essay about how to improve your reading skills

Reading these problematic passages aloud can often help circumvent that block and help you to form a visual of what the text is trying to convey.

Tip 3: Re-read (or Skim) Previous Sections of the Text

For the most part, reading is a personal activity that happens entirely in your head. So don't feel you have to read just like anyone else if "typical" methods don't work for you. Sometimes it can make the most sense to read (or re-read) a text out of order.

It is often helpful to glance backwards through a piece of text (or even re-read large sections) to remind yourself of any information you need and have forgotten—what happened previously, what a particular word means, who a person was...the list is endless.

Previous sentences, sections, or even whole chapters can provide helpful context clues. Re-reading these passages will help to refresh your memory so that you can better understand and interpret later sections of the text.

Tip 4: Skim or Read Upcoming Sections of the Text

Just like with the previous step, don't feel that the only way to read and understand a text is to work through it completely linearly. Allow yourself the freedom to take apart the text and put it back together again in whichever way makes the most sense to you.

Sometimes a current confusion in a work will be explained later on in the text, and it can help you to know that explanations are upcoming or even just to read them ahead of time.

So skip forward or backwards, re-read or read ahead as you need to, take the piece in whatever order you need to in order to make sense of the text. Not everyone thinks linearly, and not everyone best understands texts linearly either.

Tip 5: Discuss the Text With a Friend (Even an Imaginary Friend)

Sometimes discussing what you know so far about a text can help clear up any confusion. If you have a friend who hasn't read the text in question, then explain it to them in your own words, and discuss where you feel your comprehension is lacking. You'll find that you've probably understood more than you think once you've been forced to explain it to someone who's completely unfamiliar with the piece.

Even if no one else is in the room, trying to teach or discuss what a passage says or means with "someone else" can be extremely beneficial. In fact, software engineers call this technique "rubber duck debugging," wherein they explain a coding problem to a rubber duck. This forces them to work through a problem aloud, which has proven time and time again to help people solve problems. So if a piece of text has your head spinning from trying to work through it by yourself, start chatting with your nearest friend/pet/rubber duck. You'll be surprised with how much easier it is to understand a text once you've talked it through with someone.

Even if that someone is a duck.

The Take-Aways

Improving reading comprehension takes time and effort, but it can be done. Be patient with yourself, work through your reading comprehension steps, and try not to get frustrated with yourself if you feel your progress is slow or if you feel you're "falling behind." You will utilize your reading skills throughout your life, so go at a pace that works for you, and take care to maintain that balance between reading for pure pleasure and reading for dedicated improvement.

As you begin to incorporate more and more reading into your daily life, you'll find that comprehension will become easier, and reading will become more fun. In every piece of text, there are worlds of meaning to explore, and learning how to uncover them can be the ultimate rewarding journey.

What's Next?

Can't get enough reading? Whether as part of your reading practice or just for fun, check out our picks for the 31 best books to read in high school.

Problems with procrastination? Whether you're studying for the SAT's or studying your reading comprehension vocabulary check out how to beat procrastination and get your studies back on track.

Want to earn better grades? Our guide will help you get that 4.0 you're striving for .

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Courtney scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT in high school and went on to graduate from Stanford University with a degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology. She is passionate about bringing education and the tools to succeed to students from all backgrounds and walks of life, as she believes open education is one of the great societal equalizers. She has years of tutoring experience and writes creative works in her free time.

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How to Improve Your English Reading Skills

Reading comprehension, or your ability to understand what you read, is a key skill that should be trained to make sure that you understand the words on the pages whenever you read an English book.

While reading more is one way to work on your comprehension, there are tips and methods you can implement to make your reading more effective.

This article will help you improve your English reading skills with proven strategies for smarter, more efficient reading practice.

1. Make Special Time to Read

2. use a good dictionary, 3. use context clues, 4. learn to read english with the right books, 5. check the difficulty level, 6. do both intensive and extensive reading, 7. read more smoothly with sight words, 8. get familiar with english spelling conventions, 9. focus on repeated words, 10. remember vocabulary with flashcards, 11. make a language journal, 12. ask yourself questions , 13. look for clues to “get the gist”, 14. break up readings into chunks, 15. write a summary, 16. discuss the text, 17. reread short articles, 18. do reading comprehension exercises, 19. read many kinds of texts, 20. read and listen with subtitles, 21. check popular forums and blogs, 22. be consistent with reading, reading recommendations by level, beginner to intermediate, intermediate, intermediate to advanced, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

If you’re reading to improve your comprehension, you need to focus and study.

This means making a special time for reading without risk of being interrupted. You should try to spend at least 30 minutes every day on focused reading. 

To turn your reading process into a ritual:

• Find a quiet, comfortable spot with bright lighting to sit.
• Get everything you might need ready before you sit down, such as a pen, notebook and something to drink. 
• Decide how long you will read.
• Put all your electronics on silent mode (or turn them off) and put them away.

If you have a specific process for reading practice, then your brain will know when you’re about to work on your comprehension. As a result, you’ll be more focused before you even start.

If you’re a beginner learner, choose an English dictionary that translates words into your native language. There are also learner’s dictionaries, which explain words using simple terms.

For more advanced learners, I recommend using a  monolingual  dictionary—one that has definitions only in English with no translations. Monolingual dictionaries force you to  think in English  rather than relying on your native language.

For a dictionary that translates English into multiple languages , check out  WordReference . It covers dozens of languages, such as French, German, Russian, Japanese and Dutch. WordReference also has a monolingual English dictionary.

For online content, you can use LingQ ‘s built-in translation features. LingQ allows you to choose unknown words in any text, get an automatic translation and then convert those words to flashcards.

Just because you find a good dictionary doesn’t mean you should look up every single new word! 

Using context clues means trying to understand a new word by looking at what’s around it. If you’re stuck on a word you don’t know, try looking at the whole sentence for a hint about what it means .

Don’t stop to look up every new word. It’s harder to focus on your reading if you keep interrupting it. You can write down the word and look it up later. Only look up a word if without it, you can’t understand what you’re reading.

When you’re choosing books (and other texts) to read, keep two things in mind:

1. What you’re interested in

2. Your reading level

Whenever you can, you should read things that you enjoy. You should also choose books that are at an English level just above the one you’re most comfortable with . You want to challenge yourself enough to learn new things, but not so much that you frustrated with your reading.

You can use this test from the British Council’s Learn English website to get a general idea of your reading level:

• Beginners should aim for texts specifically made for beginner learners . These include dialogues, short readings about common topics or children’s books.
• Intermediate learners can read longer texts, news articles and popular novels with simpler language. 
• Advanced learners  can read almost anything, but should approach some classic literature such as Shakespeare’s plays with caution.

Not sure where to start? There are lots of places online where you can find recommendations for books to learn English reading:

• Listopia on Goodreads is full of lists created by people just like you.
• What Should I Read Next? gives you book recommendations based on a book that you like or even a list of your favorites. 
• Jellybooks helps you discover new books and sample 10%, which means you can try the book and see if it’s a good fit for you.
• Whichbook is a very different kind of website—you choose the kinds of things you’re looking for in a book (happy/sad, beautiful/disgusting) and the website gives you suggestions based on that.

I’ve also added a detailed list of reading recommendations per level at the end of this post.

Once you’ve picked a book, double-check its difficulty level by making sure that it has no more than 10% unknown words .

Count the number of words on a page or paragraph, and then count the number of words you don’t recognize. Divide the number of unknown words by the number of total words, multiply by 100, and you’ll see what percentage of words you don’t know.

Here’s a rough guide: 

• 0-2% new words: The text is too easy for you.
• 4%-6% new words:  The text is just right.
• 8% new words:  This text might be too hard for you. (You might try it anyway if it’s something you really want to read.)
• 10% (or more) new words:  This text is too hard right now. Set it aside for later, when you’ve learned more English words.

There are two kinds of English reading that you have to practice: Intensive reading and extensive reading.  

Intensive reading is when you try to understand every word on the page . 

This is the kind of reading you do when you have some time to focus. Most of the tips below are about how to make the most out of intensive reading. 

When you practice intensive reading, pick a fairly short text that interests you. If you have a really long text—or you just don’t care about the topic—you might give up before you finish.

Aside from intensive reading, you also need to do extensive reading , which simply means casually reading anything you see in English . Don’t stress. Don’t worry about what every word means.

Read a new recipe. Read an email. Read a blog post.

Read billboards along the highway. Read newspaper headlines.

It doesn’t matter  what  you read—just read in English. Anything. Everything.

The more extensive reading you do, the more comfortable you’ll be with reading in English. 

Fluency is how smoothly you can read. When you read in your head, you should have a certain rhythm to the words, understanding full sentences rather than going one word at a time. The words should flow together naturally, like when somebody is talking. 

To improve your fluency, look out for “sight words.” These are words that you should know by sight and should not have to think about how to read them.

Find a good list of sight words, like this one , and take about a minute or two every day to read the words as fast as you can.

English spelling often doesn’t reflect the actual sounds of a word . When you read in English, the voice in your head can get stuck on new words that you don’t know how to pronounce.

Don’t be discouraged!

By learning common spelling conventions, that reading voice will maintain the flow of English and you’ll improve your overall reading ability:

• kn:  The  kn-  at the beginning of a word is pronounced as simply  n , as in the words “know” and “knife.”
• wh:  The  -h-  in  wh-  words such as “what” or “when” is silent and isn’t pronounced.
• c :  This letter typically sounds like  s  before the vowels  e, i  or  y, like in the word “city.” Otherwise, it typically sounds like  k,  like in the word “cat.”

It’s important to be smart about which words you look up as you read. I recommend looking up words that are repeated more than three times in a passage , or words that appear crucial to the meaning of a sentence.

In other words, don’t look up every single unknown word while you’re reading. Think about it—it’ll get boring and break up the flow of reading.

When you read a text for the first time, underline or highlight unknown words .

Once you’re done reading, go back and identify the repeated words and words that are crucial to understanding. Now you can look those up and write down translations or definitions.

Finally, read the text again with your word list and watch as you understand the text more fully.

A great way to build up your vocabulary and reading fluency is to create flashcards of important words. But don’t just stop there: Review these flashcards often .

While reading, keep your word lists or flashcards handy. You can refer to these if that word comes up again while reading for fast translation.

As you come across these words while reading new content, move them to the back of your flashcard pile. This counts as review, and you don’t need to review words if you feel you’ve already learned them!

Anki is a great app for creating your own digital flashcards and accessing them on the go. 

Aside from making flashcards, you can use a language journal (notebook) for practice.

In the pages of your journal, try writing sentences with your new English vocabulary . Make your own definition for each English word you’ve learned. Use colored pencils to draw pictures of what the words mean.

Every once in a while, look back at older pages in your language journal. Review words to keep your memories of them strong. And feel proud of how much you’ve learned!

Taking notes and asking yourself questions can help you really understand an English text. 

Before you read , here are a few questions you can ask yourself to prepare:

• Are there any words in bold or italics ?
• Are there titles or subtitles?
• What are some of the names mentioned?
• Is there a lot of dialogue?
• Are the paragraphs short or long?

While you’re reading , try asking these questions: 

• What’s happening now?
• Who’s speaking here?
• Why did he do that?
• What is she thinking?

After reading , the questions below can also get you think about what you did and did not understand:

• What was the text about?
• What are the most important things that happened in the text?
• Did anything confuse you?
• Did anything surprise you?
• Are there any parts you didn’t understand?

The  gist is the overall meaning. Practice using clues to get the gist of a text quickly and effectively. Use these tips to improve your overall understand of what you’re reading. 

For example:

• Use a highlighter to  identify important information or main ideas  in the text.
• Pay attention to verb tenses  so that you understand the timeline of the story. (Are past, present or future events being described?)
• Examine any images that accompany the text. These images often give vital information and can help your understanding. 

Reading can be tiring, so break it up into manageable chunks (pieces). Aim for between one and three paragraphs to start. As you build your skills, you can start reading with longer and longer chunks of text.

You can also simply break up your reading by time. In particular, I recommend trying the Pomodoro method . For every 25 minutes of reading, take a five-minute break to give your brain a rest.

After reading a text, you can write a short summary of what you’ve read. This can just be a   couple of sentences that present the main ideas .

Writing a summary is a great way to reinforce what the text was about as well as use new vocabulary in context. I like to write summaries down in my notebook and then underline the new vocabulary that I learned from reading the text.

Writing summaries will also help you notice any parts of the text that you didn’t fully understand, so you can go back and re-read. 

Call upon an English-speaking friend or conversation partner to help you understand what you read.

You can explain the text to them. Your friend could then ask you questions about what you’ve read.

