SQ3R: A Reading Comprehension Strategy

Have you heard this acronym: SQ3R? If not, here's a quick summary of what it means and why it's used.

SQ3R is a pneumonic device for the steps of a reading comprehension process: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. The strategy is based on a reading practice suggested by Francis Pleasant Robinson in a book entitled Effective Study (1946), and it encourages students to read, notate and self-quiz as they examine new texts.

What exactly is this strategy about? It teaches children to complete five steps during reading assignments.

1) Survey: Look at headings (titles, subtitles), captions, charts, graphs, review questions, study guides and summaries first. Just look them over and determine what the point of the reading might be.
(You can have them write down a main idea sentence or discuss this aloud.)

2) Question: Students will convert the headings (titles, subtitles) into questions they can answer while reading. They will record what you might have said about the reading and note questions about that. They can write down questions about the subject for which they already know the answers.

3) Read: While reading, students will begin to answer the questions they wrote in step two. This can also include answering questions that you assigned in a study guide and/or questions from the text itself.  Vocabulary and other bolded concepts should be noted during reading.

4) Recite: Students should say to themselves or to each other (or to you) what they actually learned as a result of S, Q and R. This is a great place for you to add in some interaction.

5) Review: Students are constantly reviewing their reading and notes as they complete the process.

This is an EXTREMELY SIMPLIFIED summary of this process. As you know, my goal is to convince you to use this. If you're into it, you can find oodles of resources online for how to implement SQ3R in your classroom.

What makes this good for you? What makes it easy? Let me tell you.

First, you are teaching your students note-taking. Note-taking is going the way of Elvis (if you believe he's dead) in some student populations, and they need to be able to annotate more complicated texts if they will ever achieve success in reading-heavy core courses (Social Studies, Science, etc).

Once they learn the SQ3R process, there's no reason for you to reserve it for printed texts only. You can use the same note-taking requirement for mini-lectures, the interpretation of artwork, the analysis of critical films. Not only does SQ3R teach discipline; it embeds a process into the child's mind that gives him a way to organize the information you are providing.

Second, this gives you an artifact that you can use to see students' thinking. Many children are nervous about voicing their thoughts in front of groups (because they might not organize information well enough in their minds to feel confident that those thoughts will be lucid when they come out). Instead of saying to Johnny, "Tell me what you think about Section A," after five minutes of reading, Johnny has now had time to read, write and think about what he might say. You can read what he thought during walk-around and privately correct wrong assumptions, but you can also more readily hear what he REALLY thought by having him share what he put in his notes.

Third, this is a great study tool. Students can use their SQ3R notes to prepare for exams. You can assign the process along with a small excerpt for homework to add depth to a concept you're teaching in class. Some teachers even allow students to use SQ3R notes on specially made exams that require references to texts.

Don't be put off by the volumes and volumes of documentation associated with the strategy; this could be good for you and your students. You will be able to trust them more readily with independent (or even group) reading when you know there is a tangible result of the effort, and you won't have to make a million copies of worksheets to guide the completion of the work.

You might even like this strategy for yourself, especially if you are pursuing an advanced degree while you're working full-time. Those graduate readings can be KILLER when you've got unit exams for the children on your mind. A little SQ3R might make those studies a little more manageable, and you might just take in a little less caffeine in the process.

Stickers and Yardsticks,

Ms. Moss