Reading Skills

Lecture 5
15th October, 2015

Quick Reading Tips

Easy and Effective Ways
to Expand Your
Comprehension

How Much Do You Know About Good

Reading Strategies?
You must
always read
every word in
the chapter or
you will not
understand it.
If you read too
fast, you will
lose some of
your
comprehension.
Taking notes on
reading
lengthens the
reading

True or
False?
False

Effectively skimming the

chapter works for some
texts and is often more
time effective.
False
There is no known link.
Comprehension comes from
being able to pull out
important information.
False
It shortens the time by
keeping you focused and
saves future study time.

Preparing For Class

Reading
Tips
Always read the
chapter that will be
covered before class.
What the instructor says will make more
sense.
The instructor often assumes the
lecture will be building on knowledge
from the text, not creating new
knowledge.

Find a quiet place to studyEliminate Distractions!

Some distractions are external: Chatter,
Radio, etc.
Some are internal: Fears, Worries, etc.

Preparing For Class

More Reading
Tips
Set realistic reading goals!
Will you read or skim text in detail?
How long will you work with that text?
Should you read it in sections?

Write down any questions that you

still have about your topic.
Listen for the answers to those during
the course lecture.

Making Notes On Your Reading

Make notes in your book or
notebook to simplify future
studying.
Notes in your text
Do this after you have read-NOT
WHILE READING.
You do not know what is
important until after you finish.
Underline subjects & verbs

Notes in a notebook:
Find a consistent method that works
for you.

Notes In A Notebook
urvey the text: Critically look at all
Headings Pictures (maps, charts, or graphs) Summaries
uestions: Turn all of the headings into questions.
Write out questions and speculate answers before reading.

SQRRR

ead: Focus on answering your questions as you read.

Write down the real answers to your questions.
These make great self-quiz questions before tests.
ecall: Without looking at your book or notes, sketch, in
your own words, the main points of the reading.
This forces you to THINK!
eview: Using your book & notes, see how well you did.
Note the things you stated incorrectly or forgot.

Primary
Headings

Examples or
Details

Notes In A Notebook
Create a
Chapter Map
Title of Chapter

Subordinate Ideas

Notes In A Textbook

Skimming and Scanning

Year 9 Study Skills

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Skimming and scanning

When you have a specific question to answer or information
to collect, you need to be able to skim a page quickly to find
the section you need. You can do this by scanning a text for
a keyword.
Can you define the three highlighted words above?
Skim: to read something
quickly so that you only
Keyword: a word note the important points.
of importance.
Scan: to look quickly and
not very thoroughly through
In which specific
a text in order to identify
situations do you think it
relevant information.
would be a useful skill to
be able to skim/scan
quickly and accurately?
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Skimming

Quickly identify main ideas of a text

Skimming is 3 to 4 times faster regular reading
Used when there is a lot of material and a short
amount of time

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How to Skim

Read the first and last paragraph

Read headings, subheadings, titles, subtitles,
and illustrations
Read the first sentence of every paragraph
Skimming works well with dates, names and
places

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Scanning

Used to search for key terms

When you know what you are looking for you
can through texts to find the information
Good to use when determining whether a
source will have the answers you are looking
for

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How to Scan

First look at how the author organizes his

information
Look for bold faces, italics, or different sized
fonts
The author may also put key information in the
margins of pages

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Scanning
Find and circle the following words in this passage
from Jane Austens Emma as quickly as possible:
CLEVER HOME UNITE DISTRESS MARRIAGE EARLY
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a
comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite
some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly
twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex
her.
She was the youngest of two daughters of a most
affectionate, indulgent father, and had, in consequence of her
sisters marriage, been mistress of his house from a very
early period.

