Successful Reading Strategies Part 1

1. Successful Reading
Strategies
Kay McEachran
Will Hall
Academic Skills Centre
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2. Q. Where to start ?
A. Read selectively

3. BE A SMART
READER
(only read
texts that are
useful to you)
Skim & scan
(for
information)
Read with a
purpose (ask
questions)
How?

4. Be a smart reader – Read Selectively
• Ask –why you are reading a text?
• Use what you already know about a topic
• Consider what information you need to get from your reading
• Look for clues in seminar/lecture notes to guide your
reading/research
• Break down your essay question
USE SCANNING AND SKIMMING TO HELP SELECT RELEVANT TEXTS

5. SELECT/FILTER
READING
MATERIAL
MAYBE
RELEVANT
NOT
RELEVANT

6. Why is it important
to filter?
Keeps you
focused on the
topic at hand
Stops you from reading unnecessary
material which can be overwhelming
Saves time
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7. In the last 10 years, cyberbullying among teenagers using social
media has increased dramatically in Western countries. Critically
analyse some of the different explanations given for this
phenomenon. In your discussion you should consider what
implications these explanations might have for young people’s
emotional health & wellbeing.
Assessing a text’s relevance
Look at the essay question below –you will need to analyse the
question and break it down and identify key words/terms. This
will help you answer the question.

8. In the last 10 years, cyberbullying among teenagers
using social media has increased dramatically in
Western countries. Critically analyse some of the
different explanations given for this phenomenon. In
your discussion you should consider what implications
these explanations might have for young people’s
emotional health & wellbeing.
Assessing a text’s relevance

9. Look at the article titles on the next slide.
If you were attempting the cyberbullying
essay topic how would you categorize them
into not relevant, relevant, and maybe?
Assessing a text’s relevance

10. In the last 10 years, cyberbullying among teenagers using social
media has increased dramatically in Western countries. Critically
analyse some of the different explanations given for this
phenomenon. In your discussion you should consider what
implications these explanations might have for young people’s
emotional health & wellbeing.
1. Cyberbullying and its Risk Factors Among Chinese High School Students (Zhou et al, 2013)
2. The Origins of Increased Teenage Suicide Rates in the UK (Jones, 2015)
3. The Growth of Social Media Use in the UK Workplace (Wilson, 2008)
4. Reasons for Increased Social Media (Mis)Use among Schoolchildren in the US (Miles, 2017)
5. The Impact of the Increased Popularity of the World Wide Web (Thomas, 2005)
6. Physical Violence Among Pupils in UK Secondary Schools: Statistics (Collins, 2015)
7. The Impact of Social Media on the Psychological Wellbeing of Children (Smith, 2016)
(ANSWERS ON NEXT 3 SLIDES)

11. NOT RELEVANT X
3. The Growth of Social Media Use in the UK Workplace (Wilson, 2008)
Although this article looks at social media –it concentrates on the workplace
–not on teenagers.
5. The Impact of the Increased Popularity of the World Wide Web (Thomas,
2005)
This article is about the internet in general –not social media. It is also over
10 years old.
6. Physical Violence Among Pupils in UK Secondary Schools: Statistics (Collins,
2015)
This is a report containing statistics –not explanations. It is also about
physical abuse –not cyberbullying.

12. RELEVANT ✓
2. The Origins of Increased Teenage Suicide Rates in the UK (Jones, 2015)
Although the terms cyberbullying or social media do not appear in this title, suicide is related
to psychological wellbeing. Also, suicide among teenagers has been related to cyberbulllying
and abuse via social media (this relates to implications). The term ‘origins’ suggests that the
article will be concerned with providing explanations.
4. Reasons for Increased Social Media (Mis)use among Schoolchildren in the UK (Miles, 2017)
Again, the title does not mention cyberbullying directly. However,it does mention the misuse
of social media among schoolchildren. We can therefore be fairly confident that some of this
article will touch upon teenagers (schoolchildren) and cyberbullying (misuse). Also, the term
‘reasons’ suggests the article will provide explanations.
7. The Impact of Social Media on the Psychological Wellbeing of Children (Smith, 2016)
This title does not mention cyberbullying, but it does look at the link between social media
and the psychological wellbeing of children. Since cyberbullying has been shown to have a
detrimental impact on psychological wellbeing and most children using socal media are
teenagers – we can expect this title to contain useful information. In addition the term
‘impact’ suggests the article will be concerned with examining implications.

13. MAYBE ???
1.Cyberbullying and Its Risk Factors Among Chinese High School Students
(Zhou et al, 2013)
Although this title specifically looks at cyberbullying among high school
students (teenagers) as well as the risk factors (implications) – the article
concentrates on China, which is not a Western country. Nevertheless, the
article may still give you some good ideas for explanations and implications.
However, any evidence given in this article to support the explanations and
implications will not be relevant when answering this question. Try to find
Western evidence/examples to back them up.

14. Scanning
Skimming
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15. Scanning
Scanning is really fast reading to find a specific piece of information
without fully understanding the whole text. Scanning is used when:
• you use reference works such as a dictionary, encyclopaedia, phone
directory, TV listings
• you search for answers to specific questions among lengthy or many
resources (e.g. names, dates, places…)
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16. How to scan?
Step 1: Take a few minutes to preview the material and see how
it is organized. Look for clues that might help, such as key words,
bullet points, numbers, underlining, bolding, italics, headings and
font sizes.
Step 2: Move your eyes quickly down the page to find specific
words and phrases. Avoid reading every word. Only focus on
finding the information that answers your questions.
Step 3: After you find the key words and phrases, slow down and
read the section carefully to answer your questions.

17. Skimming
Skimming is reading something very
quickly to get an overview of the
main ideas in a reading passage.
You should skim at least twice as
fast as you usually read and make
sure NOT to read every word. You
don't need to get the details - just
the main ideas!
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18. How to Skim?
Step 1: Read the introduction at your usual speed and ask yourself
“What is this about?”
Step 2: Read the conclusion/ last paragraph of the passage at your
usual speed and ask yourself "What does the author think about this
topic?“. It should sum up what the author has been saying.
Step 3: As soon as you understand the main idea, go to the 2nd
paragraph. Read only the first sentence (also known as the topic
sentence). Remember that you don’t have to know the details. You only
have to learn the main idea about the passage. Make sure to read as
quickly as possible.
Step 4: Read only a few words in each paragraph after that. You
should look for words that tell you about the main idea. Often they are
at the beginning of the paragraph, but they may also be at the end.

19. THERE NOW FOLLOW SOME EXERCISES WHICH TEST
YOU ON YOUR SELECTIVE READING STRATEGIES:
• There are some scanning exercises
• There is also a reading exercise which is designed to test
all of your selective reading abilities:
1) scanning
2) skimming
3) assessing the relevance of text