Students will learn some reading strategies for improving reading comprehension process.

EXPLANATION

SKIMMING & SCANNING

Skimming and scanning are reading techniques that use rapid eye movement and keywords to move quickly through text for slightly different purposes. Skimming is reading rapidly in order to get a general overview of the material. Scanning is reading rapidly in order to find specific facts. While skimming tells you what general information is within a section, scanning helps you locate a particular fact. Skimming is like snorkeling, and scanning is more like pearl diving.

Use skimming in previewing (reading before you read), reviewing (reading after you read), determining the main idea from a long selection you don't wish to read, or when trying to find source material for a research paper.

Use scanning in research to find particular facts, to study fact-heavy topics, and to answer questions requiring factual support.

Skimming to save time
Skimming can save you hours of laborious reading. However, it is not always the most appropriate way to read. It is very useful as a preview to a more detailed reading or when reviewing a selection heavy in content. But when you skim, you may miss important points or overlook the finer shadings of meaning, for which rapid reading or perhaps even study reading may be necessary.

Use skimming to overview your textbook chapters or to review for a test. Use skimming to decide if you need to read something at all, for example during the preliminary research for a paper. Skimming can tell you enough about the general idea and tone of the material, as well as its gross similarity or difference from other sources, to know if you need to read it at all.

To skim, prepare yourself to move rapidly through the pages. You will not read every word; you will pay special attention to typographical cues-headings, boldface and italic type, indenting, bulleted and numbered lists. You will be alert for key words and phrases, the names of people and places, dates, nouns, and unfamiliar words. In general, follow these steps:

1.Read the table of contents or chapter overview to learn the main divisions of ideas.

2.Glance through the main headings in each chapter just to see a word or two. Read the headings of charts and tables.

3.Read the entire introductory paragraph and then the first and last sentence only of each following paragraph. For each paragraph, read only the first few words of each sentence or to locate the main idea.

4.Stop and quickly read the sentences containing keywords indicated in boldface or italics.

5.When you think you have found something significant, stop to read the entire sentence to make sure. Then go on the same way. Resist the temptation to stop to read details you don't need.

6.Read chapter summaries when provided.

If you cannot complete all the steps above, compromise: read only the chapter overviews and summaries, for example, or the summaries and all the boldfaced keywords. When you skim, you take a calculated risk that you may miss something. For instance, the main ideas of paragraphs are not always found in the first or last sentences (although in many textbooks they are). Ideas you miss you may pick up in a chapter overview or summary.

Good skimmers do not skim everything at the same rate or give equal attention to everything. While skimming is always faster than your normal reading speed, you should slow down in the following situations:

When you skim introductory and concluding paragraphs

When you skim topic sentences

When you find an unfamiliar word

When the material is very complicated

Scanning for research and study
Scanning, too, uses keywords and organizational cues. However, while the goal of skimming is a bird's-eye view of the material, the goal of scanning is to locate and swoop down on particular facts.

Facts may be buried within long text passages that have relatively little else to do with your topic or claim. Skim this material first to decide if it is likely to contain the facts you need. Don't forget to scan tables of contents, summaries, indexes, headings, and typographical cues. To make sense of lists and tables, skim them first to understand how they are organized: alphabetical, chronological, or most-to-least, for example. If after skimming you decide the material will be useful, go ahead and scan:

1.Know what you're looking for. Decide on a few key words or phrases–search terms, if you will. You will be a flesh-and-blood search engine.

2.Look for only one keyword at a time. If you use multiple keywords, do multiple scans.

3.Let your eyes float rapidly down the page until you find the word or phrase you want.

4.When your eye catches one of your keywords, read the surrounding material carefully.

Scanning to answer questions
If you are scanning for facts to answer a specific question, one step is already done for you: the question itself supplies the keywords. Follow these steps:

1.Read each question completely before starting to scan. Choose your keywords from the question itself.

2.Look for answers to only one question at a time. Scan separately for each question.

3.When you locate a keyword, read the surrounding text carefully to see if it is relevant.

4.Re-read the question to determine if the answer you found answers this question.

