You’re a humanities person. Give you a novel, a poem, even a dusty old history reading, and you’re golden. But tonight, you‘re staring down the barrel of a 30-page biology reading on photosynthesis due for your 9am lecture. You open the file on your laptop. The font is tiny. You’ve never felt more like the opposite of Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus — there’s no magical bus, no zany adventures, just a lot of confusing diagrams and words you can barely pronounce.

But there’s a proven strategy that can help you tackle tough readings, even for subjects (you think) you may not enjoy. Anyone can use it — and it’s especially helpful for students with dyslexia, who can have trouble processing words when they read, making any assignment feel extra challenging.

The strategy is called SQ3R, which stands for Survey, Question, and the three “Rs”: read, recite, and review. With SQ3R, the goal is comprehension. Whether you’re struggling to understand a particular subject or struggle with dense reading assignments in general, SQ3R can help you engage with the text in a way that helps you actually retain it. Here’s how it works.

Survey

The S in SQ3R stands for “Survey.” Think of your brain as a spy on a recon mission, quickly scouting out the landscape of the text. You’re looking for the Big Picture: What is this about? And what are the most important points?

Start by skimming the text for headings, bolded terms, charts, graphs, and other key visuals. In a notebook, jot those words down — and if the definitions aren’t given, look them up now. Creating your own mini-dictionary puts you in the position to manage your own comprehension, explains Caroline Mendel, PsyD, a psychologist at the Child Mind Institute. You’re building a mental map so that when you start reading in detail, nothing feels completely unfamiliar.

Take that chapter about plants and photosynthesis, for example. Okay, so the overall idea is plants using sunlight and water to make sugary food. A quick survey might show it’s split into three sections: “anatomy of a chloroplast,” “light-dependent reactions,” and “light-independent reactions.” You’ll probably notice some scientific diagrams, equations, and challenging vocabulary, too. The concepts might not mean anything right now, but that’s okay. Having them written down is the first step.

Question

The Q in SQ3R stands for “Question.” Take what you just surveyed and flip it into questions. This helps guide your curiosity. Instead of avoiding confusion, welcome it.

See a heading like “light-independent reactions” and feel a little lost? Perfect — turn that into questions: What’s the difference between light-dependent and light-independent reactions? Why does it matter? Spot a cool diagram of something called a chloroplast? Ask: Why is a chloroplast important?

You can also use more generic questions — What is this chapter about? What is this section about and how does it fit with the larger topic?

If you want, you can write these questions down, too. The point is, they set up a scavenger hunt for you to find the answers.

The Three Rs

 Now it’s time to Read, the first of the three Rs. Start reading the first section or chapter of the text. Keep your questions in mind (or at hand) and actively look for the answers. If writing things down helps you retain information (same here!), take some light notes. Once you are done reading a section, close the book.

 This next step is called Recite. Summarize what you learned in your own words and practice answering your questions out loud. Don’t stress over sounding awkward or wrong. The whole point is to reveal gaps in your understanding so if you need to re-read some of the text, you can look for what you don’t know.

For example, if you’re answering, “Why is a chloroplast important?” You might say, "It has chlorophyll that traps solar energy. It’s also the primary site for photosynthesis."

The final R is Review, which means going back to the material multiple times to reinforce your understanding, rather than cramming.

If you read a section on Sunday night, try quizzing yourself on Tuesday. You might ask yourself, “Where is the primary site for photosynthesis, again?”

Making SQ3R work for you

Experts also advise creating flashcards and moving your questions away from the textbook page. Without relying on visual memory cues from the text layout, you're more likely to recall the information from memory, just like you’ll need to do during exams.

With SQ3R in your toolbox, you’re not just reading: You’re learning with purpose, curiosity, and confidence. And remember, flexibility is key — adjusting SQ3R to fit how you learn best, and layering in tools like assistive technology, can make the process more effective. So the next time a dense biology reading catches you off guard or slows your momentum, take a breath. You’ve got what it takes to make an overwhelming subject manageable, even meaningful.

And who knows? Maybe you had more in common with Ms. Frizzle than you thought you did.