Not all Saturday mornings are for sleeping in. Twenty-six sophomores from Kelloggsville, Godwin Heights, Godfrey Lee, and Wyoming arrived on campus bright and early this weekend to learn strategies to improve reading comprehension and retention during a speed reading and memory workshop led by Iris Reading.
During speed drills, students practiced guiding the eyes with their hands over lines of text to combat habits of fixation, regression, and sub vocalization. To apply the Inspect Method to standardized exams, students practiced reading first sentences of paragraphs in a sample test passage, reading the questions, reading the entire passage, and then answering the questions.
GEAR UP Wyoming students also learned about mind maps, chunking, alliteration, exaggeration, and visualization techniques to form powerful associations to remember what they are reading and studying.
Because new skills require practice on the pathway to mastery, students left the workshop with two challenges: to continue speed drills for fifteen minutes each day for the next two weeks; and to use the 20/80 principle to inspect one book per day for the next seven days.
After the morning session at GRCC’s Student Center, students moved to the streets to spend the afternoon exploring and enjoying the many interesting ArtPrize exhibits in downtown Grand Rapids.
GEAR UP Wyoming provides academic enrichment, college prep, and career exploration activities to the Class of 2024 at Wyoming, Godfrey Lee, Godwin Heights, and Kelloggsville. The grant also offers professional development opportunities to districts math teachers and counselors and helps parents increase their college prep knowledge.
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