FREE Textbook canon LESSON · Textbook canon
Read for claims and dependencies
From page sequence to knowledge structure
A chapter is an argument, not a container of facts.
Before reading, name the question and inspect the structure. During reading, separate definitions, claims, mechanisms, examples, and evidence. Draw prerequisite arrows and mark every inferential jump you cannot reproduce. After reading, close the source and reconstruct the central chain from memory before taking polished notes.
Highlighting records recognition; reconstruction exposes missing structure.
Notes can become a second unread textbook.
Transcription preserves volume but not retrieval paths. Keep notes around questions, compressed models, counterexamples, and links to prior concepts. Store enough source metadata to return and verify, but spend effort on transformations that require judgment: derive, compare, predict, implement, and challenge.
The unit of progress is a capability, not pages consumed.