Sight-reading is great practice because it gives you an opportunity to apply all the skills you've learned up to this point. So, what is the best way to approach sight-reading? Here are 4 questions I always ask my students before we play:
1. What is the key signature?
2. What is the time signature?
3. Where do you see accidentals?
3. Where are the repeats? (Note: 1st and 2nd endings, D.C. al fine, D.C. al coda, D.S. al fine, D.S. al coda)
Finally, find the passage with the smallest note value in the piece. (Is it an eighth note? Sixteenth note? Triplets?) Select a tempo at which you are comfortable sight-reading that passage, even if this means you will be playing the "easier" passages slower than usual.
I hope these tips will be useful to you the next time you sight-read. Remember, as with any other skill, the more you practice, the more comfortable you will feel!