Skimming and scanning

1. SKIMMING AND
SCANNING,
IDENTIFYING MAIN
IDEAS & SUPPORTING
DETAILS
PREPARED BY:
o AZHARINA
o SHAMEEN
o YUSMA
o JIHAN
o UMMI
GROUP 4

2. SKIMMING &
SCANNING

3. SKIMMING & SCANNING
 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.

4. SKIMMING

5. SKIMMING
 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.
“To read quickly to get the general idea of
the passage”

6. EXAMPLES OF SKIMMING
 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
The Newspaper
Magazines
Business and Travel Brochures

7. HOW TO SKIM?
Working quickly…
 Read the title if there is one.
 Read the introduction or the first paragraph if there is one.
 Read the first sentence of every other paragraph.
 Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs.
 Notice any italicized or boldface words or phrases.
 Read the summary or last paragraph if there is one.

8. In other words when you are skimming and
scanning…
 Cover everything
 Check entire page
 Notice visual clues
 Notice graphs, charts, titles, captions.

9. Let’s practice Skimming using the question next
slide.
 Choose a heading that best matches the upcoming paragraph.
 Remember to underline your key words.

10. Let’s skim the first and last sentences from the passage
CHOICE OF ANSWER:
• 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.
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.

11. Let’s skim the first and last sentences from the passage
 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
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.

12. SCANNING

13. SCANNING
 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

14. HOW TO SCAN
 State the specific information you are looking for.
 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.
 Use headings and any other aids that will help you identify which sections might
contain the information you are looking for.
 Selectively read and skip through sections of the passage

15. Let’s practice Scanning using the questions below.
 How many European countries are in first report?
 Remember to underline your key words.
 What is your key word?
Number

16. Now let’s scan for the info we selected
 How many European countries are in the first report?
Nineteen
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.

17. CONCLUSION: SKIMMING & SCANNING
 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.

18. MAIN IDEAS &
SUPPORTING
DETAILS

19. MAIN IDEAS

20. MAIN IDEAS
 The main idea is the central, or most important, idea in a paragraph or passage.
 It states the purpose and sets the direction of the paragraph or passage.
 The main idea may be stated or it may be implied.
 When the main idea of a paragraph is stated, it is most often found in the first
sentence of the paragraph.
 However, the main idea may be found in any sentence of the paragraph.

21. MAIN IDEAS
 The main idea may be stated in the first sentence of a paragraph and then be
repeated or restated at the end of the paragraph.
 The main idea may be split.
 The first sentence of a paragraph may present a point of view, while the last
sentence presents a contrasting or opposite view.

22. HOW TO FIND
THE MAIN IDEA

23. 1. Identify the Topic
 Read the passage through completely, then try to
identify the topic.
 Who or what is the paragraph about?
 This part is just figuring out a topic like "cause of
World War I" or "new hearing devices;"
 Don't worry yet about deciding what argument the
passage is making about this topic.

24. 2. Summarize the Passage
 After reading the passage thoroughly, summarize
it in your own words in one sentence.
 Pretend you have just ten to twelve words to tell
someone what the passage is about—what
would you say?

25. 3. Look at the First and Last Sentences of the Passage
 Authors often put the main idea in or near either the first or
last sentence of the paragraph or article, so isolate those
sentences to see if they make sense as the overarching
theme of the passage.
 Be careful: sometimes the author will use words like but,
however, in contrast, nevertheless, etc. that indicate that the
second sentence is actually the main idea.

26. 4. Look for Repetition of Ideas
 What does this paragraph consistently talk
about?
 A new hearing device.
 What is it trying to convey?
 A new hearing device is now available for some,
but not all, hearing-impaired people.
 That's the main idea!

27. SUPPORTING
DETAILS

28. SUPPORTING DETAILS
 Supporting details are reasons, examples, facts, steps, or other kinds of
evidence that explain the main idea.
 Major details explain and develop the main idea.
 Minor details help make the major details clear.
 Supporting details help readers answer questions they have about the topic or
main idea.
 A writer may use examples, statistics, anecdotes. (short, interesting stories),
definitions, comparisons, or other forms of support to explain a reading's topic
or main idea.

29. HOW TO
IDENTIFY
SUPPORTING
DETAILS

30. 1. Identify the topic
 To identify the topic of a reading, ask yourself,
"What is this about?"
 The answer provides the topic of the reading.
 It does not need to be a complete sentence,
and it is usually no longer than two or three
words.

31. 2. Identify what the author
is saying about the topic
 To identify what the author is saying about the
topic, ask yourself, "What does the author
want me to know about the topic?"
 Again, this does not need to be a sentence
and is generally five to seven words long.

32. 3. Identify details
that support or
explain the main
idea

33. STEP 3 CONT;
 To find the main idea, first take your answer from Step 1, add it to your answer from
Step 2, and then find a phrase or sentence in the first part of the reading that most
closely matches your answers.
 This will be the main idea of the reading.
 To identify major supporting details that support that main idea, ask yourself, "What else
in the reading helps me to understand the author’s main idea?" To identify minor
supporting details, ask of each major detail, "What else in the paragraph helps me to
understand this major supporting detail?"
 Be aware that not all major details require further explanation, so they will not all have
minor details supporting them.

34. THANK
YOU