Before reading an unfamiliar topic, pause to recall related ideas or experiences. Those connections give the new material somewhere to attach. A lesson on heat transfer, for example, may connect with cooking or an insulated cup.
Keep that starting knowledge provisional. A familiar analogy can help with one feature and mislead about another. After reading, return to your first notes and mark what was confirmed, corrected or left unresolved. Learning includes revising old connections as well as adding new ones.