Reading Support
Reading Support Contact Info
Reading Support Coordinator
Joseph "Jay" Spencer
Office No. (951) 827-4385
Remote No. (951) 335-0923
Reading Support
Reading Support, or let us say "reading," is more than recognizing and saying the words on a page or screen. What we do when we read is complex; we apply knowledge of sounds, letters, grammar, content, disciplinary practices, and much more. College readers also consider who texts are written for, when the texts were written, and the purpose of specific texts. To explore these considerations we offer one to one consultations, focused reading workshops, and vetted resources and strategies on our webpage.
Reading Support services can assist students from most subject areas--we encourage reading support in foreign language courses be directed to language tutors and/or instructors. The goal for reading support is to unpack reading practices essential to reading for understanding. If you would like to make an appointment with our professional staff member, please use the form below under "Reading: Resources & Strategies."
Our Reading services also consist of support for faculty and courses. These services may consist of focused workshops and/or presentations for their students and are meant to be a complement to the course instruction. For example, if faculty would like a text annotated or discussed in addition to what was done for the course, we can arrange individual or small group reading workshops. Faculty may also refer individual students to our services. We encourage faculty to email Jay Spencer at Joseph.Spencer@ucr.edu to begin discussion and planning.
Reading: Resources & Strategies
These resources and strategies in the following sections are selected to help clarify and develop college reading practices. Feel free to email Jay Spencer at Joseph.Spencer@ucr.edu for additional help with reading practices and enhancing comprehension of selected readings.
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Reading Grammatically
Coming Soon
- Understanding sentence types and boundaries
- Reading commas
- What do first person, second person, and third person perspectives suggest in readings?
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Reading for Comprehension
Close Reading Strategies:
- Click on this link for "Methods for Close Reading" handout.
- This essay provides strategies for reading and understanding writing assignments.
- Click on this link for an explanation of Close Reading from Purdue OWL.
Metacognitive Reading:
- Metacognitive Reading Phrases: Reading to connect with texts
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Reading to Connect Ideas (Intertextuality)
Coming Soon
- Authors vs. source material
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To Schedule an Appointment
Students, please use this form to request a one to one meeting with Jay Spencer. Please allow us two to three days to schedule and finalize appointments. You will receive an email confirming your scheduled Zoom appointment with Jay Spencer. Appointments will start on the hour (ex. 1:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m.).
If you have any questions, please email Jay Spencer at Joseph.Spencer@ucr.edu or call (951) 335 - 0923.
Reading Workshops
The following Workshops are scheduled for Fall 2020. They will be held via Zoom. Please register through Accudemia to receive the Zoom meeting link.
Intro to "Close Reading"
- Tuesday, October 13, 2020, 11:00 to 11:45
- Wednesday, October 14, 2020, 3:00 to 3:45
- Thursday, November 5, 2020, 3:00 to 3:45
Navigating STEM Research Articles
This 45 minute workshop will address the common organization of "original research articles." We will be looking at various STEM and behavioral science articles. Feel free to bring your own article as we will be looking at the purpose of specific sections in breakout rooms.
- Tuesday, October 27, 2020, 11:00 to 11:45
- Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 3:00 to 3:45
Two sample research articles (These samples will be analyzed during the workshop.)
Navigating STEM Literature Review Articles
This 45 minute workshop will address the organization of STEM and behavioral science literature reviews. We will observe topic flow and the purpose of specific sections. Feel free to bring your own article as we will be looking at the purpose of specific sections in breakout rooms.
- Wednesday, November 4, 2020, 3:00 to 3:45
- Tuesday, November 10, 2020, 11:00 to 11:45
Two sample literature review articles (These samples will be analyzed during the workshop.)
Developing Inquisitive Reading Practices
This 45 minute workshops will address ways to question ideas from texts and make connections to other texts and related ideas. Attendees should feel free to bring texts that they are working on for classes. There will be time to use strategies with these or sample texts.
Thursday, November 12, 2020, 3:00 to 3:45 (Updated*)
"Defining Points of View: Understanding First Person, Second Person, and Third Person Perspectives"
Tuesday, October 20, 2020, 11:00 to 11:45
Wednesday, October 21, 2020, 3:00 to 3:45
NOTE We are looking at how these perspectives affect the audience.
| First person pronouns: | I, me, mine, my, we, our, ours |
| Second person pronouns: | you, your, yours |
| Third person pronouns: | he, she, they, her, him, them, hers, his, their, theirs |
All workshops will be held via Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, please complete the following steps:
- Click on the blue Accudemia logo above or on the ARC's main webpage: https://arc.ucr.edu/
- Log on to Accudemia. Use your SID as both the User ID and the password.
- Click on "New Appointment"
- For Service, choose "Reading Support"
- For Activity, search for "Reading Workshop" and choose the date you want to attend.
- NOTE: You will have to use the "Prev" and "Next" buttons or the calendar icon to select the date.
You will automatically receive a link to the workshop in your UCR email.
Click the titles to the left to see lists of reading topics and dates.