The SQ3R Reading Method

SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. This method is a learning strategy designed to
improve your recall of what you read through a process of repeated and varied engagement with the
material. Repetition is one of the keys to memory--the more often we encounter something, the more
deeply it sinks into our long-term memory. In the past, some students have decided to read their
assignments twice, as a means of familiarizing themselves more fully with the content. However, better
than twice reading are methods that involve working with the reading material in some way.
Summarizing and paraphrasing are two of these powerful methods. Another is the SQ3R method.

The five steps of the SQ3R provide five active engagements with the reading assignment, requiring the
reader to do something with the reading. Interacting with reading material creates a much stronger
learning experience that simply passively reading it.

This strategy includes the following five steps:

 Survey: Students review the text to gain initial meaning from the headings, bolded text,
and charts.
 Question: Students begin to generate questions about their reading from previewing it.
 Read: As students read, they need to look for answers to the questions they formulated
during their preview of the text. These questions, based on the structure of the text, help
focus students' reading.
 Recite: As students move through the text they should recite or rehearse the answers to
their questions and make notes about their answer for later studying.
 Review: After reading, students should review the text to answer lingering questions and
recite the questions they previously answered.

Survey
In this step, also called scan or skim, you survey the entire assignment to get an overview. Our brains like
to know the general context of things in order to fit them together, so a survey of the entire book or article
helps you understand where the author is going. Insight into the structure, arrangement, and sequence of
the reading allows you to form a mental framework for it. For example, knowing that the author will be
developing a cause and effect argument lets you know that one or more causes will be discussed first, and
then a detailing of the effects.

For long works, such as an entire book or monograph, it is often helpful to draw out a visual
representation of the writing. A mind map, flow chart, or other diagram will allow you to keep track of
where you are in the argument or discussion. And if you need to return to the book later (studying for a
test, writing a research paper, or just in need of consulting it), the diagram will help you locate what you
need much faster and regain the context of the discussion.

Survey Procedure--Books

Survey the reading by following these steps.

  Read the blurbs on the dust jacket of the book (back cover for paperbacks)
 Look at the table of contents to see what the topics are and how the book is organized
 If present, read the objectives, overview, or chapter outlines.
 Page through the book, looking briefly at the major headings
 Read the major headings and subheadings of the first chapter.
 Read the discussion questions at the end of the first chapter.
 Look through the index to see what topics and what people are listed. This can give you a bit of
insight into what the author discusses.

Survey Procedure--Articles, Modules, Web pages

 Read the abstract or overview

 Read all the headings and subheadings
 Go to the end of the reading and read any section labeled "Summary," "Conclusion,"
"Application," or the like.

Question
Creating a few questions about the reading increases interest, curiosity, and attention to it, as you read
carefully in order to answer them. Questions can be created from your look at the chapters, pictures,
graphics, or from the map you drew. Here are some sample questions created about an article discussing
an archeological dig that found artifacts dated at 20,000 years old.

 What evidence will the author produce that will be convincing about the date of the artifacts?
 Will he respond to critics or alernative theories?
 What methods of dating will he use?
 This article was written twelve years ago. Have there been any responses to it? Is it still current?
How can I find out?
 I wonder what he means by "in situ anomaly"?

Read
 Read the work carefully and actively. Don't just sit back at breeze through it. If you own the book
(such as a textbook) or have a printout of the article, mark it up.
 Use a highlighter, or better, underline important phrases and sentences with a pen. Re-read the
sentences you mark as you mark them, so they will be remembered better.
 Write notes in the margin: summaries, paraphrases, agreements, objections, aditional examples,
counter examples, cross references etc.
 Draw diagrams or tables in white space areas of the reading, to graphically represent content. (For
example, a teeter totter or scale to show a balance or tradeoff between two things.)
 If you don't own the work or are reading from the screen, take notes about the key ideas .
 Copy sentences of importance (being sure to put quotation marks around them and citing the page
number)
  Create diagrams to show the structure of the argument (idea map, flowchart, fishbone diagram,
matrix)
 For all the reading, answer the questions you formulated earlier.

Recite
Reciting is the process of reproducing the important ideas from the reading. Here, "reproducing" means
any of the following:

 Recite out loud the key concepts you remember

 Explain to a friend, study buddy, or study group what the claims and evidence are, what your
evaluation is, what was important in the reading, or a summary of it.
 Summarize the material, in whole or by section or chapter
 Paraphrase important claims, ideas, or definitions
 Recite on paper or computer file by creating an outline, summary, comments, objections,
confirmations, additional examples, a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions with answers), a mind
map, or other recitation method
 Reciting is a powerful memory tool because it causes you to engage the material again (repetition
is a key to learning), requires that you work with and process the ideas, not just read them
(transforming reading material in some way enhances learning), and if you recite aloud by
reading your notes, you get the benefit of dual encoding--visual and auditory (eyes and ears)
channels are both activated.

Review
To review your reading experience, do this:

 Page through the assignment, re-reading the printed headings and subheadings, and also the
underlined or highlighted sentences, together with your notes in the margin (or notebook or word
processing file).
 Look again at the overview or abstract of the material, together with any summaries you created.
Check to see that the notes you made agree with the printed material.
 Review the questions and answers you created.
 Give a verbal summary and commentary on the reading assignment. You might pretend to give a
speech about it to a group of interested people.