Monday, March 14, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
tips on reading skills
7 How to Improve Reading Comprehension
Key PointGood reading means building frameworks for connecting words to thoughts.The Purpose of Reading.
The purpose of reading is to connect the ideas on the page to what you already know. If you don't know anything about a subject, then pouring words of text into your mind is like pouring water into your hand. You don't retain much. For example, try reading these numbers:
- 7516324 This is hard to read and remember.
751-6324 This is easier because of chunking.
123-4567 This is easy to read because of prior knowledge and structure.
Improving Comprehension.
Reading comprehension requires motivation, mental frameworks for holding ideas, concentration and good study techniques. Here are some suggestions.
 |
Develop a broad background.
Broaden your background knowledge by reading newspapers, magazines and books. Become interested in world events.
Know the structure of paragraphs.
Good writers construct paragraphs that have a beginning, middle and end. Often, the first sentence will give an overview that helps provide a framework for adding details. Also, look for transitional words, phrases or paragraphs that change the topic.
Identify the type of reasoning.
Does the author use cause and effect reasoning, hypothesis, model building, induction or deduction, systems thinking? See section 20 for more examples on critical thinking skills.
Anticipate and predict.
Really smart readers try to anticipate the author and predict future ideas and questions. If you're right, this reinforces your understanding. If you're wrong, you make adjustments quicker.
Look for the method of organization.
Is the material organized chronologically, serially, logically, functionally, spatially or hierarchical? See section 10 for more examples on organization.
Create motivation and interest.
Preview material, ask questions, discuss ideas with classmates. The stronger your interest, the greater your comprehension.
Pay attention to supporting cues.
Study pictures, graphs and headings. Read the first and last paragraph in a chapter, or the first sentence in each section.
Highlight, summarize and review.
Just reading a book once is not enough. To develop a deeper understanding, you have to highlight, summarize and review important ideas.
Build a good vocabulary.
For most educated people, this is a lifetime project. The best way to improve your vocabulary is to use a dictionary regularly. You might carry around a pocket dictionary and use it to look up new words. Or, you can keep a list of words to look up at the end of the day. Concentrate on roots, prefixes and endings.
Use a systematic reading technique like SQR3.
Develop a systematic reading style, like the SQR3 method and make adjustments to it, depending on priorities and purpose. The SQR3 steps include Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. See Section 14 for more details.
Monitor effectiveness.
Good readers monitor their attention, concentration and effectiveness. They quickly recognize if they've missed an idea and backup to reread it.
Should You Vocalize Words?
Yes, although it is faster to form words in your mind rather than on your lips or throat. Eye motion is also important. Frequent backtracking slows you down considerably.
tips on public speaking - my own version
Well over the years i have became the judge of many competitions and one of all time favorite is Public Speaking. As I teach English to my pupils, I also emphasis the importance of speaking in English as a global language. I try to instill the importance of English as a subject and also as a communicative tool.
Public Speaking and some tips which I would like to share which I have observe and stress on to your pupils.
1) Know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs. This means that you should know and cater well to your audience and speak well according to the situation as well as circumstance. Ensure that your speech or talk is captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention. One way to improve is by rehearse your speech at home when you are comfortable. Know what your strong and weak points are. Emphasize your strong points during your presentation.
2) When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor. The limelight is focus on you. How you are being perceived is very important. Dress accordingly for the occasion. Present the desired image for the audience. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud but not arrogant. Remain calm, speak slowly and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic. Establish rapport with your audience.
Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary.
3) Body language is important. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is preferred to sitting down still with head down and reading from a prepared speech.
4) Speak with conviction as if you really believe in what you are saying. Persuade your audience effectively.
5) Do not read from notes for any extended length of time although it is quite acceptable to glance at your notes infrequently. Speak loudly and clearly. Sound confident. Do not mumble. If you made an error, correct it and continue. No need to make excises or apologize profusely.
6) Maintain sincere eye contact with your audience. Use the 3 second method eg look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience and every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking. Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved.
7) Speak to your audience, listen to their questions, respond to their reactions, adjust and adapt. Remember that communication is the key to a successful presentation.
8) Pause. Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think.
9) Add humor when appropriate and possible. Keep audience interested throughout your entire presentation. Remember that an interesting speech makes time fly, but a boring speech is always too long to endure even if the presentation time is the same.
10) Know when to STOP talking. To end your presentation, summarize your main points in the same way as you normally do in the CONCLUSION of a written paper. Terminate your presentation with an interesting remark or an appropriate punch line.Leave your audience with a positive impression and a sense of completion. Do not belabor your closing remarks. Thank your audience and sit down.
I do hope that some of this ponder will be help you and to those who already know this, it serves as a reminder. Hope that you can share this with your pupils and have a good Public Speaking competition.
Friday, March 11, 2011
ADMIRE
I admire you,
From the first time I saw you,
It is here, it all began,
It is here, it will all end.
At first I thought,
It will go away,
But it kept growing
Through the years.
This feeling of admiration,
Has caste a spell on me,
I did not invite this on me,
But it come on its own,
That is why they say,
You just fall
Fall in love.
I admire you,
From a distance,
Although we see
Each other all the time,
I dare not day anything,
As I become silly,
In front of you.
Time is running out for me,
For me and you,
Will I ever tell you that,
I am the one that admired you,
Only time and circumstance will tell..!
By RS MANN
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)