Page 11 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

Structure of a Chapter

There are certain pieces that every chapter contains. These chapter components generally appear in
the same order, with some minor exceptions. This makes the book easier to use, by keeping a reliable
structure in place, even as new content is introduced.

“Nothing is worth reading that does not require an alert mind.” LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Charles Dudley Warner, American editor and author
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
3 READING METHODOLOGY • Identify and explore reading contexts
• Connect reading to prior knowledge
Reading Reading • Build vocabulary
• Identify a writer’s style
Introducing Molly In her 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee • Take notes on a reading and outline the main points
introduces us to a six-year-old girl nicknamed Scout, who loves to read. The • Keep a Reading Log
Reading novel is set in a 1930s Southern town, hard
Methodology hit by the Depression. Scout’s father, a Molly is a first-semester student who grew up on a dairy
lawyer named Atticus Finch, had taught her farm an hour outside of the city where she now attends
What is a to read before she went to school. Instead college. She was very active in high school sports,
Methodology? of being pleased, her teacher is dismayed including soft ball and soccer. Molly even tried
because Scout is so far ahead of the other wrestling for a season. She tends to get bored
Examining the children. The teacher forbids Scout to read easily and is happiest when she’s physically
Reading Methodology in school—and Scout is heartbroken. Her active. Molly wants to be a nurse and work
father promises Scout that she can read all with rural families. She knows from her
Discussion of she wants at home. own experience that many farm families
Methodology Steps are so busy taking care of their farms and
Can you relate to this story? Some of you may have spent long summer days livestock that they don’t take very good
Using a Reading Log reading Harry Potter books, eager for the next one to come out. On the other care of their own health. Molly would like
hand, some of you may not read unless required to do so for classes, or feel that to change that, and introduce new ideas,
Note-Taking you simply do not like to or are not good at reading. You may read more, though, like nutrition and maybe even yoga!
and Reading and more often than you realize. Do you really read less than your parents or
Comprehension grandparents or do you just read differently? Think of all the things you have READING
read in the past week: E-mail from friends or someone’s personal blog? An
LVP: A Life Vision online news site or an article in a local newspaper? A magazine that focuses on Improving your effectiveness as a reader requires that you read actively. This means your eyes are not
Reading a favorite hobby? A textbook, an assignment handout, or a classmate’s paper as simply passing over words on a page but that you are thinking while processing the information you read.
a peer reviewer? The latest installment of a graphic novel? In order to get the most bene¿t from your study and reading time, you must be critically engaged without
Activity 3.1 distractions. This applies to any reading where comprehension is important such as reading a textbook,
However, like so many other things we do these days, we all tend to read too your own notes, research sources, or laboratory data.
Using a Reading Log quickly to do it effectively. We skim written communication and half-listen to Language development skills are the foundation from which a person’s reading process can be improved.
conversations. However, to become a strong and successful learner, you need to Table 3.1 lists the skills from the Classi¿cation of Learning Skills that are associated with language
Activity 3.2 both read and listen well. This chapter will build on the reading skills you already development. The table includes general skills such as building vocabulary as well as speci¿c skills like
have, strengthening them so that you can be a con¿dent and successful reader. de¿ning.
Practicing the Reading
Methodology The goal of this chapter is to help you learn how to improve your reading and 62 Foundations of Learning
comprehension skills. We will also look at the connection between reading and
Activity 3.3 writing, two activities that form the foundation of your college education. In a
later chapter, Chapter 11, we will explore how professionals write in speci¿c
Analyzing a Literary disciplines. We will also explain how understanding speci¿c forms of writing
Text will strengthen your reading and writing in your discipline.

GLOSSARY methodology Reading Methodology reading log syntax semantics

61

The first two pages of every chapter include the following components:

Chapter Contents
The contents of each chapter are listed in the column on the left-hand side of the first page. They
are not comprehensive, but do list the major chapter sections, in order.

Introduction to the Chapter
The text on the first page introduces the ideas that will be covered in that chapter.

Glossary
The words found at the bottom of the first page alert you to new terminology that is used throughout
the chapter. The definitions for each of these terms appear in Appendix A.

Student Profile
Learning is sometimes a lonely enterprise and it is often helpful to have examples and models to
help you learn. With these thoughts in mind, we’ve introduced a model student for each chapter.
These students are not perfect and have a variety of challenges they’re struggling to overcome
in their new role as college students. You’ll be able to watch and learn from them as they move
through the course and work with the content in Foundations of Learning. Want to get to know
them better? They each have a web page available on the resources web site.

Learning Objectives
Appearing on the second page of every chapter, the learning objectives let you know what you
should be able to accomplish or know by the time you have finished working with the contents
of that chapter.

Reading
Beginning on page two, this is where the primary information is located in each chapter and really
just means “everything between the Learning Objectives and the end-of-chapter Assessment.”

How to Use this Book 5