By talking about what you’ve read with a fluent English speaker , you can make sure that you understood the text. Another bonus is that you’ll practice listening and speaking in English.

Sometimes reading a text just once isn’t enough to understand it. Rereading is great for finding things you might have missed the first time and reviewing new words. 

Try these out:

• Choose something that takes less than five minutes to read . This can be a story or a news article.
• Read the text at your own pace, then write down everything you can remember–every little detail, even parts of sentences if you remember them.
• Read the text again and write down what you can remember. Do you see how much more you remember the second time around?

Every time you read something, you understand more of it. When you want to get the most out of your reading, try reading three or more times:

• The first time, focus on understanding the words.
• The second time, focus on the meaning.
• The third time, you can start asking deeper questions like “what is the author really trying to say?” or “how does this news affect the rest of the world?”

For more structured practice, you can do reading comprehension exercises, which are designed to test how much you understand and improve your reading ability.

Generally, these exercises start with a short text. Then you have to answer multiple choice or fill-in-the-blanks questions, or even longer written responses about the text. 

Whatever your level, here are some useful places to find online reading comprehension exercises:

• AgendaWeb  offers texts for all levels of English as well as short stories and fairy tales that include audio.
• My English Pages has hundreds of exercises for various topics including science, history and biographies.
• The ESL Lounge also has exercises broken into four levels.

To find even more online, look up “ESL reading comprehension quiz.”

Today we don’t just read books and newspapers. We read blogs, emails, Tweets and chats. The more you read anything in English, the better you’ll get at the language.

Magazine Line is a good place to go to find digital or print magazines on just about any subject. They give you lower prices on magazine subscriptions, and you may be able to save even more if you’re a student .

You can also check out aggregators —websites that take news and interesting articles and put them together for you to look through. A couple of useful aggregators are Mix , which helps you find new websites based on your interests, and  Digg , which collects interesting stories from around the Internet onto one page.

It might seem strange, but another great way to practice reading is to watch English videos with subtitles or transcripts .

That way, you will read the words while hearing how a native speaker says them. Because English is not a phonetic language, the subtitles remind you how to spell a certain word, regardless of the sound.

Watching movies and videos is probably the most fun and interactive way of learning English. I don’t know about you, but I spent a lot of my younger years watching “Friends” and learned  a lot  of English from the TV show.

You can do similar things with  TED Talks or Netflix . 

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

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Read the transcript before you watch the video, then read along with the subtitles as the video plays. Since you have to keep up with the speed of the video, you’ll be training your fluency this way.

Do you know that ChatGPT , the chatbot that is making waves all over the internet because of how well it can communicate, read Reddit threads to teach itself language?

Forums like  Reddit ,  Quora  and  Yahoo Answers contain English in its most natural forms, as it is all written casually by native speakers. Even if there are spelling and grammar mistakes, conversations are mostly enlightening, natural and full of everyday words. 

Aside from forums, you can add some personality and fun to your English reading practice with blogs in English . They discuss all kinds of topics in a lively and friendly way. You can even be part of the conversation—and practice your English writing skills—by leaving a comment now and then!

Perhaps the most important tip to learn English reading is to make sure you read consistently. Remember, a little bit of reading every day is better than reading a lot once a month. Aim to create a reading habit!

If you become frustrated or bored, I suggest changing your reading material. Reading things you’re interested in will improve your reading skills tremendously, and the best way to become better at reading English is to read what you enjoy.

Now that you know how to maximize your English reading, I’ll show you what kind of English texts would work well for you based on your level:

• Children’s picture books — These books have simple words and pictures, and they teach you basic English words so you can talk about the world around you. Some of them are funny and some of them are  touching (sweet or emotional).
• Easy fairy tales — These magical stories have been told for many, many years. They’re a part of cultures all over the world. Chance are, you probably know a few of them already—which will make it even easier for you to understand them.
• Simple short stories — Aside from fairy tales, many short stories are easy enough for beginning English learners because they use simple language to make you think about big, important ideas. 
• Graded readers – These are specially made for learners, with lots of different themes. There aren’t too many hard words, but you’ll still find new ones to learn. Some of the readers come with audio, so you can listen to the stories as you read them.
• Bilingual readers – In these special books , the text is in both English and your native language. You can focus on the English text and only look at the translation when you need a little help.
• Superhero comics – Superhero comic books are exciting, filled with colorful characters and illustrations  (drawings). You’ll recognize the characters, like Superman and Batman, from television and films.
• Popular books – Keep up with the crowd with these best-selling books. Find thrillers, suspense, romance and more. Popular books are some of the best books to learn English !
• Translated books from your own culture — You first read a book in your own language, from your own culture. Then you find an English translated version of it, read that through, and carefully compare the two versions. Some examples of books in a language pair are: “Le Comte de Monte-Cristo”  (French) —  “The Count of Monte Cristo, ” “Ngược dòng nước lũ” (Vietnamese) — “Against the Flood”  and “Cien años de soledad” (Spanish) — “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”  
• Short stories — Challenge yourself in just a few minutes a day with intermediate-level short stories in English that you can read quickly. You can even find some new English words to learn with these spooky  (scary)  ghost stories in English .
• Interactive Books — Get extra adventure with these books that let  you decide what happens . There are also text-based video games such as Zork that you can read like a book.
• Long reads — These are usually long articles that offers a wider and more complex perspective on contemporary issues. The quality of writing is high, so you can benefit from the best writing and best information. You can find long reads on websites such as Longreads and Reddit’s Longreads subreddit . My favorite source for long reads is  The Guardian  because the articles are also recorded and published as podcasts .
• Funny stories —  These books take humor to a more grown-up level, with parody that  pokes fun at (makes fun of) serious subjects and puns that play with English words. Humor can be hard to translate, so reading these will help you better understand English-speaking cultures.
• Fantasy and science fiction — These books often use imaginative ideas that take you beyond simple English words. Some fantastic reads for intermediate English learners are “Harry Potter” , “A Wrinkle in Time,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and “The Martian Chronicles.”
• TV tie-in books and movie novelizations — Read novelizations (movies written as books) of your favorite films or choose stories with familiar characters from the television shows you love. There are series of novels related to popular shows, such as “A Game of Thrones,” “Star Trek,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and “Charmed.”
• Simple poems — Poems can say volumes in just a few short words. They often use words you won’t find in everyday English conversation, and they help you learn the rhythm of English. Try reading and studying a few poems perfect for learning English . You can also watch slam poetry performances with transcripts, like “A love poem for lonely prime numbers” and “If I should have a daughter…”
• Classic books — A book becomes “classic” because it stands the test of time. Reading the “classics”—important pieces of English literature—can help you better understand the culture of the English-speaking world. Most classic books are available for free to read online , on cool websites like  Project Gutenberg . Some of my favorites include  “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,”   “Emma” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”
• Iconic plays — A lot of English-language plays have influenced (made their mark on) how people think about certain subjects. Try reading some of these well-known plays aloud, since they’re meant to be performed: “Our Town,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Raisin in the Sun.”
• Literary poems — Literary poems can be tricky to read even for native speakers! If you’re up for a challenge and want to read classic poems, study the works of Edgar Allan Poe ,  T.S. Eliot  or  Emily Dickinson . Another great source of literary poems is Poetry Foundation , which features a mix of classic and modern poems. 

Learning to read English might take time, but it pays off a lot because you’ll have so much fun, widen your cultural knowledge and improve other skills at the same time.

Pick the reading tips and resources that suit you best or try all of them out to bring your English to the highest level of fluency!

If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials , as you can see here:

If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.

The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.

FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.

For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:

FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.

FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.

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How to Improve Your Reading Skills

Last Updated: February 28, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Soren Rosier, PhD . Soren Rosier is an Education Expert based in Palo Alto, CA. He is the founder of PeerTeach, a platform that empowers students to grow their leadership, confidence, and love of math through AI-powered peer tutoring. Additionally, he is an instructor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, where he teaches courses on designing impactful tools for learning. Before beginning his PhD, he taught middle school in Oakland, developed teacher training programs, and evaluated the efficacy of popular ed tech products at SRI International. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a PhD in Learning Sciences & Technology Design at Stanford University. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,732,413 times.

Many people have trouble with reading. Reading well takes time, patience, and practice! The most important thing to figure out is the purpose of your reading: looking at instructions to build furniture and studying a textbook are not the same thing! Once you’ve figured out your purpose, you can choose to focus on what are known as intensive reading techniques that stress things like vocabulary and speed, or instead on extensive techniques that will help you engage with the meaning of a text in a deeper way.

Pre Reading

• For instance, if you’re reading to follow instructions (like a recipe or assembly guide), you’ll need to understand the exact meaning of each step.
• If you’re reading a text that has lots of information, like a textbook, then you’ll be reading most of all for new information on things you don’t know or understand.

• If you’re reading to gain information (for instance, to meet work or school requirements), you’ll probably want to try extensive techniques.
• If you’re reading to practice pronunciation, learn vocabulary, or study grammar, you’ll probably want to try intensive techniques.

• Does the work have a title?
• Is there a table of contents you can scan?
• Is the work divided into separate sections?
• Does the work have any “extras,” like bolded key words, illustrations, or graphs?

Reading Intensively

• Don’t get too caught up in parts you don’t fully understand. If you can summarize the main point of what you’re reading, then you’re doing ok.

• For example, say you read the following sentence and wanted to know what "pessimist" means: My mother is always happy and optimistic, the total opposite of my brother, the pessimist.
• From the sentence, you can gather that "pessimist" means the opposite of happy: being moody and angry.

• Read whatever interests you, if you’re just trying to improve your basic skill.
• Rereading things you’ve already gone through can build your confidence.

Soren Rosier, PhD

Be thoughtful about the books you choose to read. PhD candidate and former teacher Soren Rosier says: "The best thing to do to get better at reading is to read a lot independently. Look for books that you're interested in, and that are also at your reading level. If you're reading texts that are too hard and you have to struggle through them, then you're not going to enjoy reading."

Reading Extensively

• For instance, you can make bullet points to summarize every time you come to a major idea.
• If there are key terms or dates in whatever you’re reading, make a note of those as well.
• If there are parts you don’t understand, write down the questions you have and come back to them later.

• If you have trouble summarizing or remembering any part of what you’ve read, go back over it again.
• You can also try writing out a summary in an outline form, rather than full sentences.

• If you come across a word or concept that seems important but is not clearly defined in the text, look up its meaning in a dictionary or encyclopedia (either online or print).
• If you see certain words being used over and over again, that’s another sign that they’re important for what you’re reading and worth looking up.

Staying Focused and Motivated

• To improve reading aloud you can even pair yourself with someone you feel is a better reader. While your partner is reading, listen to your their pronunciation, speed, and rhythm. Take a turn yourself, then ask for feedback.

• Try reading in a quiet, well-lit place with a desk and comfortable chair, if you can.

Community Q&A

Tips from our Readers

• Try to avoid listening to music or putting the TV on in the background while you read. It can make it harder to track what's happening in the book if you have too much going on noise-wise.
• Try reading a little bit before bed every night. Not only is it a good way to improve your reading skills, but you might have some fun dreams about whatever you've read!
• If you're new to reading, choose books with fun pictures! It really makes the process more enjoyable.
• Whenever you come across a word you don't recognize, stop and look it up.

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/chapter/use-pre-reading-strategies/
• ↑ https://usq.pressbooks.pub/academicsuccess/chapter/reading/
• ↑ https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/reading-strategies
• ↑ https://www.readingrockets.org/article/using-collaborative-strategic-reading
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/reading-aloud/
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-learn-new-words-while-writing/
• ↑ https://success.oregonstate.edu/learning/reading
• ↑ https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/knowing-subject/d-h/extensive-reading
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/taking-notes-while-reading/
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/annotating-texts/
• ↑ https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/chapter/writing-summaries/
• ↑ http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paired_reading
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/reading-textbooks-effectively/

About This Article

To improve your reading skills, start by reading every day for at least 15-30 minutes, since the more you read the easier it will become. Additionally, read out loud if you can, since reading out loud will help you learn more as you both see and hear what you’re reading. When you come across words you don’t know, first try to guess their meaning through context. Then, if you need to, write them down and go back later to look them up. You can also take notes on key words and concepts to better understand, process, and remember what you’re reading. To learn how to read if you're looking for individual details or for the bigger picture, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to improve reading skills: 10 simple but highly effective strategies

When thinking about how to improve reading skills, do you turn to technology?

This may be an issue, especially for young children, as the digital revolution may stunt their reading comprehension. 

A study by neuroscientists at Columbia University’s Teachers College found that text on paper was better for deeper reading than on screen. 

The study was based on 59 children between the ages of 10 to 12, making them read texts in both formats as data was collected from electrode hair nets that each child wore. 

