1.
Grade 7 Social Studies

2.
Statement #1
There is no difference between reading
fiction and non-fiction.

3.
SO FALSE
 More difficult than fiction
 Different text features and structure
 Different reading strategies
 How does a text book look different?
 Use bold, italics, vocabulary lists, key
words, boxes, pictures, graphic organizers
 Read with a purpose
 What questions are you trying to answer?
 Reading fiction is like watching a movie.
 Nonfiction is more like a newscast or
watching a slide show.

4.
Statement #2
When reading a text book, you have
to read every single word.

5.
SO FALSE
 Non-fiction reading is reading to learn
something.
 What do you want to learn?
 Use text features to distinguish important
from unimportant information
 Look for key ideas
 Skim and scan
 Read quickly to get general idea (skim) and
look for one thing in particular (scan)

6.
Statement #3
Never skip passages when reading
non-fiction books.

7.
SO FALSE
 Skim titles, key words, bold-faced words
 Skim picture captions, boxes highlighed
main points
 Scan timelines, graphs, charts
 Skim introductions and headings to get
clues about main ideas
 Know what information you are looking
for!

8.
Statement #4
Reading something once is enough.

9.
SO FALSE
 Usually once = not enough
 Skim once quickly to determine main
idea of passage
 Identify parts need more careful reading
 Re-read only those sections
 Good reading is selective reading!
 What am I looking for?
 What sections are relevant?

10.
Statement #5
If you skim or read too quickly, your
reading comprehension will
decrease.

11.
SO FALSE
 Harvard Report: experiment, Dr. Perry
(psychologist), Director of the Harvard Reading-
Study Center
 1500 1st year students
 30-page chapter from a history book to read
 20 min. and write essay on what they had read
 Only 15 students could write short statement about
what they had read
 Why?
 Only 15 skimmed and got to the end to read the part
marked “summary”
 Ask yourself what information you need to get out of
a reading assignment, then look for those points.

12.
Statement #6
The faster you read, the less you
understand.

13.
SO TRUE
 Research shows no connection between
reading speed and comprehension
 Reading comprehension depends on
your ability identify important information
 Focus on purpose for reading (e.g.:
locate important main ideas and details)
 Research shows that reading quickly
can also increase comprehension

14.
TRY THIS
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh
uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht
oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny
iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat tteer
is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a
toatl mses and you can sitll raed it
wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we
do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the
wrod as a wlohe.

15.
Moral of the Story
 Reading non-fiction requires different skills
 Good readers read with a purpose
 Know what you are looking for
 Good reader locate information
 Distinguish between relevant and irrelevant
information
 Identify main ideas and supporting details
 Use non-fiction text features