Skimming and scanning

Reading strategies

1. Skimming and Scanning
Reading strategies

2. Skimming and scanning are very
rapid reading methods in which
you glance at a passage to find
specific information. These
reading methods make it easier
for you to grasp large amounts
of material, especially when
you're previewing. They are also
useful when you don't need to
know every word.
Skimming and scanning are especially valuable when there is
only one item of information that you need to find from a
particular passage.

3. Skimming is used to quickly gather the most important
information or ‘gist’. It’s not essential to understand each
word when you are skimming.
Run your eyes over the text, noting important information.
Use skimming to quickly get up to speed on a current business
situation.

4. Examples of Skimming:Examples of Skimming:
The Newspaper – to quickly get the
general news of the day
Magazines – to quickly discover which
articles you would like to read in more detail
Business and Travel Brochures – to
quickly get informed

5. How to Skim?How to Skim?
Working quickly…
1.Read the title if there is one.
2.Read the introduction or the first paragraph if there is one.
3.Read the first sentence of every other paragraph.
4.Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs.
5.Notice any italicized or boldface words or phrases.
6.Read the summary or last paragraph if there is one.

7. Let’s practice skimming using the Let’s practice skimming using the
questions below.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.

8. Let’s skim the first and last sentences from the Let’s skim the first and last sentences from the
passage.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 Kingdom
c. Growing up unhappy generation
d. There are so many social problems young people face today

9. Examples of Scanning:

A google search list on the internet.
A bus / airplane schedule
A conference guide
 A graph
Scanning is a reading technique to be used when you want
to find specific information quickly. In scanning you have a
question in your mind and you read a passage only to find
the answer, ignoring unrelated information.

10. How to scanHow to scan
1.State the specific information you are looking for.
1.Try to anticipate how the answer will appear and what
clues you might use to help you locate the answer. For
example, if you were looking for a certain date, you
would quickly read the paragraph looking only for
numbers.
1.Use headings and any other aids that will help you
identify which sections might contain the information you
are looking for.
1.Selectively read and skip through sections of the passage.

11. Let’s practice Let’s practice
1. What can you save from shopping at this
place?
2. How many good reasons are there for
shopping there?
3. What is the telephone number?
4. What can you earn with Argos?
5. What are the names of the catering firm?
6. How long does the offer last?

12. Conclusions Conclusions
Skimming and scanning is used when reading all
types of documents.
We skim to get the idea of what a document is
about and typically skim all documents before we
actually begin to read.
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.