This age group was specifically chosen as researchers believe that this period is when “learning to read” turns into “reading to learn”. 

Dr. Karen Froud, who led this research, was cautious not to make assumptions, but one thing was evident.

“We do think that these study outcomes warrant adding our voices … in suggesting that we should not yet throw away printed books, since we were able to observe in our participant sample an advantage for depth of processing when reading from print,” the researchers said. 

This study raises many questions, such as: does this fact mean that the reading comprehension of the pre-internet generation is better than today’s?

Also, why does it matter?

The printing press revolutionised the world and the value of paper books remain despite the emergence of smartphones and Kindles. Source: AFP

Here are a few stats that prove that improving global reading comprehension is vital :

• One out of five kids in the UK can’t read at their school level by the time they reach 11 years of age.
• 43 million adults in America have low reading abilities.
• Reading times in the US have gradually declined from 23 minutes daily to 17 minutes.
• People who read for 30 minutes or longer weekly have a 21% greater chance of increasing their knowledge.
• Children’s participation in reading for pleasure has dropped from 79% in 2017–18 to 72% in 2021–22 , according to a survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

What does this mean for the generation of children who experienced the pandemic? Or the schools that are now relying on online learning tools? 

Perhaps eradication is not the way — extreme measures never are — but going back to paper books with technology as a tool (instead of the main method) as a way forward. 

Either way, can we all agree that quality certainly trumps quantity?

Faster than the speed of light: How to improve reading skills

Ever wondered how many books you will read before you die?

The Economist ran a survey with 1,500 Americans and only 54% said they read or listened to a book in 2023 . 

Based on these results, it was estimated that if a seven-year-old began reading in 2023, they would get through roughly 770 books in their lifetime. 

If you are 30, you might only have 500 books left to read. 

What about a more voracious reader like Howard Berg? He was dubbed the fastest reader in the world in 2009 by “The Guinness World Record Book”. 

He is able to read more than 25,000 words per minute. 

The self-proclaimed Knowledge Mastery Strategist has authored many books and even coaches people to increase their reading speed and comprehension and be better learners. 

Most of us do not have such lofty goals. Berg managed to read fast while retaining the information he consumed. 

In fact, here is his reading process when he wants to learn:

• I pre-read the book super fast. I’ll read a 400-500 page book in 4-5 minutes to find out what’s in it and if it’s anything I need to know. I want to be able to determine in 5 minutes: Should I even read this? Is this the right book?
• If it is the right book, then I’ll look for what I know, and what I don’t know, and need to learn. I don’t waste time learning what I know, I look for what I don’t know and need to learn. 
• Then the final step, I look for meaning and significance in what confused me , so now I understand it, and then I use memory skills to lock it in

How to improve reading skills? Events that encourage reading certainly help. Source: AFP

Types of reading skills 

There are four main types of reading , each with its own use and purpose: 

1. Skim reading

The British Council defines skimming as “reading a text quickly to get a general idea of meaning.”

This skill is useful to refresh your memory to get the general gist of the text to save time or determine the overall purpose of the text.

 You should be mindful that skimming can cause you to miss out on the nuances of what you are reading.

2. Scan reading

Scanning “is reading a text quickly to find specific information , e.g. figures or names.”

Unlike skimming, when you scan, you are looking for something. 

For instance, you could be scanning your textbook for the answer to a specific question in your homework. 

You could also scan for statistics in an article to help write your essay. 

Active reading does not mean running and reading simultaneously. Source: AFP

3. Active and intensive reading

While the other two types of reading skills (skimming and scanning) are surface-level reading, intensive reading is all about understanding the details. 

For this reading method, “learners are supposed to read the short text carefully and deeply to gain maximum understanding.”

Online learning and tutoring platform PassroomX states that this type of reading is perfect for :

• Studying academic material and complex subjects in depth.
• Enhancing your comprehension and retention of information.
• Encouraging critical thinking and analysis of the content.

To help with active reading, you can scribble on your text, use your trusty highlighter, and write notes or questions. 

4. Analytical reading

This one requires the most focus of all types of reading skills. 

The research paper “ Analytical Reading for Students ” defines this skill clearly: “Analytical reading is a cognitive skill that stimulates brain work. 

“It refers to an ability to approach a text critically by giving priority to the objectives that the author might have.”

This skill is especially useful when analysing articles or texts for your essays and thesis.

With analytical reading , you can identify key information, asses it, recognise biases and compare it to other relevant sources. 

These reading skills come in handy with day-to-day life and your work. Over time, you can work your way up to mastering all of them.

When looking at how to improve reading skills, perhaps be specific in what you want to achieve with this skill. This makes it easier to guide your performance to your purpose. 

People who read for 30 minutes or longer weekly have a 21% greater chance of increasing their knowledge. Source: AFP

How to improve reading skills for your dream career

There are many benefits to reading and finding out how to improve reading skills. 

For instance, reading fictional books is shown to increase better decision-making in people by 50% to 100%.

Purdue Global — the online university for working adults outlines precisely how to improve reading skills for better comprehension in college :

• Find your reading corner: The right space will make it conducive for focused study.
• Preview the text: Ask questions about the text before you dive in. 
• Use smart starting strategies: This includes pacing yourself and checking for understanding 
• Highlight or annotate the text: Keep an eye out for essential terms, definitions, facts, and phrases. 
• Take notes on main points: Employ note-taking strategies to better your understanding. 
• Write questions as you read: This will help you understand your reading. 
• Look up words you don’t know: Don’t let one word derail your progress.
• Make connections: This will help create better memory pathways in your mind. 
• Review and summarise: This will help you determine how much you understand and cement what you have learned. 
• Discuss what you’ve read: Group discussion turns your short-term knowledge into long-term memory. 

Reading books can certainly improve your job prospects. Source: AFP

Reading can also boost emotional development and career prospects by 50% to 100%.

This does not necessarily mean that the books you read need to be hard-hitting tomes. Light-hearted and easy reads can alleviate your stress from the day and make you more productive in the long run. 

Research by the University of Sussex found that reading reduces stress by 68%, as it helps slow down your heart rate and eases muscle tension in just six minutes. 

In fact, reading was more effective than listening to music, having a hot beverage, walking and playing video games. 

Author and consultant Rakesh Sharma outlines other ways in which reading can help you with your career :

• Makes you a better leader : Reading shows you how people relate and connect to each other. If they can stand in your shoes, a leader can help you achieve your goals with more ease.
• Improves decision-making : Being able to make a decision in a stressful situation or make an impactful choice in a high-pressure environment is crucial. Reading helps you filter information better so your decisions are better informed.  
• Enhances analytical skills : Books often have twists and turns and the more you read, the more you can identify patterns. This analytical skill is very useful in the working world. 
• Expands vocabulary : The more words you know, the better you are able to express yourself with more precision. 
• Strengthen writing skills : From emails to evaluations, being able to communicate yourself effectively in writing is an asset in any working environment. 
• Makes you proactive : Reading allows you to concentrate better, be less stressed and improve both your IQ and EQ. This in turn makes you better at your job in that you are more able to analyse and work hard. 

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StoryLearning

Learn A Language Through Stories

How To Improve Your English Reading Skills: 18 Top Tips

Can you improve your English just by reading? 

Given that reading is central to my StoryLearning method, it's no surprise that many people often ask me that question.

Of course, there's much more involved in learning English than reading can provide. 

But I do believe that exposing yourself to written language has a tremendously important part to play in the language learning game. 

But how to improve your English reading skills so you can understand more stories, read more and become a better English speaker too? Here are my 18 top tips.

For a quick overview, check out the table of contents below. Otherwise, keep reading.

Table of Contents

1. read regularly .

Reading is a skill. Like any other skill you get better at it by practising it. So getting into the habit of reading as often as you can is fundamental. That’s why this is the number one tip on the list.

I read between 20 to 25 books a year not because I have a lot of free time to read (I’m busy – like you!) but because I never (okay, almost never) skip my 30-minute / 1-hour daily reading session. 

You can start today. From this very moment, you commit to reading for at least thirty minutes a day. Do it in the morning, in the evening or at night – that’s not important. What’s important is that you do it.

Consistency is key to improving your skills.

2. Read What You Can Mostly Understand

Don’t read what you cannot understand. That will give you nothing but feelings of frustration.

If the book you’re reading makes you scratch your head every three words, put the book down and look for something more suitable to your level. Something easier.

Reading should be a pleasurable activity that makes you look forward to doing it. It shouldn’t become a hurdle. 

So read what you can mostly understand. You can then gradually challenge yourself with more complex texts.

But say you want to read a particular book. How can you know if that book is suitable for your level or not? 

Use the 5-finger rule by the Extensive Reading Foundation .  

It’s a useful tool to help you select your reading material.

3. Read What You’re Interested In

Don’t read something just because it’s written in English. Instead, read because you’re interested in what you’re reading.

This is a fantastic way to combine your hobbies and interests with learning English. It’ll make everything more enjoyable, interesting and effective.

For example, if you’re interested in cooking, then it would be a great idea to read cooking blogs. If you like bicycles, read about bicycles, but in English.

When choosing what to read, always ask yourself this question: Would I read this in my first language? 

If you wouldn’t, then don’t read it.

4. Expand Your Vocabulary

Reading is all about understanding what words and sentences mean when they’re put together. So if your vocabulary is limited, then what you can read and understand is limited too.

Expanding your vocabulary is a way to become a more effective reader as the more words you can recognise, the more you can understand.

And guess what? To expand your vocabulary, you must read! 

So you really have no more excuses not to read 🙂.

But you can also check out my post on advanced English vocabulary.

5. Don’t Look Up Words

As human beings who crave certainty, it can be a really stressful experience when there are words we don’t understand.

But when learning a new language, you must embrace confusion and uncertainty. In fact, that’s what successful learners do. 

How can you tolerate confusion when it comes to reading? 

The best way to start is to develop the skill of understanding what’s going in a story even when you don’t understand every word. Use the context to help you do that. Make a guess and move on. 

Maybe the meaning of a word will become clear to you in a couple of sentences, pages or chapters. Or maybe that word is not that important and you can forget about it.

What’s important is the story and the message the writer is trying to express. Focus on the message, not single words.

HOWEVER, see my next point.

6. Do Intensive Reading

It's essential to incorporate two types of English reading into your practice: intensive reading and extensive reading.

Extensive reading is what I’ve been talking about so far: reading for pleasure things you can mostly understand because you’re interested in them. You read to enjoy a story, not to consciously learn new words. 

Intensive reading, on the other hand,  involves making an effort to comprehend every word on the page. 

This type of reading requires focused attention and language tools such as dictionaries and translators because the focus is not so much on the message but, rather, on its form. 

When you’re reading “intensively”, you can look up, translate, and record new words in your notebook or app. The aim is to understand every single thing. There’s no tolerance for uncertainty.

That’s why when you’re doing this type of reading, it’s a good idea to choose a short text that interests you. If the text is too long or if the topic doesn't appeal to you, you risk losing concentration.

Short articles, labels on a carton of milk, social media posts, tweets – these are all suitable texts.

7. Read And Listen At The Same Time

Reading while listening has so many benefits:

• It keeps you focused on the text so you don’t get distracted.
• You hear how words are pronounced so you can improve your pronunciation, intonation , spelling and listening skills.
• You engage multiple senses so you can understand more of what you’re reading.
• You can absorb information faster because you’re combining visual with audio input.

Try to combine listening with reading as often as possible. 

8. Read Blogs In English

Maybe you’re not into books that much. Maybe you’d rather read something quicker and shorter than a book.

That’s okay.

You can use blogs for that. There are billions of them though. Which ones are the best for you?

Have a look at my English blog suggestions here. (Number 2 and 3 are my favourites)

9. Read With Other People

Reading is often considered a solitary activity but it doesn’t have to be. So why not read with your friends, family members or other language learners?

You can join a book club or start your own reading group. You make it a social activity.

The benefits? You get to practise speaking, discuss and learn more about the topic of your reading sessions by sharing ideas and opinions with other people who love what you love.

And of course you can help each other with the language and ask about tricky words you met in the book, article or whatever else you decide to read with your group. 

Listen to my friends Cara and Masha talk about the benefits of being a book club member here.

10. Use Newsinlevels.com

News in Levels is one of my favourite websites for learners of English.

There you can find news articles at different English proficiency levels: Level 1 (easy), Level 2 (intermediate), and Level 3 (advanced). 

Just choose your level and enjoy the article. You can also listen to it as there’s an audio player below each article. It's a great resource for you if you’re looking to improve your English reading skills while staying informed about current events.

And the News In Levels team uploads a new article every day so you’ll always find something new to read.

