPOSE TYPE OF TEXT
Skimming

to locate specific information;

directory, dictionary, and any material which will yield a specific answer
to skim for the main idea or to find out what happened next easy, simple material, newspaper, magazine, fiction, research.

Speeded Reading (fast) to read rapidly for certain details or main ideas. any material on which main ideas and supporting facts are to be picked up newspapers, magazines, stories, easy texts, etc.

Study Reading to read with maximum understanding: Survey Raise Questions Read Recite Review textbooks, technical articles, any material which you read in detail or organize, present to others, or for which you are held responsible

Careful & reflective to follow directions, for example, how to make a cake or perform a chemistry experiment; to reflect on content; to evaluate; to enjoy; to read aloud to share an aesthetic experience. directions; any work which contains great thoughts; some reports of current events; editorial pages of newspapers; poetry, drama, etc.; descriptive materials; anything read orally

Strang, Ruth. Making Better Readers. C. D. Heath & Co. 
College Reading Skills Program. Revised 11/99.

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