How To Conduct Speed Reading Exercises
Speed reading is a little bit tricky to apply for there are certain procedures to follow in order to get the most approximate reading speed of a student. Below are only suggested steps to guide neophyte English teachers in conducting speed reading exercises.
- Prepare cards with numbers representing the number of seconds it takes students to finish the selection, before giving the first exercise. These numbers should start with 60 going up by 10s (60, 70, 80, 90 and so on)
- Tell the students the purpose of this activity (i.e., to develop speed reading with comprehension) and the steps or means involved herein (that they are to read as fast as they can with comprehension). Inform them beforehand that they will be answering questions about what they have read without re-reading the selection.
- Instruct the students to look at the card you are flashing at the very instant that they finish reading the selection and to write the number of the card flashed at that precise time on the space provided for their papers (time consumed _____)
- Make students start reading the selection at the same time.
- Begin flashing the cards one minute after the starting time. Keep on flashing them one after the other every ten seconds seeing to it that each student writes down the number flashed at the instant he finished reading the selection.
- Make the students answer the questions after everyone has finished the selection, making sure that none of them re-reads the selection to verify an answer. Let them check their papers and record their grades on the space provided.
- Guide the students in finding their speed rates by using a speed table. Make them record their rate on the space provided for.
- Have them record their speed rates and comprehension grades on their individual graphs for optimum results.
- Provide a class graph and have this accomplished and interpreted by the students themselves after every test.