11. Reread What You Read

There is value in rereading a text you’ve already read as this helps you consolidate vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structures. 

Repetition is indeed a powerful tool in language learning.

Okay, you don’t need to reread everything, especially if you didn’t find the text particularly interesting. But every once in a while, try to reread an article, a page or an entire book you read in the past. 

If you’ve been working on your English consistently since the day you finished reading that text, you might even be surprised by how much you can now understand this time!

12. Read Widely

You may fall into the trap of reading only one type of text or genre. Only blogs, only books, only articles about travelling.

But to get better at reading, broaden your vocabulary and improve your English in general, try to add variety to your reading sessions.

Blogs, comics, true stories, transcripts, webpages, news articles, newspapers, magazines, recipes, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, tweets – the list of what you can get your eyes on is endless. 

So read widely!

13. Speed Read

“Speed reading is about increasing the speed that you read at. To do so, it is important to ensure that you are pushing yourself to read faster.

The goal is the fastest time with about 70 percent accuracy on the comprehension questions.”

The paragraph above is taken from the ESL Speed Readings website.

ESL Speed Readings are quick stories that were first created in 1974 by Emmy Quinn and Paul Nation – two linguists –  and were designed to help learners of English improve their reading skills. 

These stories, like my books, are written in simple English and have become very popular all over the world. So much so that you can now get them in the Speed Readings App, which also contains short multiple-choice comprehension quizzes to test your understanding. 

You can check out the app here.

14. Take Reading Tests

I know I know these might be boring.

But here at StoryLearning we take reading tests and answer comprehension questions only after enjoying a story!

So worry not, my dear reader.

Here’s a book I wrote for you.

And here’s another.

These are useful not only to practise reading but also to test your reading abilities.

Enjoy the stories (and then the tests)!

15. Summarise What You Read

Rephrasing what you read in your own words is great for two main reasons.

The first one is that it forces you to reuse words from the text you read. This is particularly helpful for expanding and consolidating your vocabulary. 

The second one is that it reinforces your understanding because you're essentially teaching yourself the information in a way that makes sense to you.

It’s a technique that many students use to internalise information when they’re studying for an exam (and you might have used it as a student too). 

But it can also help you become a more effective English reader.

16. Use Your First Language

Many websites in your first language have also an English version. There’s no harm in reading an article in your mother tongue first and then in English. 

In fact, that’s a very useful exercise that can help you understand more and discover some new words and expressions.

Here is a list of international newspapers that have an English version. 

• Le Monde (France) – English version: “Le Monde Diplomatique English Version”
• El País (Spain) – English version: “El País in English”
• Deutsche Welle (Germany) – Offers news including English.
• El Universal (Mexico) – English version: “ El Universal in English ”
• China Daily (China) – English version: “China Daily Global Edition”
• The Asahi Shimbun (Japan) – English version: “The Asahi Shimbun Asia & Japan Watch”
• Corriere della Sera (Italy) – English version: “Corriere della Sera English”
• Folha de S.Paulo (Brazil) – English version: “Folha de S.Paulo in English”
• The Moscow Times (Russia) – English version: “The Moscow Times”
• Al Jazeera (Qatar) – Offers news in multiple languages, including English .

17. Use Simple English Wikipedia

Did you know that Wikipedia has a version that can be super useful to less proficient readers of English? It’s called  “Simple English Wikipedia” and it’s like the regular Wikipedia but uses easy words and short sentences to explain things. 

It's meant for people who want to learn about stuff without getting confused by big or complicated words.

But it’s for you, too! Use it! 

18. Read Stuff That’s Not Meant For You

Of course you can read authentic books written for native English speakers. It’s admirable that you want to challenge yourself. So go ahead and do it. 

Only don’t expect to understand everything if you’re an intermediate learner. That’s simply not possible.

So, yes, read authentic material, but be realistic!

How To Improve Your English Reading Skills

So there you have it – how to improve your English reading skills. I hope you enjoyed my list of tips on how to become a more effective reader in English. 

Which one are you going to try today? Did any of these spark your interest? 

Pick one that you can easily implement and find some time each day to read. 

And if you’re a beginner or intermediate reader, have a look at some short stories in English I've written for you.

Happy reading!

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• LEARNING SKILLS
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Effective Reading

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When studying, especially at higher levels, a great deal of time is spent reading. 

Academic reading should not be seen as a passive activity, but an active process that leads to the development of learning. 

Reading for learning requires a conscious effort to make links, understand opinions, research and apply what you learn to your studies. 

This page covers the following areas: how reading develops, the goals of reading, approaching reading with the right attitude and developing a reading strategy.

Everything we read tells us something about the person who wrote it.  Paying close attention to how and why the author writes something will open ourselves up to their perspective on life, which in turn enriches our understanding of the world we live in.

How Reading Develops

Learning to read as a child usually results in the ability to read simple material relatively easily.

As we develop our skills in reading, the process often becomes more challenging.  We are introduced to new vocabulary and more complex sentence structures.  Early school textbooks offer us facts  or ‘truths’ about the world which we are required to learn; we are not, at this stage encouraged to question the authority of the writers of these published materials.

As schooling progresses however, we are led to consider a range of perspectives, or ways of looking at a topic, rather than just one.  We learn to compare these perspectives and begin to form opinions about them. 

This change in reading from a surface approach (gathering facts) to a deep approach (interpreting) is essential in order to gain the most out of our studies.

Reading becomes not simply a way to see what is said but to recognise and interpret what is said, taking into account subtleties such as bias, assumptions and the perspectives of the author. 

Academic reading, therefore, means understanding the author’s interpretation of reality, which may be very different from our own.

The Goal of Reading

Most of us read in everyday life for different purposes – you are reading this page now, for a purpose.

We read to gain factual information for practical use, for example, a train timetable or a cinema listing. For such documents we rarely need to analyse or interpret.

We may also read fiction in order to be entertained; depending upon the reader, a level of interpretation may be applied, and if reading fiction as part of an English Literature degree, then analysis of the author’s writing style, motives etc. is imperative.

Many of us read newspapers and magazines, either in print or online, to inform us about current events.  In some cases the bias of the writer is explicit and this leads us to interpret what is said in light of this bias.  It is therefore easy to view a particular article as a statement of opinion rather than fact. Political biases, for example, are well known in the press.

When reading academic material such as textbooks, journals and so on, you should be always reading to interpret and analyse. Nothing should be taken as fact or ‘truth’.  You will be engaged in, what is termed as, critical reading .

When you read while studying an academic course, your principal goal will be to gather information in order to answer an assignment question or gain further information on a subject for an exam or other type of assessment. 

Underlying this is the more general theme of learning and development, to develop your thoughts, to incorporate new ideas into your existing understanding, to see things from different angles or view-points, to develop your knowledge and understanding and ultimately yourself.

Learning therefore comes about from developing your understanding of the meaning of the details. It is therefore crucial to engage with the text as you read, in a process called active reading.

Active Reading

Active reading is the process of engaging with the text as you read. Techniques for making your reading more active include:

Underlining or highlighting key phrases as you read . This can be a useful way to remind yourself about what you thought was important when you reread the text later. However, it is important not to highlight too much. You might, for example, consider reading a paragraph at a time before highlighting or underlining. This will allow you to identify the most important ideas within it. Alternatively, you might find that it is best to read a whole chapter first, to get a sense of the main ideas, then go back and highlight points that build the argument.

Make notes in the margin to highlight questions or thoughts . You can do this in both ebooks and hard copies, or use post-it notes if you do not wish to mark the book (for example, if it is a library book). This process helps you to engage better with the content, and therefore makes what you read more memorable.

Use the signposts within the text itself . Look out for phrases such as ‘crucially’ and ‘most importantly’. These highlight areas that the author(s) felt were important.

Break up your reading time with periods where you write down summaries of what you have read . You can either do this without referring back to the text, or simply use draw on the text. This will help you to focus on the most important ideas.

Asking yourself questions about the author’s intended meaning , or the effect they wished to produce. This is a process called critical reading , and there is more about this process in our page on Critical Reading .

Necessary Reading Materials

When you are engaged in formal study, for example at college or university, there will be distinct areas of reading that you will be directed towards.

These may include:

Course Materials

Course materials will vary considerably from one institution to another and also across different disciplines and for different teachers.

You may be given course materials in the form of a book, especially if you are taking a distance-learning course, or in hand-outs in lectures.  Such materials may also be available online via a virtual learning environment (VLE). 

You may be expected to make your own notes from lectures and seminars based around the syllabus of the course.  The course materials are your main indication of what the course is about, the main topics covered and usually the assessment required.  Course materials also often point you to other types of reading materials.

Core texts are the materials, usually books, journals or trusted online resources which you will be directed to via the course materials.

Core texts are essential reading, their aim is usually to expand on the subjects, discussions and arguments presented in the course materials, or through lectures etc.  Remember that core texts are primarily what you will be assessed on. You will need to demonstrate comprehension of theories and ideas from these texts in your assignments.

Suggested Reading

As well as indicating core texts, reading lists may also recommend other sources of material.

Suggested reading will not only increase your comprehension of a subject area but will potentially greatly enhance the quality of your written work.

Other Sources

Perhaps one of the most important academic reading skills is to identify your own additional reading materials.

Do not just stick to what you have been told to read but expand your knowledge further by reading as much as you can around the subjects you are studying.  Keep a note of everything relevant you have read, either in print or online, as you will need this information for your reference list or bibliography when producing an assignment.

See our page: Academic Referencing for more information on how to reference correctly.

Attitudes to Reading

Often, when we begin to read books relating to a new topic, we find that the language and style are difficult to follow.

This can be off-putting and disheartening, but persevere; specialist subject areas will contain their own specialist ‘language’ which you will need to learn. Perseverance will mean that you become more familiar with the style of writing and the vocabulary or jargon associated with the specific subject area.

More generally, academic writing tends to use a very cautious style or language. The writer may seem to use elaborate, long sentences, but this is usually to ensure that they are saying precisely what they mean. 

See our page: Writing Styles for more information about the various styles of writing that you are likely to encounter.

A useful aid to reading is to have a good quality dictionary to hand; however, you may find a specialist dictionary is necessary for some subject areas – there are many free online dictionaries also.  Even though a dictionary can be useful, it should not be relied upon too heavily.  Dictionaries do not often take into account the context and, therefore, you may not fully grasp the meaning the author intended by simply looking up a word or phrase.

Fundamentally it is important to remain detached from, and be objective towards, what you are reading, in order to see and understand the logic within an argument.   Objectivity differs from subjectivity which means bringing your own emotions and opinions to what you read.  Being objective allows you to stand back and be emotionally detached from your reading. This allows you to focus attention upon what you are reading and not on your feelings about what you read.

It helps if you have a genuine interest in the subject that you are reading about.   If you find that you are reading something that is designated as relevant then it is important to try to develop an interest so that you may get out of it what is required.  You may, in such circumstances, find it useful to ask yourself questions as you read, such as:  “ Why does the author find this theme interesting or important? ”,  “ How does what I’m reading relate to what I already know about the topic? ”

Continue to: Critical Reading Reading with Children

See also: Sources of Information | Note-Taking for Reading Planning an Essay | Writing an Essay How and Why to Develop the Habit of Reading Every Day

Improving Student Writing through Reading Strategies

In their MLA Style Center post “Reading Is Not One Thing,” Annie Del Principe and Rachel Ihara make some excellent points about student reading behaviors. They observe that reading a text carefully while marking key passages and making notes in the margins, while once traditional, is no longer required in every class or discipline. The cursory, nonlinear reading that many students do often yields the information they are looking for, especially online. Perhaps this should not surprise us. As Del Principe and Ihara note, experienced academic readers also read selectively to see if a text merits closer attention. (In fact, I skimmed Del Principe and Ihara’s article the first time through!) The authors argue that “[t]hese strategies are not shortcuts or signs of laziness; rather, they are skillful, smart approaches appropriate to our goals and purposes and to the genres we are reading.” I agree in many instances.

Why Deep Reading Is Valuable

That said, what Nicholas Carr characterizes as deep reading is still a valuable skill (97). For one thing, good writing is unlikely without deep reading. Composition courses emphasize documentation (as readers of The MLA Style Center know), but students also learn about essay content and structure from exposure to effective models . Instructors can teach students to notice and analyze authors’ rhetorical moves and to practice applying those techniques in their own writing.

In the classroom, writing instructors may focus on fewer texts so they can spend time helping students read more actively and deeply. In my classes, I demonstrate how I approach an article, a story, or a poem by “thinking aloud” to show the mental connections I make when I read (Schoenbach et al. 101). I read a few lines of the text (a paragraph or less) out loud slowly, verbalizing the thoughts, questions, and associations that come to my mind as I read. After I model the process, students take turns verbalizing their own reading thoughts in pairs or small groups. I also show various ways to annotate or mark the text and, again, give students time to experiment. As the semester progresses, students use these reading strategies and others to connect with assigned texts both in and outside class. Our group discussions are better, and many students seem more engaged as a result.

