Opening up your textbooks for the first time as you begin your firefighter promotional exam prep can be really daunting. Don’t let your textbooks get the best of you, try using the THIEVES method as you read through them to get the most out of your study sessions.
T.H.I.E.V.E.S.
The THIEVES reading technique allows you to get an overview of what it is you will be reading in the chapter by asking yourself questions before you just jump into the text. Even though it may seem like extra work, the THIEVES method will help you better understand what it is you are reading, and save you time in the long run. THIEVES works by activating previous knowledge that was gained by pre-reading the textbook which increases your overall comprehension.
Title
The first step in the THIEVES reading method is the title. Simply read the title of the book, then move on and read the title of the first chapter, then every chapter after that. If you want to have full reading comprehension, you need to ask questions even before you begin reading. Once you read the title of the chapter, ask yourself some questions. Do you have any prior knowledge of this topic? If so, what is it? What do you think you will learn in this chapter of the book?, and so on.
Headings
Next, you will read the heading for that chapter to see what will be included. You will then want to convert these headings into questions, just like you did with the title to get a better idea of what kind of information will be presented in the chapter. Some questions you may ask yourself are, how has the author divided up the information in each section? How do these topics connect to each other and the overall theme of the chapter? The heading gives the reader the opportunity to determine and make predictions about the information in the text before you dive into it.
Introduction
Find the chapter introduction and read it. Based on the title of the chapter and the headings, did your previous questions align with what the introduction is saying? Then think of what other questions you have after reading the introduction. The introduction gives you a preview of what’s to come in the chapter once you start reading.
Every First Sentence
Next step, you will read every first sentence of each section in the chapter you are reading. This will help you determine what each section will be about. Are your thoughts aligning with what you are reading? If so, great! Keep reading each section, if not, think about the differences and make more predictions based on the new information you are reading. Reading every first sentence of each section prior to reading the chapter allows you to get an idea of what the main ideas of each section of the text are before you read, allowing you to make predictions and connections before you read the text in its entirety.
Visual & Vocabulary
Now you will look at the photos in the chapter, the words in bold, and the information on the sides of the pages. What are you seeing? Ask yourself, how does this information relate to the information you have already read? Why are the words in bold important to this chapter? Why did they choose to include these visuals? What information am I getting from these visuals that I couldn’t get otherwise? The visuals allow you to see information in a new way that may help you better understand it.
End of Chapter Questions
Once you have looked at all of the visuals in the chapter, you will then go to the very end of the chapter and check out the questions. Determine if you can answer the questions yet. Determine if the questions align with your predictions of what you thought the chapter was going to be about. After reading the questions, make new predictions about the content of the chapter. Reading the end of chapter questions before you actually read the text itself allows you to recognize what the important topics are while you read.
Summary
The final step before you begin reading the chapter is to read the summary of the chapter. Does the summary connect all the ideas and topics you read prior to it? Are your predictions about the chapter correct? After completing all of the THIEVES steps, what do you think the chapter will be about? Reading the summary allows you to connect all of the previous information you have read and help you get a full understanding of what the chapter will be about before you even start reading.
Once you have completed all seven steps of the THIEVES pre-reading strategy, it is time to read.
The Takeaway
The THIEVES method will give you a head start to successfully read your textbook. You are essentially giving yourself a roadmap to what you need to know and understand before you even start reading the chapter in full. Using the THIEVES method to pre-read your textbooks will make your firefighter promotional exam prep so much easier. It may seem like it will add a lot of time to your study sessions, but it should only add a few minutes to each chapter which will end up saving you time in the end and keep you motivated to keep going.