The objective of this unit is to reinforce in students the idea that it is possible to read in different ways for different purposes - e.g. skimming and scanning, and detailed reading.

This unit describes different reading strategies for previewing material, skimming and scanning, and explains how and when each method might be used. The description is followed by a series of practice exercises using multiple-choice questions, drag and drop and writing frames.

The unit is designed to do little more than introduce the terms and offer some practice examples. Some of the students will have come across these terms before and the activities will act as a reminder and reinforcement; for others, this may be the first time they have had an opportunity to learn about these skills. This unit might work best as an individual activity, but it could then be used with the whole class to check understanding and stimulate discussion. Some of the more confident and advanced readers may well be able to identify that they have been using these skills either consciously or unconsciously; less fluent readers will be able to acquire and practise new skills.

Extension

• Give students plenty of opportunity to practise these new skills. When any new task is begun that requires reading for information, ask them to identify which style of reading should be used, and why. Get students to recognise and use the terms in order to establish the practices.
• Ask students to research a new topic. Part of the research could be a log of what they looked at to find the information, what they skimmed and scanned, and which materials they would recommend to others for closer reading.
• Bring in a variety of written material (e.g. newspaper articles, magazine articles, a scientific report) reproduced in sets. Organise pupils into groups and hand each group a selection of the material. Ask them to find a particular piece of information, for example information about a particular lifestyle. When they have found the relevant source, ask them to write down five points that best describe this lifestyle. Ask them to describe the process - what did they decide to skim/scan? When did they decide to read in detail?
• Ask pupils to work in pairs on a poem. Give them one minute to find a list of words related to the poem (e.g. love, or hate, or humour). Then ask them to decide what they think the poem is about. For each task they do, encourage students to use the terms 'skimming', 'scanning' and 'reading for detail' to describe how they completed the reading tasks.