How Reading and Writing Intersect

In more than twenty years of experience teaching composition and working in a writing center, I have seen many ways that reading intersects with writing:

• In all disciplines, reading is an important precursor to writing on a purely informational level. Students must understand a topic before they can write coherently about it. They must do the research before they can write a research paper.
• Students who read widely (in any genre) usually have a greater command of vocabulary and the nuances of written expression. Many readers also absorb correct grammar and punctuation subconsciously, whether or not they know the rules behind when to use a comma. The poet Jane Kenyon’s advice to “have good sentences in your ears” is often quoted for a reason (qtd. in Popova) .
• This relationship between reading and writing is not a new concept. Reflecting on his writing process, for instance, the popular author Stephen King notes the value of ineffective models as well as inspirational ones. “One learns most clearly what not to do by reading bad prose,” he says. In contrast, “[g]ood writing . . . teaches the learning writer about style, graceful narration, plot development, the creation of believable characters, and truth telling” (211). While fiction writing is less emphasized in academia, the principle holds true.
• Finally, college writers need a deeper knowledge of their subject to think—and write—critically about it. Whether it be anthropology, economics, or literature, that knowledge often comes from scholarly articles and books, whether in print or online.

In our digital society, we have become accustomed to easy access to information; however, the metacognitive work of active reading is still necessary for effective writing. Google and YouTube are useful, but there are things they cannot provide.

Using Reading Strategies in the Writing Center

Learning assistance benefits from cross-pollination with reading as well. Some training and practice with reading strategies is a valuable addition to the skills of any tutor, especially in the writing center. Writing tutors focus primarily on the process of developing an essay, but they can also demonstrate and encourage reading strategies on multiple levels:  

• The text that tutors and students look at together most frequently is the writing prompt assigned by the teacher. Tutors should model how to break the prompt into manageable parts; point out questions, key terms, and other significant features; and help tutees interpret unfamiliar vocabulary.
• Tutors can read both writing prompts and student papers aloud and verbalize their thoughts. This gives tutees some “reader response” feedback and often helps them feel more comfortable sharing their own thoughts and questions.
• Embedded tutors who work with students in a specific class have even more opportunity to coach students in reading skills because they are familiar with the teacher’s expectations and the assigned texts as well as the required writing.

Ultimately, tutors are ideally situated to support metacognitive development by helping students recognize, evaluate, and adapt the ways they approach both reading and writing in college courses.

Modeling Literacy Expectations

Reading—in all its variety—is a key method of accessing information and understanding concepts in every academic field and in the world at large. Students have limited experience, so college instructors who want their students to engage effectively with the course material must take responsibility for explaining and modeling the literacy expectations of their disciplines. Tutors can help, but teachers need to “make the invisible visible” by showing students the cognitive moves that seem natural to them after years of study and specialization (Schoenbach et al. 23). To quote Del Principe and Ihara again, we must “slow down our instructional pace to make space to model and enact the types of reading we think are valuable and will work best in our classes for our students.” Then we must scaffold assignments that facilitate their learning. This takes time and effort, but the results are worth it for both students and instructors.

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology , edited by Samuel Cohen, 5th ed., Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2017, pp. 87–97.

Del Principe, Annie, and Rachel Ihara. “Reading Is Not One Thing.” The MLA Style Center , 27 Aug. 2019, style.mla.org/variability-of-reading-practices/.

King, Stephen. “Reading to Write.” 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology , edited by Samuel Cohen, 5th ed., Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2017, pp. 210–14.

Popova, Maria. “Poet Jane Kenyon’s Advice on Writing: Some of the Wisest Words to Create and Live By.” Brain Pickings , 15 Sept. 2015, www.brainpickings.org/2015/09/15/jane-kenyon-advice-on-writing/.

Schoenbach, Ruth, et al. Reading for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves  Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms . 2nd ed., Jossey Bass, 2012.

Jamil 10 November 2021 AT 01:11 PM

Your article is excellent

Your e-mail address will not be published

Sophy sophi 16 November 2021 AT 12:11 AM

The work is awesome...what are the reading strategies that one can adopt that can help in writing a term paper?

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Academic Reading Strategies

Completing reading assignments is one of the biggest challenges in academia. However, are you managing your reading efficiently? Consider this cooking analogy, noting the differences in process:

Taylor’s process was more efficient because his purpose was clear. Establishing why you are reading something will help you decide how to read it, which saves time and improves comprehension. This guide lists some purposes for reading as well as different strategies to try at different stages of the reading process.

Purposes for reading

People read different kinds of text (e.g., scholarly articles, textbooks, reviews) for different reasons. Some purposes for reading might be

• to scan for specific information
• to skim to get an overview of the text
• to relate new content to existing knowledge
• to write something (often depends on a prompt)
• to critique an argument
• to learn something
• for general comprehension

Strategies differ from reader to reader. The same reader may use different strategies for different contexts because their purpose for reading changes. Ask yourself “why am I reading?” and “what am I reading?” when deciding which strategies to try.

Before reading

• Establish your purpose for reading
• Speculate about the author’s purpose for writing
• Review what you already know and want to learn about the topic (see the guides below)
• Preview the text to get an overview of its structure, looking at headings, figures, tables, glossary, etc.
• Predict the contents of the text and pose questions about it. If the authors have provided discussion questions, read them and write them on a note-taking sheet.
• Note any discussion questions that have been provided (sometimes at the end of the text)
• Sample pre-reading guides – K-W-L guide
• Critical reading questionnaire

During reading

• Annotate and mark (sparingly) sections of the text to easily recall important or interesting ideas
• Check your predictions and find answers to posed questions
• Use headings and transition words to identify relationships in the text
• Create a vocabulary list of other unfamiliar words to define later
• Try to infer unfamiliar words’ meanings by identifying their relationship to the main idea
• Connect the text to what you already know about the topic
• Take breaks (split the text into segments if necessary)
• Sample annotated texts – Journal article · Book chapter excerpt

After reading

• Summarize the text in your own words (note what you learned, impressions, and reactions) in an outline, concept map, or matrix (for several texts)
• Talk to someone about the author’s ideas to check your comprehension
• Identify and reread difficult parts of the text
• Define words on your vocabulary list (try a learner’s dictionary ) and practice using them
• Sample graphic organizers – Concept map · Literature review matrix

Works consulted

Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2002). Teaching and researching reading. Harlow: Longman.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout (just click print) and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

If you enjoy using our handouts, we appreciate contributions of acknowledgement.

Reading and making notes

• Introduction

Setting reading goals

Choosing the right texts, how many sources should you read, going beyond the reading list, active reading, reading techniques, common abbreviations in academic texts.

• Effective note-making
• Reading e-books for university study
• Using and evaluating websites

This guide will suggest ways for you to improve your reading skills and to read in a more focused and selective manner.

• Reading academic texts (video) Watch this brief video tutorial for more on the topic.
• Reading academic texts (transcript) Read along while watching the video tutorial.
• The best file formats and how to use them An interactive guide by the Technology Enhanced Learning team on the key features of alternative formats (such as PDF and ePUB), and how to make the most of these in developing your reading habits.

Before starting to read you need to consider why you are reading and what you are trying to learn. You will need to vary the way you read accordingly.

• If you are reading for general interest and to acquire background information for lectures you will need to read the topic widely but with not much depth.
• If you are reading for an essay you will need to focus the reading around the essay question and may need to study a small area of the subject in great depth. Jot down the essay question, make a note of any questions you have about it, and don't get side-tracked and waste time on non-relevant issues.

Below is an excellent short video tutorial on  reading and notemaking  developed by the Learning Development team at the University of Leicester.

• Reading and note making (video) Video tutorial from the Study Advice Team.
• Researching your assignment (video) A brief screencast on what you need to think about when starting your research.
• Researching for your assignment (transcript) Read along while watching the video tutorial.

It is unlikely that you will be able - or be expected - to read all the books and articles on your reading list. You will be limited by time and by the availability of the material.

To decide whether a book is relevant and useful:

• Look at the author's name, the title and the date of publication. Is it essential reading? Is it out of date?
• Read the publisher's blurb on the cover or look through the editor's introduction to see whether it is relevant.
• Look at the contents page. Does it cover what you want? Is it at the right level? Are there too few pages on the topic - or too many?
• Look through the introduction to get an idea of the author's approach.
• Look up an item in the index (preferably something you know a bit about) and read through one or two paragraphs to see how the author deals with the material.
• Look though the bibliography to see the range of the author's sources.
• Are the examples, illustrations, diagrams etc. easy to follow and helpful for your purpose?

To select useful articles from journals or research papers :

• Read the summary or abstract. Is it relevant?
• Look at the Conclusions and skim-read the Discussion, looking at headings. Is it worth reading carefully because it is relevant or interesting?
• Look through the Introduction. Does it summarise the field in a helpful way? Does it provide a useful literature review?
• It is a seminal piece of work – essential reading.
• It is highly relevant to your essay, etc.
• It is likely that you can get ideas from it.
• There is nothing else available and you are going to have to make the most of this.
• It is so interesting that you can't put it down!

If there is no reading list...

• Use the library website and look up  Subject help .
• Find a general textbook on the subject.
• Use encyclopaedias and subject based dictionaries.
• Do a web search BUT stay focused on your topic AND think about the reliability of the web sites. (For help with this, see the Library's guide to  Evaluating websites .)
• Browse the relevant shelves in the library and look for related topics.
• Ask your tutor for a suggestion for where to start.
• The Library also have advice on how to  and a series of brief videos  showing you how to find and access Library resources.
• To help you decide whether a source is appropriate for academic research, try this short training resource from the University of Manchester -  Know your sources 
• Subject guides Guides to specialist resources in subjects studied at the University.
• Evaluating websites Hints on assessing the reliability of information you find on the Internet.
• Library videos A link to Library videos on how to use the Library and access resources
• Know your sources On-line training tutorial from Manchester University on evaluating academic sources

It is not a good idea to rely on 1 or 2 sources very heavily as this shows a lack of wider reading, and can mean you just get a limited view without thinking of an argument of your own.

Nor is it useful (or possible) to read everything on the reading list and try to fit it all into your assignment. This usually leads to losing your own thoughts under a mass of reading.

The best way is to be strategic about your reading and identify what you need to find out and what the best sources to use to find this information.

It can be better to read less and try to think about, and understand, the issues more clearly - take time to make sure you really get the ideas rather than reading more and more which can increase your confusion.

• Use the Library catalogue to find other books on that topic. Either click on the subject headings in the full record of the books you wanted; or make a note of their Call Numbers and check on the shelves for similar titles.
• Look for relevant journal articles using the Summon search box on the Library homepage or using key resources listed on the guide for your subject.
• Use online resources BUT always evaluate them to see if they are appropriate for academic purposes. (For help with this, see the Library's guide to  Evaluating websites .)  
• Ask around to see if any of your fellow students has the books you need. You may be able to borrow them briefly to photocopy any material you need. But be careful to return it promptly - and if you lend a Library book taken out with your ticket to someone else, make sure they take it back on time, or your account will be blocked!
• Don't forget to ask your friendly Academic Liaison Librarian for advice - they are happy to help you find relevant, academic sources for your assignments.
• Contact your Academic Liaison Librarian

Keep focused on your reading goals. One way to do this is to ask questions as you read and try to read actively and creatively. It is a good idea to think of your own subject related questions but the following may be generally useful

• What do I want to know about?
• What is the main idea behind the writing?
• What conclusions can be drawn from the evidence?
• In research, what are the major findings?

Questioning the writing

• What are the limitations or flaws in the evidence?
• Can the theory be disproved or is it too general?
• What examples would prove the opposite theory?
• What would you expect to come next?
• What would you like to ask the author?

Forming your own opinion

• How does this fit in with my own theory/beliefs?
• How does it fit with the opposite theory/beliefs?
• Is my own theory/beliefs still valid?
• Am I surprised?
• Do I agree?

Your reading speed is generally limited by your thinking speed. If ideas or information requires lots of understanding then it is necessary to read slowly. Choosing a reading technique must depend upon why you are reading:

• To enjoy the language or the narrative.
• As a source of information and/or ideas.
• To discover the scope of a subject - before a lecture, seminar or research project.
• To compare theories or approaches by different authors or researchers.
• For a particular piece of work e.g. essay, dissertation.

It is important to keep your aims in mind. Most reading will require a mixture of techniques e.g. scanning to find the critical passages followed by reflective reading.

