Skills 200: Reading

Welcome!

Here you will find selected links to online explanations, exercises, quizzes, tools, and resources that you can work on on your own.

If you are not enrolled in a Skills class but are interested in improving your skills, or if you are enrolled and would like to just explore on your own without receiving credit or feedback from a Skills intructor, click on any of the links below to see what might help you the most.

General Reading and Pre-Reading Strategies

• http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=ovbGuFSNOX8C&dq=miller+jeanne+improve+your+reading+improve+your+job&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=DPxtGQPbPW&sig=2El2Ir5pv0tVFoskNWaW0PgwGww#PPP9,M1
  Introductory Assignment
• http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/AS/617.htm
  Cuesta College's "Clues to Finding Main Ideas" with links to many other reading strategies.
• http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/AS/609.htm
  How to maximize comprehension by marking your texts.
• http://www.studygs.net/reading_essays.htm
  How to read an essay (or an article or chapter)
• http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/essays.html
  How to read a difficult book
• http://www.dmacc.edu/instructors/smwickham/spdrding.htm
  Course on speed reading with links for vocabulary and reading and study aids

Textbook Reading Strategies

• http://www.studygs.net/#Reading
  Great reading techniques, available in many languages
• http://www.utexas.edu/student/utlc/lrnres/handouts.html
  University of Texas at Austin: Mark Your Books
• http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdyhlp.html
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: Study Skills Self-help Information
• http://muskingum.edu/~cal/database/general/reading.html
  Reading Comprehension Strategies
• http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/reading.html
  Dartmouth's Reading Your Textbooks Effectively

Chapters, Articles and Stories for Practice

You may want to print pages from these sites so you can take notes and mark as you read:

• http://www.literacynet.org/cnnsf/archives.html
• Click on a category, choose a story, then click on "story". Read the story, then choose vocabulary and comprehension activies.
• "ESL Current Affairs Corner" reading exercises are adapted from online news reports. Includes "active dictionary".
• http://www.edict.com.hk/vlc/comp/ReadComp.htm
• General interest reading comprehension texts with questions. Choose a story, then click on "practice" or "test". Good for beginning students.
• http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/pop/index.html

Vocabulary

Knowlege and skills play a big part in reading comprehnsion. To work on your vocabulary, see the links in Vocabulary.

Standardized test prepration

Click "Preparing for Standardized Tests" to see testing links and learn more.