How can CBSE class X students improve their reading skills?

A vast syllabus and poor reading skills are two main reasons that make CBSE class X students take to cramming while they prepare for their final exams. Right from the start, students are discouraged both by parents and school teachers from ‘mindless’ cramming and are advised to understand the meaning of the text before they actually try to memorize it. The intention is to improve their reading skills. Good ‘reading skills’ can help students read quickly and grasp the meaning from the written text. Good reading skills also helps develop a good command over the language which makes it easy for students to re-write in their own words. However, very little is actually done to improve the reading skills of students in school. Essentially, a focus towards developing sound reading skills should be maintained from the early years of primary schooling. However, it is never too late for students of CBSE class X to build on their reading skills and score great marks in final examinations.

Now that all you CBSE class X students out there understand the importance of good reading skills, here are a few tips that will help you improve your reading skills.

• Have clear reading goals! Before starting to read, students should set their reading goals clearly. CBSE class X students should first assess their reading objective/s and then should start reading the text. For example, while reading a novel, one is expected to read the entire sentence carefully so as to understand the story as a whole and ensure that he/she is not missing out on any important link. Where as in case of a newspaper report the objective usually is to gather a gist of the event. Likewise, the CBSE class 10 students should keep in mind the objective of the reading exercise and accordingly set their reading goals. The reading goals for a student could possibly range from quickly completing the syllabus to trying to understand the various aspects of a given topic or problem in detail.
• Choose the reading text carefully! While preparing for your CBSE class X board papers, students should practice caution while choosing the book that they are planning to study from. To improve reading skills students should first give the prescribed NCERT book a thorough read. Since the concepts in NCERT books are explained in a very simplified manner, it can be of immense help to students with relatively weak reading skills to make a framework for the concepts. After going through the NCERT book, CBSE class X students may then follow it up with books by publishers on the topic to gain further understanding of the topic.
• Choose your reading technique! While giving the chapter a read, student can choose the reading technique as per their reading goals. If a student needs to pick up details from the text then he/she may read through the entire text using scanning -a process wherein a student scans through the text in detail and then selects the information to study. Skimming, on the other hand is technique that can be employed when one has to read through quickly and efficiently. Under this technique, the CBSE class X student glances through all the text and obtains a quick overview of the topic. In order to improve reading skills, students should choose the reading technique according to the available time and proficiency level that he/she intends to achieve.
• Take notes!  CBSE class X students, who wish to improve their reading skills, should follow up a thorough read of the chapter with preparing personalized notes of the chapter in their own words. Preparing notebook in own words will not only help the student improve his/her understanding of the topic but will also help them learn how to express their thoughts in their own words.  Students can prepare their own revision notes and compare their notes for any inaccuracies with those made available online by a variety of websites.

Now that all you CBSE class X students know how to improve your reading skills, take a go at these tips for a great score.