Good for searching for particular information or to see if a passage is relevant:

• Look up a word or subject in the index or look for the chapter most likely to contain the required information.
• Use a pencil and run it down the page to keep your eyes focusing on the search for key words

Skim reading

Good to quickly gain an overview, familiarise yourself with a chapter or an article or to understand the structure for later note-taking

• Don't read every word.
• Do read summaries, heading and subheadings.
• Look at tables, diagrams, illustrations, etc.
• Read first sentences of paragraphs to see what they are about.
• If the material is useful or interesting, decide whether just some sections are relevant or whether you need to read it all.

Reflective or critical reading

Good for building your understanding and knowledge.

• Think about the questions you want to answer.
• Read actively in the search for answers.
• Look for an indication of the chapter's structure or any other "map" provided by the author.
• reasons, qualifications, evidence, examples...
• Look for "signposts" –sentences or phrases to indicate the structure e.g. "There are three main reasons, First.. Secondly.. Thirdly.." or to emphasise the main ideas e.g. "Most importantly.." "To summarise.."
• Connecting words may indicate separate steps in the argument e.g. "but", "on the other hand", "furthermore", "however"..
• After you have read a chunk, make brief notes remembering to record the page number as well as the complete reference (Author, title, date, journal/publisher, etc)
• At the end of the chapter or article put the book aside and go over your notes, to ensure that they adequately reflect the main points.
• Ask yourself - how has this added to your knowledge?
• Will it help you to make out an argument for your essay?
• Do you agree with the arguments, research methods, evidence..?
• Add any of your own ideas – indicating that they are YOUR ideas use [ ] or different colours.

Rapid reading

Good for scanning and skim-reading,  but  remember that it is usually more important to understand what you read than to read quickly. Reading at speed is unlikely to work for reflective, critical reading.

If you are concerned that you are really slow:

• Check that you are not mouthing the words – it will slow you down
• Do not stare at individual words – let your eyes run along a line stopping at every third word. Practise and then lengthen the run until you are stopping only four times per line, then three times, etc.
• The more you read, the faster you will become as you grow more familiar with specialist vocabulary, academic language and reading about theories and ideas. So keep practising…

If you still have concerns about your reading speed, book an  individual advice session  with a Study Adviser.

• ibid : In the same work as the last footnote or reference (from ibidem meaning: in the same place)
• op.cit: In the work already mentioned (from operato citato meaning in the work cited)
• ff: and the following pages
• cf: compare
• passim: to be found throughout a particular book.

You may also find journal titles abbreviated. You will often find a list in your Course Handbook of the most often used in your discipline. Or ask the Academic Liaison Librarian for your subject.

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11 Proven Tips to Improve Reading Comprehension Skills for Students

Written by Maria Kampen

Reviewed by Meredith Melvin, B.Ed.

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• Teaching Activities

What is reading comprehension and why is it important?

Two core components of comprehension, 11 ways to improve reading comprehension skills, how parents can encourage reading comprehension at home.

Cookbooks, social media, instruction manuals — no matter where you look, we live our lives surrounded by words. That’s why reading comprehension is one of the most valuable skills a student can master. 

But it’s not automatic. Reading comprehension needs to be taught in the classroom to have a lasting impact, whether you’re teaching kindergarten or high school English. 

Many students struggle with reading comprehension and understanding for a variety of reasons:

• They prefer a different learning style
• They’re not interested in reading or writing
• They don’t have the necessary prior knowledge to understand the text
• They have trouble focusing on one word at a time and skip important ideas
• They’re working with a learning need like dyslexia that makes understanding written materials difficult

Every student deserves the chance to build critical comprehension skills. Keep reading for eleven strategies you can use in your classroom to help students love reading!

Reading comprehension is a reader’s ability to understand the explicit and implicit meaning of a text , or piece of writing. 

It moves beyond vocabulary knowledge and word recognition to add meaning. When students use reading comprehension skills, they’re turning words into thoughts and ideas. 

Reading is one of the most important ways students and adults learn new information. As one study in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences states: "Reading comprehension is one of the most complex cognitive activities in which humans engage, making it difficult to teach, measure, and research."

Reading comprehension can also help struggling readers build enjoyment of reading and participate more fully in lessons. 

And it’s not just for the classroom, either — reading comprehension has real-life applications for readers of all ages. It can:

• Equip readers to make good day-to-day decisions with available information
• Give readers the ability to think critically about what they read online and in the news
• Help readers decipher meaning in recipes, directions or other step-by-step instructions
• Help students move past word recognition into understanding and remembering the text

Improving reading comprehension can help your students become successful readers in and out of the classroom for the rest of their lives.

The two main components of reading comprehension are vocabulary knowledge and text comprehension . Both of these skills combine to help students get the most out of a text. 

Vocabulary knowledge

Vocabulary knowledge is where reading comprehension starts . Students with good vocabulary strategies understand what words mean and have the background knowledge to understand a given text. 

It also includes strategies for using context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. The reading comprehension process is over before it begins if students don’t have solid vocabulary knowledge or the ability to learn new words.

Text comprehension

Text comprehension is a big-picture look at what, exactly, a text means. It helps students interact with a text to understand what’s being said and what they need to learn from it.

When students have good text comprehension skills, they can answer questions about what the author is saying, summarize the passage and connect information between texts or prior knowledge. 

In short, it helps them move beyond literal comprehension and into higher levels of thinking.

Whether you’re teaching high school or elementary school, it’s never too late to use reading comprehension strategies to improve understanding, boost retention and make connections. Every student is different, so adjust your teaching methods accordingly!

Some of the most effective reading comprehension strategies include:

1. Build on existing knowledge

One of the biggest barriers to reading comprehension is a lack of background knowledge.  

If you’re reading a text about astronomy, for example, ask students to record or explain what they already know about the solar system. For easy insights, have students answer quick questions or fill out a KWL (Know, Want to Know, Learned) chart and share the results. 

Or read non-fiction and fiction books that cover the same or overlapping topic. For example, a non-fiction book about pigs and a picture book that includes pigs as characters. Teachers can reference the facts from the non-fiction book to discuss what is fact versus fiction.

Make sure all students understand key terms and ideas before you read the text, so everyone starts on the same page (literally). This helps students draw inferences and make connections between the text and things they already know, levelling the playing field when it comes to prior knowledge.

2. Identify and summarize key ideas

After students read, summarizing a text can help them pull out main points and absorb more information . 

As you introduce summarization, guide students through with leading questions and a specific structure — length, key points, etc. Use the “I do, we do, you do” format to model good summarization techniques. 

As you model the practice, teach students how to:

• Separate facts from opinions
• Find key ideas amid extra information
• Identify important words and phrases
• Look up vocabulary they don’t understand

Teaching students how to do this consciously helps train their brains to start summarizing automatically, leading to better reading comprehension overall.

3. Use online resources

Thanks to the internet, reading doesn't just happen IRL — it's online, too! There are lots of resources you can use in your classroom to engage kids with different interests as they practice their reading comprehension.

Prodigy English is a brand-new adventure that introduces kids to a world filled with adventures, wishes and more ways to love reading.

Its game-based platform encourages students to answer curriculum-aligned reading and language questions to get more energy. Once players are energized, they can gather resources from an ever-growing world, craft items, earn coins and build their very own village.

As they play, you'll be able to track their progress and achievement. Sign up for a free teacher account today!

4. Use visual aids

To help students build a picture in their minds of what they’re reading, use visual aids and visualization techniques. 

Start by reading aloud and asking students to try and picture what’s happening in their heads . After, use writing prompts like:

• What colors did you see the most?
• What do you think the setting looked like?
• How would you describe the main character?
• What sounds do you think you would hear in the world of the story?

Have students draw out a scene, character or story for even more understanding. They can make a family tree of the characters or fun notes to help them remember the key points in the story!

Anchor charts, word walls or picture books can also help reinforce key concepts for your students. When they’re able to visualize the story or information they’re reading, they’re more likely to retain key information.

5. Develop vocabulary skills

Vocabulary is an important part of understanding a text and is vital for reading ease and fluency. Vocabulary teaching strategies can help students build the tools to understand new words on their own . 

To help students learn and remember new words, try:

• Making a word wall in your classroom
• Pairing new words with physical actions
• Creating graphic organizers that help relate known words to new ones

Read-aloud strategies can also help you model the process of learning new words for students. Show them how to use context clues to find meaning, and have them make a vocabulary list of all the new words they know or want to learn. 

6. Implement thinking strategies

To encourage students to engage critically with a text, ask questions about:

• Where they can spot bias in the material
• Why the author chose a particular genre or style
• What they think happened before or after the story
• Why characters responded to situations the way they did

These questions get students thinking about the deeper meaning in a text and help them use critical thinking skills as they look for key points. Encourage students to ask clarifying questions when they don’t know what the text is saying, or build mind maps to draw connections between ideas and prior knowledge.

7. Create question and answer scenarios

Questioning students on different aspects of the text helps them examine it with fresh eyes and find new ways of interpreting it. 

Use questions that challenge students to find the answers:

• In several different parts of the text
• On their own, using background knowledge
• In their own opinions and responses to the text

Ask students questions to clarify meaning, help them understand characters better, make predictions or help them understand the author’s intent. 

Whether you’re answering these questions in a group or individually, they’ll help students make a habit of asking questions and using critical thinking skills. After all, the magic happens when students start thinking beyond the page!

8. Encourage reciprocal teaching

Reciprocal teaching gives students four strategies for reading comprehension and uses specific techniques to get them involved in interrogating a text. 

Using the “I do, we do, you do” method, follow the four building blocks of reciprocal teaching:

• Predicting — Asking questions about what’s going to happen in the story and after it’s done.
• Questioning — Asking questions about the who, what, when, where, how and why of a story.
• Clarifying — Helping students recognize their confusion, identify what’s confusing them and taking steps towards understanding.
• Summarizing — Condensing a reading to its most important facts and ideas.

Check out four reciprocal teaching strategies to use in your classroom.

9. Use summarizing techniques

Although it might seem tedious for students at first, summarizing techniques help them learn how to find and bring together key ideas . It trains them to automatically synthesize information as they read, and can benefit learners of all levels.

When students first encounter a text, have them write a summary and encourage them to refine it until it only includes the essential information. Ask clarifying questions to guide their writing, including:

• What is the main idea of this passage?
• What details support the main idea in the story?
• What unnecessary information did the author include?

This helps them see how parts of a story are connected and emphasizes the importance of providing textual support to their argument and summaries.

10. Ask students to make predictions

Predictions happen when students use the evidence from the beginning of a text to guess:

• What will happen next
• What they think the text will be about
• What details an author will use to support their argument

At the beginning of a reading, have students record their predictions. Once the reading is over, have a discussion about what they got right and what they got wrong. What made them think of their prediction? Did the author follow their expectations, or subvert them?

Model predictions with a think-aloud or give students blank statements that guide their thinking. 

Not only does this build reading comprehension, but it encourages students to engage with the material critically and teaches them how to build solid, text-based arguments. 

11. Try making inferences

When students make inferences, they’re using the information they know to make a guess about what they don’t .

Instead of just predicting what’s going to happen next, students make inferences about information outside the story — what happened before the story started, what genre the story is or what happens after the story is over. 

Like predicting, you can model inferences with read-alouds or guided questioning. Have students write a prequel to the story, or build a character background based on textual evidence. 

Inferences help students draw conclusions between the text and their prior knowledge about how the world works. Plus, it can help boost their creativity!

Reading doesn’t stop when children leave the classroom. Parents, you have an important opportunity to support reading comprehension at home, too.

1. Read aloud with your children

Reading with your child has lots of benefits — it helps you bond, it builds their imagination and it’s fun!

As you read, discuss topics and ask your child guiding questions about what’s happening. What do they think will happen next? Which character would they most like to be friends with? What would they do if they were the main character?

Not only do these questions make reading fun, it can help strengthen their reading comprehension skills. 

2. Buy or borrow books at the right reading level

Whether it’s your local bookstore or library branch, there are always books available at your child’s reading level. 

If your child is reading books that are too easy, they’ll get bored. But if books are too hard, they’ll get discouraged. Talk to your child’s teacher about how to find books in their sweet spot. 

Host a book swap with neighbors or friends to get access to new titles, or look in the library for books that relate to your child’s unique interests. 

3. Discuss what your child is reading

As a parent, you have a wonderful opportunity to hold low-pressure, friendly conversations with your child about what they’re reading — no pop quiz required.

Ask your child what their favorite book is, or what they like reading at home or at school. After they’re done reading, ask them questions about what happened in their book, or what they think will happen next, to build an organic love of reading.

