Academic Resource Center

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Reading Support

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Reading Support Contact Info

Reading Support Coordinator

Joseph "Jay" Spencer

Joseph.Spencer@ucr.edu

Office No. (951) 827-4385

Remote No. (951) 335-0923

Appointment Times

Monday 9:00 
Tuesday

11:00, 2:00,

4:00
Wednesday 2:00, 4:00
Thursday 4:00
Friday 10:00, 11:00

* See Google form to the right for requesting other days and times.

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 see our appointment system, Accudemia, or 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 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.

Reading Workshops

The following Workshops are scheduled for Winter 2021. They will be held via Zoom. Please register through Accudemia to receive the Zoom meeting link.

Intro to "Close Reading"

This 45 minute workshop is designed to assess the reading strategies that students are using in their courses and to identify specific expectations that instructors/professors have regarding "close reading" strategies. 

  • Wednesday, January 13, 2021,   11:00 to 11:45 
  • Wednesday, January 13, 2021,    3:00 to 3:45
  • Wednesday, January 20, 2021,   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.

  • Wednesday, January 27, 2021,   11:00 to 11:45
  • Wednesday, January 27, 2021,    3:00 to  3:45

Two sample research articles (These samples will be analyzed during the workshop.)

  1. Computer Science Research Article: 
  2. Psychopathology Research Article

 

Navigating STEM Review Articles

This 45 minute workshop will address the organization of STEM and behavioral science review articles. 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, February 3, 2021,   11:00 to 11:45
  • Wednesday, February 3, 2021,    3:00 to 3:45

Two sample literature review articles (These samples will be analyzed during the workshop.)

  1. Periodic Limb Movement During Sleep REVIEW ARTICLE 
  2. Computational Biology REVIEW ARTICLE

 

Understanding Point of View Popularized Science Articles

This 45 minute workshop will look at the role of the author in reporting research that was originally communicated to a specialized field/audience and how the author establishes credibility for the ideas presented. We will also look at how the author manages the complexity of original research articles for a less specialized audience. Articles will be used from Scientific American and Science Daily.

  • February 17, 2021,   11:00 to 11:45
  • February 17, 2021,    3:00 to 3:45

Inquiry Focused Reading 

This 45 minute workshop will address ways to identify questions that guide students' reading and/or text selection. We will also look at questioning ideas from texts and making connections to other sources. Attendees should feel free to bring texts that they are working in their classes. There will be time to use reading strategies with these or sample texts. 

  • Thursday, January 28, 2021,   3:00 to 3:45 
 

Identifying  Points of View in Assigned Readings:  Understanding First Person, Second Person, and Third Person Perspectives"

  • Thursday, February 4, 2021,        3:00 to 3:45
  • Wednesday, February 10, 2021,   11:00 to 11:45
  • Wednesday, February 10, 2021,   3:00 to 3:45

NOTE We will look at how these pronouns affect points of view. 

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:

  1. Click on the blue Accudemia logo above or on the ARC's main webpage: https://arc.ucr.edu/
  2. Log on to Accudemia. Use your SID as both the User ID and the password.
  3. Click on "New Appointment"
  4. For Service, choose "Reading Support"
  5. For Activity, search for "Reading Workshop" and choose the date you want to attend.
  6. 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.