IMPROVING   READING   FLUENCY.
As a student you are faced with the need to read a lot of information. You will not get the most out of the time you allot for studying if you read inefficiently. Here are some ways you can improve your reading fluency. Do your heaviest reading assignments when you are most alert. A physical task takes more time to accomplish when you are tired. The same is true for a reading task. Focus on what you are reading. Your reading will be slowed if you are distracted. Distractions can be external such as a TV playing, or internal such as worrying about something you have to do the next day. Look over the reading material before you begin reading. You can quickly scan a page by looking for headings, bullet points, and things in bold. As you do this you may find that there is some text you can skip. Avoid reading word by word. Try to read blocks of words. Your eyes can take in four to five words at a time. Work on expanding the number of words you can read at a time. Don't pronounce each word in your head as you read it. The action of pronouncing words, even if not aloud, slows you down. Use a pen or pencil or even your finger as a pacer. Your eyes and brain will try to keep up with the pace you set. You can work on increasing your pace of reading. Avoid straining your eyes. Reading with insufficient light, at an uncomfortable angle, or in bed lying down can result in eye fatigue that will slow your reading or cause you to stop for periods of time. Blinking your eyes from time to time can help ease eyestrain. Try not to let your eyes stay in the same place on the page for too long. Move on whenever you find yourself stuck. Don't use a highlighter. If you do, you are likely to pay excessive attention to everything on the page. Avoid going back to read something unless absolutely necessary. Rereading interrupts your reading flow and slows you down. You can always go back later to review material. Focus on key words in the sentences. You can read more fluently by quickly moving past conjunctions (e.g., and), prepositions (e.g., as), and articles (e.g., a). A visitor to New York City asked a passerby how he could get to Carnegie Hall. The New Yorker replied "practice, practice, practice." The same advice applies to improving your reading fluency.

TYPES  OF   INFORMATION  SOURCES.
As you conduct research when writing a paper, you will come across various sources of information. The various sources are typically classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary. Your teacher may require you to include each of these sources of information as the basis of your paper. A description of each type of information source is shown below. Examples are provided for each. Primary Information Sources A primary information source provides direct or firsthand information about an event, person, object, or work of art. Primary sources are contemporary to what they describe. They are original materials which have not been interpreted, condensed, or evaluated by a second party. Here are some examples of primary information sources. Diaries Experiments Poems Personal correspondences Speeches Paintings Interviews Annual reports of an organization or agency Patents Court records Secondary Information Sources A secondary information source analyzes, interprets, or discusses information about a primary information source. Secondary sources are subsequent to what they describe, as they are produced at some point after a primary information source appears. Papers written by students typically contain mostly secondary sources. Here are some examples of secondary information sources. Textbooks Biographies Magazine articles Book reviews Histories Tertiary Information Sources A tertiary information source lists, compiles, or indexes primary and secondary information sources. These sources are most often used to look up facts or to get a general idea about something. Here are some examples of tertiary information sources. Almanacs Chronologies Directories Manuals Handbooks Guidebooks Indexes Statistics The specific types of primary, secondary, and tertiary information sources you might use when writing a paper depends upon the subject of your paper. For example, if you were writing about the Civil War, you might use a Civil War soldier's diary as a primary source, a book about the Civil War as a secondary source, and a list of Civil War battle sites as a tertiary source. Use these three types of information sources as needed when writing a paper.

MATHEMATICS  STUDY  SKILLS.
Math is a unique subject. It involves symbols, formulas, specific procedures, textbooks that look different, and many unique words and terms. Consequently, it is important to use study skills that apply particularly well to math. Here are some you should use. You can't learn math just by reading and listening. Much of math learning involves actively doing. This means that you must do all of your math homework and assignments. This is essential to learning how to use formulas and procedures. Math is a sequential subject. What is taught on a given day is based upon what was taught before. Once you fall behind, it is very difficult to catch up. Cramming at the last minute will not help you. Be certain to attend every class and keep up with your teacher. Math is a difficult subject that becomes increasingly complex. You may have to spend more study time on this subject than on your other subjects. Don't try to memorize your way through math. There are simply too many formulas and procedures. Try to master the key concepts. This will reduce the amount of information you will need to remember. Once you learn a procedure for solving a problem, that same procedure can often be used to solve other problems. When presented with a new problem, try to apply your past learning to the new problem. Learn the vocabulary of math. Often, a word used in math has a different meaning than that same word when used outside of math. For example, volume in math refers to the amount of space within a solid figure. Outside of math, volume can refer to a book or to loudness. Write new math words and terms and their math meanings in a special place in your notebook. Math is a subject that makes many students very anxious. As simple as it sounds, having confidence in yourself can reduce your anxiety. These math study tips can help you succeed in math. But don't be too proud to seek help when you realize that you need more than tips such as these and super effort to succeed.