Think about what kind of information you want to learn from the text before reading. Ask yourself why you're reading it in the first place, as well as what you already know about the subject. Knowing what you want out of your source material before reading it will help you read through the document more quickly, determining whether the document in question will help you acquire this information. This technique is also ideal for study groups that want to absorb more information on a particular subject.
SQ3R is a reading technique that stands for "Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review." This reading technique is ideal for someone reading about or approaching an unfamiliar subject for the first time, like a student reading textbook chapters at the beginning of class. First, do a quick survey of the chapter titles, headings and captions for a general overview. Using these chapter titles, ask yourself questions that will likely be answered in the text. Find the answers to these questions while reading. While you are reading, stop at some point to go over your questions, determining if they have been answered. Once the entire section is read, go back and review your questions and answers.
REDW stands for "Read, Examine, Decide and Write." If have difficulty understanding a text despite reading and rereading, this reading technique is meant to help you. First, read the passage you are having trouble understanding and try to figure out the main, broad idea behind it. Examine each sentence and determine the main idea of each sentence. This technique essentially involves breaking down a difficult passage into its smallest forms in order for it to be more easily consumed by the reader.
SQRW stands for "Survey, Question, Read, Write." Similar to SQ3R, this technique is for readers to approach a text or subject for the first time, except SQRW helps if note-taking is a requirement while reading. SQRW is generally quicker to use than SQ3R as it does not include the recite step. First, quickly survey chapter headings, titles and captions that reveal the general subject matter. Turn these brief headings into questions to ask yourself throughout reading. Read the text in the attempt to find the answers to these questions. Write down the questions and answers as you're reading.