According to Skills for Success, reading is “the ability to find, understand, and use information presented through words, symbols, and images.” We often think that reading is being able to quickly sound out words on a page or recite things beautifully. In reality, reading is a tool. It’s meant to be applied and used. It is not an act of performance – it’s a means of living a good life. Reading is a skill, and it’s one that can be developed with respect to the following components. 

Component 1: Identify the task that requires you to read

Whenever you read, it’s important to understand why you’re reading. When you know your purpose, it’s easier to decide what to follow up on, what to pay attention to, what to clarify, and what to do follow-up research on. 

What are some of the different goals or purposes of reading?

• Reading to learn and gather information
• Reading for pleasure and entertainment
• Reading for practical and functional purposes
• Reading for personal growth and development
• Reading to analyze and evaluate aka critical reading
• Reading to write

Component 2: Identify the information

Once you’ve identified the purpose for your reading, it’s important to start pulling out key pieces of information. You can find this information in tables, charts, maps, articles, magazines, books, and more. 

If you’re reading a large piece of text, scan it for any headers. If it’s not a book with headers, one strategy you can use is to flip through each page of the book and only read the first and last sentences of each page before you go back to the beginning to do a close reading. 

When you’re ready to start doing a close reading, have a table or framework ready with headers for key pieces of information you want to collect. 

Component 3: Make connections between different parts of the document

When you’re reading it’s important to make connections between different parts of the text. To do this, you’ll need to understand two things: the two different types of text and the different types of relationships that are present in texts. 

The Two Types of Text: Continuous and Noncontinuous

There are two different types of text: continuous and noncontinuous. 

Continuous text is text that’s composed of sentences and paragraphs that are meant to be read from beginning to end like a novel or a report. Noncontinuous text, on the other hand, uses non-sequential formats like tables, lists, and graphs. When you’re reading a continuous text, you read it from start to finish in order to understand the narrative or the argument. When you’re reading a discontinuous text, you’re focused on gathering information, quickly accessing information, and comparing different data points. 

What are the different relationships that are present in texts?

It’s helpful to look at the different relationships that are present in a text, including: 

• Cause and effect
• Problem and solution
• Category and example
• Comparison and contrast
• Whole and part

Component 4: Understand and apply the information

When you’re ready, it’s important to understand and apply the information that you receive. You can do this by understanding the purpose of the document. This will tell you what the author intends you to do with the information in it. Two important strategies you can use are: 

• Re-writing what you’ve read in your own words to demonstrate that you understand what you’ve read
• Applying the information to complete specific tasks – even if you complete them imperfectly! The key is to put the information into action. 

Component 5: Evaluate the documents

When you’re reading it’s also important to analyze the information in front of you. It’s important to assess its relevance and credibility. 

You can assess relevance by checking how closely something aligns with what you’re trying to accomplish. If you’re trying to complete a specific task, you don’t need dozens of pages teaching you about the history of something. 

You can assess how credible a piece of information is by checking the facts, researching the authority and expertise of the person or entity publishing it, looking for objectivity, and seeing that it’s up to date. You can also look at the consistency of the specific person or entity. 

Component 6: Reflect on the document(s)

It’s also helpful to reflect on whether the document has achieved its goals. Has it convinced you? Has it helped you consider another perspective? Were you able to execute on a series of steps and complete a task? This will help you understand what makes a piece of writing effective, useful, or believable. 

Learning effective reading skills helps you reach your goals faster by giving you the power to learn and apply information

When you have different reading skills, tools, and techniques in your arsenal, encountering something new doesn’t intimidate you. You can approach it and find all of its gems in a structured, disciplined way.