4. Check out online reading programs

Online reading apps can help kids engage with books and reading in new, exciting ways! For a digital literary experience, check out:

• Epic — A free online library of digital books you can browse and read with your child.
• Headsprout — An adaptive online learning resource for students in kindergarten to fifth grade.
• Audible — A library of audiobooks and podcasts for kids who prefer to listen rather than look at words.
• Sora — An Overdrive-based app where you can download books and audiobooks from your library for free.
• Prodigy English — A whole new way for kids to develop reading and language skills, with free educational content for 1st to 6th grade created by teachers.

5. Try game-based learning

If your child doesn’t want to sit still long enough to read a book, game-based learning can help them master important concepts and get the ants out of their pants. 

Charades, telephone, Pictionary and Scattergories are all fun games that connect meaning with words, help boost your child’s background knowledge and make learning words fun.

Try some in your house to see which your child likes best.

And, if they're into educational apps, explore Prodigy English — a digital game-based learning platform! As students play, questions cover important skills like reading, rhyming, phonetics and spelling.

6. Ask their teacher

Your child’s teacher should be your first stop for any questions about your child’s reading comprehension or areas for improvement. 

Whether it’s part of a parent-teacher conference or just a quick catch-up after school, they’ll be able to give you valuable advice about how to best help your child love reading. Use their advice to connect the books you read at home and the games you play with what your child is working on in class!

Reinforce with continual learning and encouragement

Reading comprehension doesn’t just happen all at once — it’s a lifelong process that students build on as they grow. 

In each grade, encourage students to engage more deeply with what they’re reading and ask critical questions. As students build reading comprehension skills, they’ll have an opportunity to find joy and meaning in their reading.

Want more ways to build reading comprehension? Try Prodigy English !

In this all-new adventure, students can explore and create a world of their very own as they meet new characters, earn coins and build a home. Create a free teacher account today to get started.

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How to Make Your Essay Better: 7 Tips for Stronger Essays

Krystal N. Craiker

Essay writing doesn’t have to be intimidating. With a few tips, you can improve your writing skills for any type of academic essay.

How to Write Better Essays

7 tips on how to make your essay better, how to become a better essay writer.

The best way to sum up how to write better essays is, “Make sure you’re answering the question.”

This sounds obvious, but you would be surprised how many students struggle with this.

From not understanding the prompt to poor research skills to off-topic body paragraphs, it’s easy for an essay to derail.

We’ve got seven tips for writing better essays that will help you avoid common mistakes and craft the best essays possible.

Here are our top tips for improving your essay writing skills.

Understand the Prompt or Research Question

The first step in your writing process is to fully understand the essay topic. If your professor gave you a prompt for your academic essay, spend some time analyzing it.

First, take note of whether you’re writing an expository or persuasive essay. The tone, structure, and word choice will differ between essay types.

Pay close attention to the wording of the prompt.

If your teacher wants you to “analyze” the effects of new technology in World War I, but you turn in a descriptive overview of the technology, you are not answering the question.

If they have given you a topic but no prompt, you’ll need to create a guiding question for your research.

Be specific in what you are trying to research, or you’ll end up overwhelmed with a topic that is too big in scope.

“Symbolism in modern literature” is too broad for a term paper, but “How does F. Scott Fitzgerald use symbolism in The Great Gatsby ?” is an achievable topic.

Take Excellent Notes

Once you understand exactly what your essay is about, you can begin the research phase. Create a strong note-taking system.

Write down any idea or quote you might want to use. Cite every note properly to save time on your citations and to avoid accidental plagiarism.

Once you have gathered your research, organize your notes into categories. This will help you plan the structure of your essay.

You’ll likely find that some of your research doesn’t fit into your essay once you start writing. That’s okay—it’s better to have too much information to support your argument than too little.

Write a Strong Thesis Statement

Possibly the most important step in essay writing is to craft a strong thesis statement. A thesis statement is a brief—usually single-sentence—explanation of what your essay is about.

The thesis statement guides the entire essay: every point you make should support your thesis.

A strong thesis is specific and long enough to address the major points of your essay.

In a persuasive or argumentative essay, your thesis should clearly establish the argument you are making.

Make an Outline

Once you have all your research, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. How do you turn the information into a cohesive essay?

Rather than writing an essay with no roadmap, an outline will keep you on track. An outline helps you organize your thoughts, plan your arguments, and sort your research.

A good outline saves you time, too! You can compile the relevant evidence in your notes before writing, so you don’t have to find that specific quote in the middle of essay writing.

An outline will also stop you from reading your finished essay and realizing you went completely off track.

With an outline, you can avoid finding paragraphs that don’t support your thesis right before you submit the essay.

Craft a Great Introduction

An academic essay needs a strong introductory paragraph.

The introduction is the first impression of your essay. It prepares the reader for what’s coming and gets them excited to read your paper.

A good introduction has three things:

• A hook (e.g. insightful statement, quote, interesting fact)
• Brief background information about the topic
• A thesis statement

Using this formula will help you write a strong introduction for your essay.

Have Original Ideas and Interpretations

The best academic writing advice a professor ever gave me was, “You’ve shown me what other people have said about the topic. I want to know what you think about the topic.”

Even a fact-heavy or data-heavy essay needs original ideas and interpretations. For every piece of information you cite, whether you quote or paraphrase it , offer original commentary.

Focus on insights, new interpretations, or even questions that you have. These are all ways to provide original ideas in your essay.

Proofread for Readability

A good essay is a proofread essay.

Readability, or how easy something is to read, has many factors. Spelling and grammar are important, but so is sentence structure, word choice , and other stylistic features.

Academic essays should be readable without being too simple. In general, aim for a readability score that is close to your grade level in school.

There are several ways to check readability scores, including using ProWritingAid’s Readability Report.

The quickest way to increase readability is to fix grammar and spelling mistakes . You can also raise the readability score by using more complex and compound-complex sentences.

ProWritingAid can offer suggestions on how to improve your essay and take it to the next level.

Our free essay checker will check for spelling and grammar errors, plus several other types of writing mistakes.

The essay checker will offer you suggestions on sentence length and passive voice.

It will help you trim the excess words that bog down your writing by analyzing your sticky sentences and overused words.

The essay checker is here to help you turn in an error-free essay.

Want to improve your essay writing skills?

Use prowritingaid.

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Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Krystal N. Craiker is the Writing Pirate, an indie romance author and blog manager at ProWritingAid. She sails the seven internet seas, breaking tropes and bending genres. She has a background in anthropology and education, which brings fresh perspectives to her romance novels. When she’s not daydreaming about her next book or article, you can find her cooking gourmet gluten-free cuisine, laughing at memes, and playing board games. Krystal lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, child, and basset hound.

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A (Very) Simple Way to Improve Your Writing

• Mark Rennella

It’s called the “one-idea rule” — and any level of writer can use it.

The “one idea” rule is a simple concept that can help you sharpen your writing, persuade others by presenting your argument in a clear, concise, and engaging way. What exactly does the rule say?

• Every component of a successful piece of writing should express only one idea.
• In persuasive writing, your “one idea” is often the argument or belief you are presenting to the reader. Once you identify what that argument is, the “one-idea rule” can help you develop, revise, and connect the various components of your writing.
• For instance, let’s say you’re writing an essay. There are three components you will be working with throughout your piece: the title, the paragraphs, and the sentences.
• Each of these parts should be dedicated to just one idea. The ideas are not identical, of course, but they’re all related. If done correctly, the smaller ideas (in sentences) all build (in paragraphs) to support the main point (suggested in the title).

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Most advice about writing looks like a long laundry list of “do’s and don’ts.” These lists can be helpful from time to time, but they’re hard to remember … and, therefore, hard to depend on when you’re having trouble putting your thoughts to paper. During my time in academia, teaching composition at the undergraduate and graduate levels, I saw many people struggle with this.

• MR Mark Rennella is Associate Editor at HBP and has published two books, Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders and The Boston Cosmopolitans .  

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12 Ways to Quickly Improve Your Academic Essay Writing Skills

#scribendiinc

Written by  Scribendi

Anyone can learn to produce an academic essay if they begin with a few basic essay-writing rules. 

An academic essay must be based upon a solid but debatable thesis, supported by relevant and credible evidence, and closed with a succinct and thorough conclusion.

By adhering to the best way to write an essay, you can create valuable, persuasive papers even when you're under a time crunch!

What Makes a Good Essay?

As previously noted, the foundation of any good academic essay is its thesis statement. 

Do not confuse your thesis with your opening sentence. There are many good ways to start an essay , but few essays immediately present their main ideas.

After you draft your thesis, you can begin to develop your essay around it. This development will include the main supporting points of your essay, which will scaffold its main body. 

Essays also typically include a relevant and compelling introduction and conclusion.

Learn How to Write a Great Thesis Statement .

Understanding How to Write a Good Essay

When writing an academic essay, you must take a number of qualities and characteristics into careful consideration. Focus, development, unity, coherence, and correctness all play critical roles when it comes to distinguishing an exceptional essay from one that is less than perfect.

The following essay-writing tips can help writers organize, format, and support their essays in ways that fit their intended purpose and optimize their overall persuasiveness. Here are 12 essay tips for developing and writing your next academic paper.

1. Know What You Are Going to Write About Before You Start Writing

While untrained writers might just sit down and start typing, educated and experienced writers know that there are many steps to writing an essay.

In short, you should know what you want to say before you type a single word. The easiest way to narrow down a thesis and create a proper argument is to make a basic outline before you begin composing your essay.

Your outline should consist of rough notes that sketch out your introduction (including your thesis), the body of your essay (which should include separate paragraphs that present your main supporting points with plenty of evidence and examples), and your conclusion (which ties everything together and connects the argument back to your thesis).

2. Acquire a Solid Understanding of Basic Grammar, Punctuation, and Style

Before getting into more refined essay-writing techniques, you must have a solid grasp of grammar, punctuation, and style. Without these writing fundamentals, it will be difficult to communicate your ideas effectively and ensure that they are taken seriously.

Grammar basics include subject and verb agreement, correct article and pronoun use, and well-formed sentence structures. Make sure you know the proper uses for the most common forms of punctuation. Be mindful of your comma usage and know when a period is needed.

Finally, voice is tremendously important in academic essay writing. Employ language that is as concise as possible. Avoid transition words that don't add anything to the sentence and unnecessary wordiness that detracts from your argument.

Furthermore, use the active voice instead of the passive whenever possible (e.g., "this study found" instead of "it was found by this study"). This will make your essay's tone clear and direct.

3. Use the Right Vocabulary and Know What the Words You Are Using Actually Mean

How you use language is important, especially in academic essay writing. When writing an academic essay, remember that you are persuading others that you are an expert who argues intelligently about your topic.

Using big words just to sound smart often results in the opposite effect—it is easy to detect when someone is overcompensating in their writing.

If you aren't sure of the exact meaning of a word, you risk using it incorrectly. There's no shame in checking, and it might save you from an embarrassing word misuse later!

Using obscure language can also detract from the clarity of your argument—you should consider this before pulling out a thesaurus to change a perfectly appropriate word to something completely different.

4. Understand the Argument and Critically Analyze the Evidence

While writing a good essay, your main argument should always be at the front of your mind. While it's tempting to go off on a tangent about an interesting side note, doing so makes your writing less concise.

Always question the evidence you include in your essay; ask yourself, "Does this directly support my thesis?" If the answer is "no," then that evidence should probably be excluded. 

When you are evaluating evidence, be critical and thorough. You want to use the strongest research to back up your thesis. It is not enough to simply present evidence in support of an argument. A good writer must also explain why the evidence is relevant and supportive.

Everything you include should clearly connect to your topic and argument.   

5. Know How to Write a Conclusion That Supports Your Research

One of the most overlooked steps to writing an essay is the conclusion. Your conclusion ties all your research together and proves your thesis. It should not be a restatement of your introduction or a copy-and-paste of your thesis.

A strong conclusion briefly outlines the key evidence discussed in the body of an essay and directly ties it to the thesis to show how the evidence proves or disproves the main argument of your research.

Countless great essays have been written only to be derailed by vague, weakly worded conclusions. Don't let your next essay become one of those.     

6. Build a Solid Thesis to Support Your Arguments

A thesis is the main pillar of an essay. By selecting a specific thesis, you'll be able to develop arguments to support your central opinion. Consider writing about a unique experience or your own particular view of a topic .

Your thesis should be clear and logical, but it should also be debatable. Otherwise, it might be difficult to support it with compelling arguments.

7. Develop an Interesting Opening Paragraph to Hook In Readers from the Get-Go

No matter how you begin your essay, you must strive to capture the reader's interest immediately. If your opening paragraph doesn't catch the eye and engage the brain, any attempt at persuasion may end before the essay even starts. 

