A Strategy for Reading Textbooks

SQRW is a four-step strategy for readingand taking notes from chapters in a textbook. Each letter stands for one stepin the strategy. Using SQRW will help you to understand what you read and toprepare a written record of what you learned. The written record will bevaluable when you have to participate in a class discussion and again when youstudy for a test. Read to learn what to do for each step in SQRW.

Survey.
Surveying brings to mind what you already know about the topic of a chapter andprepares you for learning more. To survey a chapter, read the title,introduction, headings, and the summary or conclusion. Also, examine allvisuals such as pictures, tables, maps, and/or graphs and read the caption thatgoes with each. By surveying a chapter, you will quickly learn what the chapteris about.

Question.
You need to have questions in your mind as you read. Questions give you apurpose for reading and help you stay focused on the reading assignment. Formquestions by changing each chapter heading into a question. Use the words who,what, when, where, why, or how to form questions. For example, forthe heading "Uses of Electricity" in a chapter about how scienceimproves lives, you might form the question "What are some uses ofelectricity?" If a heading is stated as a question, use that question.When a heading contains more than one idea, form a question for each idea. Donot form questions for the Introduction, Summary, or Conclusion.

Read.
Read the information that follows each heading to find the answer to eachquestion you formed. As you do this, you may decide you need to change aquestion or turn it into several questions to be answered. Stay focused andflexible so you can gather as much information as you need to answer eachquestion.

Write.
Write each question and its answer in your notebook. Reread each of yourwritten answers to be sure each answer is legible and contains all theimportant information needed to answer the question.

As you practice using SQRW, you will findyou learn more and have good study notes to use to prepare for classparticipation and tests.

HINT: Onceyou complete the Survey step for the entire chapter, complete the Question,Read, and Write steps for the first heading. Then complete the Question, Read,and Write steps for the second heading, and so on for the remaining headings inthe chapter.

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