CE enroll no 36 40

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 note the
important points.
Scan: to look quickly and not very
thoroughly through a text in order
to identify relevant information.
Keyword: a word of
importance.
In which specific situations do
you think it would be a useful skill
to be able to skim/scan quickly
and accurately?

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

Skimming
 Skimming is reading
selectively to get a
general idea of
what an article is
about.
 Read some
parts/skip others.
 Look for the most
important ideas.
 Read for main
ideas.
 Skip facts and
details.

Skimming
Find out the answer to the following question by skimming the passage
below.
What were the names of Degas’s father and mother?
Degas’s 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, Célestine, died
before Degas reached his teens.
Degas’s father was called ___________________
Degas’s mother was called __________________
Answer:

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 it’s especially useful when
you’re researching something and
you don’t want to have to read
whole pages on a subject just to get a
few pieces of information!

Purposes for Skimming
 Skim through a
review of the
metric system if
you already are
familiar with it.
 Skim a section of a
reference book if
you are looking for
specific
information.
 Skim a
newspaper
report if you
wish only to
understand the
main events.
 Skim a movie
review to make
a decision on
seeing a movie.
.

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

Use Skimming Effectively
Preview skimming
Overview
skimming
Review skimming
.

Skimming Newspaper
Articles
Read the:
 Title.
 Opening paragraphs.
 First sentences of remaining
paragraphs.
.

Skimming Magazine
Articles
Read the:
 Title/subtitle/byline.
 Opening paragraphs.
 Photograph/captions.
 Headings/first
sentences.
 Last several
paragraphs.
.
Read Photograph
Captions.

Limitations of Skimming
 Cannot expect to retain facts and
details.
 Expect 50% comprehension rate.
 Use only when reading for general
concepts.
.

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

Scanning
Find and circle the following words in this passage from Jane
Austen’s 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 sister’s marriage, been mistress of his
house from a very early period.

Scanning
 A way of reading to look for specific
information in a text.
 For looking up a phone number, for
browsing TV schedules, timetables, lists,
catalogues or web pages for information.
 E.g. How many sons does the mom have?

Scanning – How?
 Don’t read every word or every sentence.
 Let your eyes move quickly across the page until
you find what you are looking for.
 Use clues on the page, such as heading and titles,
number, names to help you

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

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.
Examples of Scanning:
 A google search list on the internet.
 A bus / airplane schedule
 A conference guide
 A graph

Scanning Practice
 Here is some information you are looking
for on the BC Hydro website.
 Read the questions and then on the next
slide , find the answers, as quickly as
possible:
1. Who is handling inquiries?
2. What is the after hours media line?
3. What is a good example of BC Hydro
Clean Energy Project?

Scanning answers
Remember it’s important to quickly find the information you
need. You don’t need to understand every word, or read every
word. Your eyes should quickly scan the document for the
information you seek.

Conclusion
 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.

CE enroll no 36 40

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CE enroll no 36 40