The beginning of your essay is crucial for setting the stage for your thesis.

8. Always Remember to Edit and Proofread Your Essay

Any decent writer will tell you that writing is really rewriting. A good academic essay will inevitably go through multiple drafts as it slowly takes shape. When you arrive at a final draft, you must make sure that it is as close to perfect as possible.

This means subjecting your essay to close and comprehensive editing and proofreading processes. In other words, you must read your paper as many times as necessary to eliminate all grammar/punctuation mistakes and typos.

It is helpful to have a third party review your work. Consider consulting a peer or professional editing service. Keep in mind that professional editors are able to help you identify underdeveloped arguments and unnecessarily wordy language, and provide other feedback.

Get Critical Feedback on Your Writing

Hire an expert academic editor , or get a free sample, 9. when developing your essay's main body, build strong and relevant arguments.

Every sentence in the main body of your paper should explain and support your thesis. When deciding how much evidence to include in an academic essay, a good guideline is to include at least three main supporting arguments.

Those main supporting arguments, in turn, require support in the form of relevant facts, figures, examples, analogies, and observations. 

You will need to engage in appropriate research to accomplish this. To organize your research efforts, you may want to develop a list of good research questions . 

10. Choose the Format of Your Essay before Writing It

The final shape that your essay takes depends a great deal on what kind of format you use. Popular college essay format types include the Modern Language Association of America ( MLA ), American Psychological Association ( APA ), and Chicago Manual of Style ( Chicago style).

These formats govern everything from capitalization rules to source citation. Often, professors dictate a specific format for your essay. If they do not, you should choose the format that best suits your field.

11. Create Clear Transitions between Your Ideas

Although unnecessary transition words are the enemy of clarity and concision, they can be invaluable tools when it comes to separating and connecting the different sections of your essay. 

Not only do they help you express your ideas but they also bring a cohesive structure to your sentences and a pleasant flow to your writing. Just be sure that you are using the right transition words for the right purpose and to the proper effect.

12. Always Include an Organized Reference Page at the End of Your Essay

As a key component of MLA, APA, and Chicago Style formatting, the reference or Works Cited page is an essential part of any academic essay.

Regardless of the format used, the reference page must be well organized and easy to read so that your audience can see exactly where your outside information came from. 

To produce a properly formatted reference page, you may have to familiarize yourself with specialized phrases and abbreviations, such as " et al ." 

How to Write a Good Hook for an Essay

The key to a good hook is to introduce an unexplored or absorbing line of inquiry in your introduction that addresses the main point of your thesis. 

By carefully choosing your language and slowly revealing details, you can build reader anticipation for what follows. 

Much like an actual worm-baited fishing hook, a successful hook will lure and capture readers, allowing the writer to "reel them in."

How to Get Better at Writing Essays

You can get better at writing essays the same way that you improve at anything else: practice, practice, practice! However, there are a few ways that you can improve your writing quickly so you can turn in a quality academic essay on time.

In addition to following the 12 essay tips and guidelines above, you can familiarize yourself with a few common practices and structures for essay development. 

Great writing techniques for essays include brainstorming and tree diagrams, especially when coming up with a topic for your thesis statement. Becoming familiar with different structures for organizing your essay (order of importance, chronological, etc.) is also extremely helpful.

How to Write a Good Introduction for an Essay

To learn how to write a good essay, you must also learn how to write a good introduction. 

Most effective essay introductions begin with relatively broad and general subject matter and then gradually narrow in focus and scope until they arrive at something extremely specific: the thesis. This is why writers tend to place their thesis statements at the very end of their introductory paragraph(s).

Because they are generally broad and often relate only tangentially to an essay's main point, there is virtually no limit on what the beginning of a good introduction can look like. However, writers still tend to rely on somewhat cliché opening sentences, such as quotations and rhetorical questions.

How to Write a Good Conclusion for an Essay

Briefly put, a good conclusion does two things. It wraps up any loose ends and drives home the main point of your essay. 

To learn how to write a good conclusion, you will want to ensure that no unanswered questions remain in the reader's mind. A good conclusion will restate the thesis and reinforce the essay's main supporting points.

Take Your Essay from Good to Great

About the author.

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing turn into a great one after the editing process. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained nearly 20 degrees collectively. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

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"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

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How to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills in 10 Simple Steps

• Smodin Editorial Team
• Updated: May 5, 2024

What makes an A essay different from a B essay? What makes one essay stand out among countless submissions while others barely make the grade?

The answer lies in both the content and the execution of your writing. Strong content that is poorly executed can lead to disappointing results, just as weak content cannot be saved by writing style alone.

A strong essay needs to be balanced. The writing should be informative and exciting but also fun to read. At the same time, your grammar, syntax, and punctuation should be on point.

If you’re struggling to make the grade and are unsure what you’re doing wrong, this article will cover ten basic strategies for improving your writing skills.

With a bit of understanding and a steady commitment to improving your craft, you should see a noticeable increase in your essay grades.

These strategies will help refine your writing style and structure while enhancing your analytical thinking and argumentative skills. We’ll also discuss some AI tools you can use starting today to make the essay writing process more fun and manageable.

1. Read a Lot

To truly master the art of writing, you must read as much as you can. To the best of your ability, immerse yourself in various texts and read across different genres and disciplines.

One of the best things you can do in essay writing is study published essays and periodicals to better understand how accomplished writers develop their arguments and maintain flow.

Of course, reading is a time-consuming activity. If you want to expand your knowledge without spending hours at a time in the library, consider using Smodin AI to help.

Smodin’s AI Summarizer can help you take long pieces of text and create an extractive or abstractive summary. This way, you can read a portion of the text and use AI to grasp the main points and key arguments without dedicating too much time to each piece.

Using this approach, you can cover a broader range of materials in a shorter time, particularly useful if you’re juggling multiple assignments or subjects during midterms or finals week.

2. Understand the Topic

A solid understanding of your essay topic is crucial to producing an engaging and insightful piece of writing. One of the worst things you can do as a student is to submit a paper without thoroughly researching and understanding the topic.

In other words, read the instructions before writing a single word. Invest however much time you need in researching and gathering relevant information.

Don’t rush the process, and take the time to build a strong foundation for your arguments. Study the counterarguments and ensure that your thesis is factually accurate and thoroughly thought-out.

That said, if you’re sitting at your desk, struggling to figure out where to start, or need help comprehending the topic, Smodin’s AI Chat can help you gather your thoughts.

The chat can help you understand complex topics using real-time Google Insights and provide instant access to a wealth of information with a single click.

3. Outline Your Essay

Even the best writers outline their writing before they begin. Creating an outline is crucial to organizing your thoughts and structuring your essay so it flows logically and cohesively.

When writing an essay, your topic will often take on new dimensions as you delve deeper into your research. Sometimes, your essay ends far off course and entirely different from what you envisioned.

An evolving outline can help you manage these ideas and ensure they are woven into your essay in a way that is meaningful and makes sense.

Any piece of writing needs a roadmap, whether it’s essays, articles, short stories, novels, or nonfiction books. Your ideas need to progress logically from one point to another so that they are persuasive and easy for your reader to follow.

Remember, effective time management is one of the secrets to writing an effective essay. That’s why it’s essential to use AI tools like Smodin to optimize your outlining process.

4. Master the Basics

A strong command of grammar, syntax, and punctuation is fundamental to writing an A-level essay. While most teachers and professors will not deduct points for an occasional misspelling or comma splice, too many mistakes will leave a negative impression on your reader.

The good news is that mastering the basics of writing has never been easier, thanks to the rise of AI. Do your best to practice the basics of good writing using ordinary resources like grammar guides and books, then use AI to enhance your knowledge.

In this area, Smodin has several tools that can help. The AI Rewriter can help you rewrite or completely recreate a piece of text to optimize the content so it is polished and easy to read.

You can also use the AI Chat feature to ask any question you like about grammar rules or stylistic choices, ensuring that you understand the fundamental principles of good writing.

5. Nail the Intro

The introduction of your essay sets the tone and hooks the reader. It also helps you make a strong impression and stand out among your peers.

A compelling intro should start with a strong first sentence that piques curiosity and leads the reader to the second sentence. That second sentence should lead the reader directly to the third, and so on.

Always do your best to think of a solid opening statement or pose a thought-provoking question. Remember, your essay is just one of many essays the teacher or professor must read, so you must do everything possible to stand out.

You want a clear and concise thesis that sets up the arguments you will develop throughout the body of your essay. Smodin’s AI Essay Writer can help you craft essays with compelling titles and opening paragraphs.

If you want to go the extra mile, consider trying the “Supercharge” option to tap into the power of a much more advanced and sophisticated AI model to take your writing to the next level.

6. Use the Active Voice

Generally, the active voice is more engaging and easy to read than the passive voice. Active voice constructions are more direct and energetic. They keep the reader engaged and make statements that are easier to visualize.

For example, compare the active sentence “The scientist conducted the experiment” with the passive “The experiment was conducted by the researcher.”

The active voice allows you to clearly identify who is taking action. This helps make your writing more assertive and easy to understand.

However, there are situations where the passive voice is appropriate or even necessary. For instance, if the person taking action is unknown, irrelevant, or obvious from the context, the passive voice might be the better choice.

For example, in scientific or formal reports, the passive voice is often used to create an impersonal tone and to emphasize the action rather than the person.

In most cases, you should use the active voice to make your arguments more engaging and your prose easier to follow.

7. Avoid Repetition

If you’ve ever tried to “word stuff” an essay to get to a specific word count, you know how easy it can be to repeat yourself accidentally. To keep your essay engaging, always do your best to avoid unnecessary repetition of words or ideas.

Never use the same word too often, especially in the same paragraph. Varying your language and sentence structure can help keep the reader engaged and create a pleasant cadence for your essay.

Always avoid rehashing the same ideas twice unless necessary to your thesis or argument. When in doubt, use Smodin’s Essay Writer to help structure your essays with a clear flow and easy-to-understand introductions and conclusions.

8. Get Feedback

Receiving feedback is one of the most effective ways to improve your writing. Of course, your teacher’s or professor’s feedback matters the most, but what if you want feedback before the final submission?

Seek constructive criticism from peers or tutors who can look at your writing and give you feedback to help you improve your writing. Being able to seek out and incorporate feedback is one of the most vital skills a student can have.

Also, consider using an AI tool like Smodin that can draw upon hundreds of thousands of published and peer-reviewed academic articles as a basis of comparison. By tapping into the unlimited power of AI, you can easily create essays that match college-level writing standards.

9. Organize Your References

Managing and organizing references can become overwhelming during the research phase of writing an essay.

It’s crucial to keep track of all the sources you consult to maintain academic integrity and avoid plagiarism. This is where tools like Smodin’s Research Paper Generator come into play.

Smodin’s Automatic References tool utilizes AI-powered algorithms to generate accurate citations. It pulls information from reliable databases like Google and Google Scholar, ensuring each reference is precise and meets academic standards.

This feature is a time-saver and a crucial component for any student who wants to ensure their work is appropriately credited and free of plagiarism concerns.

This tool streamlines the process of citation creation. The Automatic References feature formats each reference correctly according to your chosen style guide, whether it’s APA, MLA, Chicago, or another academic citation format.

This allows you to focus more on the content of your essay rather than the tedious task of manual citation. It’s like having a personal assistant at the click of a button.

10. Revise, Revise, Revise

The single best thing you can do to improve your writing is to get into a habit of constant revision. Try to write your essay as far in advance so that you can let it sit for a while and revisit it with fresh eyes.

You may be surprised how many areas of improvement become apparent after taking a short break. Allowing your writing to breathe after the initial draft can dramatically enhance its quality.

The three main things you want to look for are ways to improve clarity, strengthen your argument, and refine your language.

Of course, Smodin’s Rewriter Tool can help you do just that. Using this tool, you can easily see and improve sections that need rephrasing. Use this technology alongside your own manual refinements to create a tone and style that aligns with your voice and creates a unique style.

Then, once you’re 99% done and happy with your essay, run it through the Plagiarism and AI Content Detector to ensure its complete academic integrity.

Ultimately, your ability to improve your essay writing skills will depend on your level of dedication. Spend as much time as you can mastering the above techniques and consistently practice.

Remember, AI tools like Smodin have made essay writing more accessible than ever before. If you need help with essays and consistently bring home B, C, or even D-level papers, Smodin’s array of AI tools is what you need to take your writing to the next level-

• AI tutoring for students
• AI content detection
• Plagiarism checker
• Essay, research paper, and article writing features
• Text summarizer
• Homework solver

When you sign up for Smodin, all this and more comes standard. If you’re ready to get started, click here to try it!