3. SKIMMING AND SCANNING
Skimming: reading quickly to get the main idea/ gist of the text
Look out for keywords in the text
Read title, subtitles, subheadings
Avoid reading the whole text word-by-word
Keep on thinking about what the text means
Read the beginning and ending of a paragraph
See how the text is organised, e.g.: cause-effect, problem-
solution, chronological, spatial or sequential order
Look out for clues given to understand background information of
the text. E.g.: pictures or images related to the topic, or an
interesting title
Scanning: going through a text quickly to obtain specific
information/ details
Make use of titles or subheadings provided
Let your eyes move quickly across the page to get what you are
searching for
Make use of the alphabet as a guide. Most texts are organised
alphabetically from A-Z
Make use of ‘header’ words which are in bold type at the top of
each page in a dictionary or phone book
4. IDENTIFYING MAIN IDEAS AND SUPPORTING
DETAILS
DISTINGUISHING FACTS FROM OPINIONS
main idea; ‘key concept 'of the text
every paragraph in a text has a key concept or main idea
supporting details are essential; describe how, what, when,
where, why, how much or how many things are related to the
main idea
supporting details; e.g.: descriptions, definitions, examples,
elaboration or exploration of the main idea
facts; statements that can be proven true
facts; based on observations, research or experiments
opinions; cannot be proven
opinions; beliefs, feelings, evaluation or judgements
signal words or phrases for opinions; I believe, we think, in my
opinion or judgement words; best, greatest, cutest
DERIVING MEANING FROM CONTEXT
use of other words and sentences surrounding the unknown
word to guess the meaning of the word
PARAPHRASING
restating ideas in the passage clearly and simply using own
words
5. MAKING INFERENCES
deducing meaning in the text according to the author
need to read text carefully - between the lines
it is an educated guess based on supporting evidence
conclusions can be drawn by using the information read and
what the reader understands the author is trying to imply
ask yourself questions such as:
purpose/ intention of author
how clearly is the purpose communicated
the intended audience of the author
the point of view of the author
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
reading between the lines gives clues for a deeper
understanding of the text
going beyond the stated information in a text and
understanding the implied meaning, helps in making
conclusions based on what you already know and what you
have read
Look out for signal words; in conclusion, to conclude,
concisely, in short, to sum up, finally, as a result, therefore,
hence,thus
6. SUMMARISING & PREDICTING OUTCOMES
IDENTIFYING AUTHOR’S VIEWPOINT
A summary is brief and it contains the key ideas of
the text.
Predicting outcomes is a strategy that allows us to
run through what we have read in order to guess
what will happen in the future.
author's viewpoint; the way the author looks at a
topic
words and phrases used by the author tells the
reader; the point of view, opinions, assumptions and
possible bias for or against a person, group or issue
author's viewpoint of writing the text can be seen
in:
the Purpose; e.g. to inform, entertain, argue,
compare, persuade, etc.
the Style of writing; e.g. describing, giving
examples, comparing and contrasting,
explaining causes and effects, sequencing events,
etc.
the Tone; e.g. angry, optimistic, opposing,
indifferent, neutral, biased, etc.