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Skimming
Find out the answer to the following question by skimming
the passage below.
What were the names of Degass father and mother?
Degass background would never have suggested he was to
become the revolutionary painter he was. He was born in
Paris, on 19 July 1834. His father, Auguste de Gas, was a
banker but his mother, Clestine, died before Degas
reached his teens.
Answer: Degass father was called ___________________
Degass mother was called __________________

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Skimming
You could have read through the whole piece of text until
you found the answer. A quicker way would be to find the
keywords in the question in this case father and
mother then run your eyes down the text, flicking them
from left to right, until you found the same (or similar)
words in the article.
If all you want is one piece of information, skimming can
be a time-saving device.
I find its especially useful when
youre researching something and
you dont want to have to read
whole pages on a subject just to
get a few pieces of information!
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Making notes
When you have a specific question to answer, skimming and
scanning works well because you know exactly what you
are looking for.
However, if you are making notes on a topic chosen
yourself it is more difficult to select the key information and
to write it in your own words.
Sometimes I have to read lots of
information when Im researching
a topic but I dont want to have to
copy it all down. What should I do?
I use bullet points to sum up
the main points briefly. Try
condensing each sentence to
just a couple of words.
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Making notes
You have decided to cook this recipe for lunch. Make
notes on all the ingredients you will need to buy:
OMELETTE:
Cut the potatoes into thin slices, place in a pan and
cover with water. Bring to the boil, and cook for 10
minutes. Peel the onions and slice thinly. Beat the
eggs with a little milk. Fry the onions slightly in a
large frying pan. Drain the potatoes and add them to
the frying pan. Pour the beaten eggs and milk over
the potatoes and onions. Cover and heat gently for
20 minutes. Melt the cheese on top, and serve.

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Activity

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Making notes
Kefalonia is the largest of the
Greek Ionian islands and
certainly one of the most
picturesque islands in the
world. The capital is Argostoli
which is on the west coast.

Heres
an

The island has two beautiful

Becomes
caves: the stalactitefestooned Drogorati and
Melissani with its
subterranean lake. Both
caves attract high numbers of
tourists at peak season.

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examp
le for y
ou!

Kefalonia is
largest Ionian
island
Capital is
Argostoli
Two caves:
Drogorati and
Melissani

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Try condensing this yourself:

The Greek island of Rhodes is
the most visited of the
Dodecanese islands. It became
part of Greece in 1948. The
capital is Rhodes City, a port on
the northern tip of the island
which caters for the vast
tourism the island experiences
in the summer months. There is
lots to see here, including an
archaeological museum and
Mussolinis old holiday home,
The Palace of the Grand
Masters.
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_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
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Try condensing this yourself:

The city of Athens became
the capital of independent
Greece in 1834 when the
Ottoman rule ended. At the
time, Athens was no more
than a run-down village, but
the city was reconstructed
and much of the neoclassical
architecture of that time still
exists, although the citys
beauty has been slightly
marred by the concrete
sprawl which developed in
the last fifty years.
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_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
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Quick reading tips

1. Prepare yourself
Set the time length that you will read for
Collect all your materials
Find a comfortable place to read
Relax and focus on what you need to accomplish

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Quick reading tips

2. Overview
Look at titles, subtitles, and headings to find what
information is there
Look at charts and pictures and relate them to
subtitles
Ask what you are going to get from the reading

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Quick Reading tips

3. Read During Daylight Hours

Studies show people are most efficient readers
during the day time
A person will read a passage in half the time if they
read in the daylight
Read during breaks in your day to allot for
relaxation during the night when you need rest

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Quick Reading Tips

4. Avoid Distractions
Keep a notebook near you to write down things
that come to mind (other assignments, people to
call, etc) so you can recall them later
Read in place where there is nothing to distract
you
Turn off TV, music, facebook, and anything else
that will break your concentration

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Quick Reading Tips

5. Take a Break
Studies show that reading becomes less efficient if
you do not take a break to refresh your mind
A 5 minute break is recommended for every hour
of reading
Do something well defined so it does not drag on
and you do not become distracted

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Quick Reading Tips

6. Read Often
Reading often helps build your reading skills
Reading at the same time everyday turns reading
into a habit
You paid for your textbooks so you might as well
read them

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Thank You for

being patient
listeners!!!
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