The same skills and teaching techniques are used for effective reading no matter what the subject area is. Primarily, the main idea of the passage should be determined. What is the purpose of the author for writing this passage? What was his goal or the meaning which he wished to convey to the reader? What are the important details of the story or material? There are many ways in which the teacher can train the student to recognize the answers to these important questions. One of the most critical ways to do this is to teach the student how to outline a story.
First of all, the teacher may teach the student to write topics and subtopics. The topic is the equivalent to the main idea of the passage. The subtopics are the important details involving this main idea. The student should be taught how to make an outline examining this. For example, if the topic is "Trees," then the different types of trees would be the subtopic, and the characteristics of each of these trees would be the details beneath each sub topic. Usually Roman numerals, numbers, and then letters are used to write a formal outline and this technique should be taught by the teacher and practiced by the students. The following would be an example of this:
A. I. Characteristics of Trees
1. Types of Trees
The types of techniques which are useful for teaching the reading of English, Social Studies, Science and Math selections are examined.