Reading Comprehension

Skimming and Scanning

How can we improve our reading?

Two important techniques include:Skimming

Scanning

SKIMMING

What is Skimming?

“To read quickly to get the general idea

of a passage”

When Skimming

Don’t read everything but try to skip the text.

Read the first and last sentences of paragraphs.

Read the introduction and the summary.

Read a few examples until you understand the concepts they are meant to illustrate.

Not stoppi

ng

First and Last

paragraph

Topic sentenc

es

Read fast

Getting The Gist

How to SKIM ?

Read the title.

Read the subtitle or introduction.

Read the first sentences of each paragraph.

Notice any picture, charts, or graphics.

Read the summary or last paragraph if there is one.

Let’s practice skimming using the questions below.

Choose a heading that best matches the upcoming paragraph. Remember to underline your key words.

• Parents are to blame for the state of children today.

• A report with many conclusions and worries about the United Kingdom.

• Growing up unhappy generation

• There are so many social problems young people face today.

Let’s skim the first and last sentences from the passage.

In recent years, evidence has been collected which suggests that the proportion of British children and teenagers who are unhappy is higher than in many other developed countries around the world. For example, a recently published report set out to measure ‘ well-being’ among young people in nineteen European countries, found that the United Kingdom came bottom. The report was based on statistics and surveys in which young people answered questions on a wide range of subject. The United Kingdom is a relatively unequal country with a relatively high proportion of young people living in households. With less than half the national average income. This seems to have a negative effect on how they feel about themselves.

So what’s our answer?Choose the heading that best matches the previous

paragraph.a. Parents are to blame for the state of children today

b. A report with many conclusions and worries about the United Kingdomc. Growing up unhappy generation

d. There are so many social problems young people face today

SCANNING

Search for specific information ( key words )

Particular NameTelephone NumberDate The Cosine “32°”

Program

Number

Scanning – Get only what you need.

• Scanning is rapidly running your eyes over the text in order to locate specific details.

Three steps to scanning include:

search for key words

move quickly over the

page

Less reading and

more searching

Let’s practice Scanning using the question below.

• How many European countries are in first report?Remember to underline your key words.

Number

What is your key word?

Now let’s scan for the info we selected.In recent years, evidence has been collected which suggests that the proportion of British children and teenagers who are unhappy is higher than in many other developed countries around the world. For example, a recently published report set out to measure ‘ well-being’ among young people in nineteen European countries, found that the United Kingdom came bottom. The report was based on statistics and surveys in which young people answered questions on a wide range of subject. The United Kingdom is a relatively unequal country with a relatively high proportion of young people living in households. With less than half the national average income. This seems to have a negative effect on how they feel about themselves.

How many European countries are in the first report?

Nineteen

Scanning RecipesChocolate Chip Fudgy

BrowniesIngredients

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

• 1 cup butter, cubed• 4 eggs• 2 cups sugar• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract• 1 cup all-purpose flour• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet

chocolate chips• 1 cup chopped pecans, optional

• Confectioners' sugar

Directions

• In a microwave, melt unsweetened chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla for 1-2 minutes or until light and lemon-colored. Beat in chocolate mixture. Add flour; beat just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips and pecans if desired.

• Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool on a wire rack.

• Cut into bars. To serve, dust with confectioners' sugar or freeze. Brownies may be frozen for up to 6 months. Yield: 16-20 servings.

Scan the recipe to answer the following questions

1. How much flour is used?

1 Cup

2. What do you need to melt?

Chocolate chips and butter

4. How long do you need to bake the brownies for?

25-30 minutes

5. You can freeze the brownies for up to a year. (T/F) False. Six months

More scanning activities

Turn to page 41 in your book.

1. Find the following words in the text. When you are finished raise your hand.

Pregnancy, Obesity, Strokes, Middle-Aged, Team, Vitally, History

Questions Cont.

2. What is the name of the university that conducted the study?

3. How many mothers were surveyed?

4. Find a word that means “critically”.

5. Find a word that means “get better”

6. Find a word that is the opposite of “decrease”.

7. In the last sentence, what does the word ”process” refer to?

So…………..

Skim• to understand the general idea of a passage

Scan• for specific words, numbers, details or answers.

OBJECTIVES AND

BENEFITS FOR

SCANNING AND

SKIMMING

identify topics for reading

to know the opinions of

people

to determine

the organization of writing

to get the important

part that we need a

whole and no reading

to refresh what we've

read

As for the benefits, among others:

can search for a specific information needed from a text reading or books quickly and efficiently.

1.

can explore the many pages of the book in a short time.

2.

not too much of a waste of time looking for something

3.

Conclusion

We skim to get the idea of what a document is about and typically skim all documents before we actually begin to read.

Skimming and scanning is used when reading all types of documents.

As we skim, we… think about the topic think about what we already know about the

topic start to guess or anticipate the details we are

going to read about. We scan for specific information We work quickly when we skim and scan.

Thank You