Scanning is a technique that requires concentration and can be surprisingly tiring. You may have to practice at not allowing your attention to wander. Choose a time and place that you know works for you and dive in.

Retrieved from: http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/rea...

Read the exercises and solve them

The Golden Gate Bridge

Some of the most important landmarks in the United States include feats of architecture and modern engineering. San Francisco, California, is a beautiful city on its own, but it is also home to The Golden Gate Bridge, a 17-mile suspension bridge connecting the San Francisco Peninsula to the Marin Headlands. The bridge holds the title of one of the Wonders of the Modern World according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.

One of the most popular ways to appreciate the bridge is to take an excursion to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area just outside of San Francisco. The park contains hiking trails, great spots for picnicking, and offers some of the best vantage points for panoramic photographs of the bridge leading into the city.

David recently had some friends visit him in San Francisco, and he made sure to include a visit to the recreation area as part of their tour. They enjoyed walking through the trails, observing some of the native wildlife, and even having a casual picnic in the park. David’s friends were thankful that he guided them through this impressive area of California. They made sure to take a group photograph with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. David’s friends had the picture framed, and they later presented it to David in order to thank him for his hospitality during their stay.

What two places does the Golden Gate Bridge connect?

a San Francisco and Sacramento

b San Francisco and Alcatraz Island

c San Francisco and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area

d San Francisco and the Marin Headlands

San Francisco is situated upon what kind of land mass?

a An island

b An isthmus

c A valley

d A peninsula

What group of professionals named the bridge a Wonder of the Modern World?

a architects

b politicians

c engineers

d ecologists

Where is the best place for visitors to enjoy views of the bridge?

a Alcatraz Island

b A boat tour through San Francisco Bay

c Golden Gate National Recreation Area

d Downtown San Francisco

How did David’s friends thank him for his hospitality?

a They invited him to visit them in New York.

b They treated him to a picnic in the park.

c They gave him a framed photo from their trip.

d They bought him dinner at the end of the day.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, located in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, was established as the first national park in the United States. The park is a popular destination for visitors who enjoy ecological tourism as it offers forests, mountains, and abundant ecosystems to explore. Some of Yellowstone’s most well-known landmarks are its geothermal hot springs and geysers, the most famous of which is named Old Faithful.

Last fall, Lisa and her friends decided to take a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park. They arranged to stay at one of the park’s many convenient campsites. For their camping trip, they brought their backpacks, sleeping bags, and a cooler of food and drinks. They pitched their tents immediately upon arriving to their campsite.

During their trip, Lisa and her friends hiked the many trails of the park, exploring its natural surroundings. In the forest, they saw a lot of local wildlife. Lisa was surprised to see a family of grizzly bears, some gray wolves, and even bald eagles flying overhead. Outside of the woods, they admired the beauty of some of Yellowstone’s natural cascades.

Since Yellowstone contains many hot springs and the world’s largest area of active geysers, Lisa and her friends visited many different geyser sites. They even spent an afternoon swimming in Yellowstone’s Boiling River. Of all of the sites, Lisa and her friends agreed that Old Faithful was the most impressive. Lisa and her friends waited patiently for the geyser to erupt. After about 40 minutes, a stream of boiling water over 100 feet tall sprayed from the ground and up into the air. Fortunately, no one got wet!

Yellowstone is an important national park in the United States because:

a It is the country’s first national park.

b It is the largest U.S. national park.

c It is the most ecologically diverse natural park.

d It is the most visited U.S. national park.

When did Lisa and her friends visit Yellowstone National Park?

a Last autumn

b Last spring

c Last summer

d Last winter

Where did Lisa and her friends stay during their visit to the park?

a In a rental home

b In a log cabin

c At a hotel

d At a campground

All of the following are animals that Lisa saw during her trip except:

a Grizzly bears

b Gray wolves

c Wild horses

d Bald eagles

Why did Lisa and her friends wait patiently when visiting Old Faithful?

a There was a long line to see the geyser.

b The geyser took about 40 minutes to erupt.

c They arrived an hour before the geyser opened to the public.

d They were still wet from swimming in the Boiling River.

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