University of Florida
School of Music

Reading and Memory Techniques
-SQ3R-

The Five Steps

SURVEY:  Quickly establish the overall content of a chapter before reading it.  Locate major ideas only.  Topic sentences, headings, and the summary or concluding paragraph are typical areas to survey.  Read only to locate the basic ideas of the chapter.  Don't spend more than a few minutes on this step.

QUESTION:  Concentrate in the first heading or topic sentence and turn it into a question.  This question establishes a purpose for reading.  The reader has to stay alert in order to answer it.

READ:  Carefully read to find the information that answers the questions concisely.  Streamline your answer so that trivial information is eliminated.

RECITE:  After reading the first subsection of the chapter, the reader should demonstrate memory by writing or speaking aloud a brief answer to the question without looking at the text.  Use your own words whenever possible.  Complete this step by jotting down answers on a separate piece of paper.  After reciting, always verify the accuracy of your reply by checking the text.  If your answer was incorrect or incomplete, try again until you remember correctly.  Proceed by repeating steps 2-4 until the chapter is completed.

REVIEW:  After you have completed the chapter by using steps 2-4, review everything once more.  Quickly reread your notes to establish again the major idea of the chapter and their relationship to each other.  Then test your memory of each important concept once more.  Cover the notes section by section and recite the major points first.  Then uncover each major point and try to recall its key examples.

* from "Reading with a Purpose," a workshop presented by Trisha Suggs, Coordinator of Student Support Services for the UF College of Engineering.  trish@eng.ufl.edu