Active Reading Skills Review

In the course of your day, you will read many different texts, for pleasure, or for your daily activities. You will not read all of them in the same way. There are different approaches to reading, and choosing the right strategy can often save you time. Here are some you can use:

  1. Predicting

    Whatever you are reading, don't just jump in and start reading the first paragraph or the first sentence. Guess what the text is going to be about. Predicting is an activity you often see in textbooks asking you to answer questions before you actually read the text.

     

  2. Skimming

    When you skim a text, you read it quickly to get the gist of it, or its main idea. You are not concerned about understanding every small detail at this stage - you just want an overview. Skimming is an activity that asks you to read the text quickly and identify the main ideas, usually by focusing on the first and last sentences of each paragraph.

  3. Scanning

    Scanning is also a form of quick reading, but it is different from skimming. Scanning is what you do when you want to find a specific piece of information. Scanning is a type of activity where you look for specific information in a text, such as names or dates.

  4. Careful reading

    Many times, it is not enough to skim a text quickly. You will need to read it carefully to make sure you understand it properly. Careful reading, also called intensive reading, allows you to understand a text deeply and find relationships between the ideas presented there. When you understand a text well, you will be able to interpret, or explain, the information you read and summarize it using your own words.

Here are some things to keep in mind when reading intensively:

  • Don't try to read carefully without skimming first. Have a general idea of what the text is about before you dive right in.
  • Ask yourself what you want to learn from the reading. In other words, why are you reading it?
  • Read with a pen or highlighter in your hand. You can underline or highlight important points, write notes in the margin, or otherwise mark up the text.
  • Don't forget to review what you have read. It is easy to spend hours reading something, and then, when you are done, not have a clue what you have just read. Repeat the information in the reading back to yourself or to someone else.

                                                                                         Unit 2: Active Reading for Comprehension - KNILT


Modifié le: Tuesday 1 August 2023, 18:22