Skimming&scanning

1. Skimming and Scanning
Kashma Sardar
2014-2015

2. Reading Strategy:
Skimming & Scanning
What is skimming?
What is scanning?
Why are these skills useful?

3. Reading Strategy:
Skimming & Scanning
What is skimming?
Quickly looking over a passage to get the main idea.
What is scanning?
Looking quickly to find a specific
piece of information.

4. Why are these skills useful?
Skimming:
- to save time
- to help us remember an article without re-reading every word
- to get the main idea of an article
Scanning:
- to answer a question
We use scanning in exams, quizzes, classes, and in
everyday life. Can you think of an example?

5. Scanning in everyday life
● when we look at a menu
● when we are reading a sign
● when we are looking through our email inbox
● when we are scrolling on Facebook!
● when we are finding our friends

6. Tips for Scanning:
• keep in mind what specific information you are looking for (who,
what, when, where, why, how)
• think about what kind of form the information will appear in (names,
numbers, town and cities, dates)
• decide where the information is most likely to be found (introduction,
end, use headings)
• let your eyes run over more than one line at a time
• when you find the information, read the whole sentence

7. Practice!
Scan your Preview Sentence List to find the following:
1. Which teacher is named in sentence 7?
2. Which countries are mentioned in sentence 12?
3. Which city gets hydroelectric power from Dukan?
4. Which sentence talks about Sir Isaac Newton?
5. Which sentence mentions the United States?
6. What are Whatsapp and Viber?