Professional and academic reading is different from the reading we do in day-to-day life. Here are some additional supports on this topic to supplement your textbook and classroom time. Try some of these tips and resources to help you boost your comfort with college reading and master reading for comprehension in your ENGL 91 class.

Vocabulary 

• Underline or highlight key words and phrases as you read. When you return to it later on, you can easily see which points you identified as important. Be selective - too much highlighting won't help.
• Make notes in the margin or on sticky notes to summarize points, raise questions, challenge what you've read, jot down examples and so on. This takes more thought than highlighting, so you'll probably remember the content better. 
• Read critically by asking questions of the text. Who wrote it? When? Who is the intended audience? Does it link with other material you've studied in the module? Why do you think it was written? Is it an excerpt from a longer piece of text?
• Test yourself by reading for half an hour, putting the text away and jotting down the key points from memory. Go back to the text to fill in gaps.
• Look for 'signposts' that help you understand the text - phrases like 'most importantly', 'in contrast', 'on the other hand'.
• Explain what you've read to someone else.
• Record yourself reading the module material or your notes, and listen to the recording while you're travelling or doing household chores.

Adapted from Active Reading, by the Open University