Learning to “read smart” in middle school will make high school academics much easier. These studying tips will help your middle school child understand and remember what he or she reads in textbooks. For the next few reading assignments, go over one or two tips per assignment to make sure your child understands them and is using them properly.
  1. Preview the book. Read the contents page. Are there chapters? What are the titles? Is there a glossary at the end of the book that defines terms? Is there an index at the end of the book that lists topics and the pages they are on? Don’t forget: the words in the glossary and the topics in the index are listed in alphabetical order.
  2. Turn to the assigned chapter. What is the title? What can you learn from the headings? Often headings give the important ideas that will be covered in the chapter. Look at the illustrations and read the captions to get a fuller idea about the chapter. Are there graphs, charts, maps, diagrams? What do they show? Graphic aids can sum up some kinds of information more clearly than words alone can. Are there study questions at the end of the chapter? Look for the answers as you read.
  3. What are you supposed to learn? Did your teacher give you an assignment sheet? Comprehension questions? A graphic organizer? Before you begin reading, make sure you’ve got all the worksheets you need. Then fill them in as you read.
  4. Underline, highlight, and write in the margins. If you are allowed to write in your book, highlight important ideas and write comments and questions in the margins. If you aren’t, write comments and questions in a notebook along with the corresponding page numbers.
  5. Take notes. Paraphrasing key concepts will help you figure out how well you understand what you’re reading. Summing up the most important ideas will help you recall what you read.
  6. Draw a picture. Sometimes the best way to summarize information is by drawing a picture. Here’s an example. Learning about photosynthesis? Draw the sun and its rays hitting the leaf of a plant. Add details to show the process the plant uses to turn light energy into glucose, oxygen, and water. You can draw diagrams to compare and contrast or to show cause and effect relationships, scale, a series of events, a complex system, or a cycle.
  7. Stop if you don't get it. If you don't understand a passage, reread it. Try to use the context—the words and sentences around the part you don’t understand—to figure it out. If you’re still puzzled, decide how important that information seems to be. If it’s important, ask the teacher or another student to explain the information to you.
  8. As you read and after you've finished, ask yourself questions. Try these: What main point is the author making? Does this information support the author's argument or contradict it? Why is this fact important to the author's overall message? What did I learn that I didn't know before? If somebody asked me to explain what I just read, what would I say?
  9. Adjust your speed. Is the material difficult to understand or packed with facts? Slow down. Speed up if the material is familiar and easy to understand.