Four basic types of reading behaviors or skills : Four basic types of reading behaviors or skills Skimming, Scanning, Reading for thorough comprehension, and critical reading.
Skimming : Skimming Skimming is quick reading for general ideas.
When you skim, you move your eyes quickly to acquire a basic understanding of the text.
You do not read carefully.
You read quickly such things as the title and subtitles and topic sentences.
You also look at pictures, charts, graphs, icons, etc., for clues to what the text is about.
Scanning : Scanning Scanning is also quick reading, but when you scan, you are looking for information to answer a specific question. You are usually looking for a number or a word or the name of something. When you scan, you usually take the steps that follow.
Decide exactly what information you are looking for and what form it is likely to take. For example, if you wanted to know ho much something cost, you would be looking for a number. If you wanted to know when something will start, you would be scanning for a date or a time. If you wanted to know who did something, you would be looking for a name.
Scanning (cont) : Scanning (cont) Next, decide where you need to look to find the information. You would turn to the sports section of the newspaper to discover who won a baseball game, and you would scan the C section of the phone book for the phone number of Steven Cary.
Move your eyes quickly down the page until you find what you want.
When you find what you need, you usually stop reading.
Reading for Thorough Comprehension : Reading for Thorough Comprehension When you read for thorough comprehension, you try to understand the full meaning of the reading. You want to know the details as well as the general meaning of the selection. When you have thoroughly comprehended a text, you have done the following things.
You have understood the main ideas and the author’s point of view.
Reading for Thorough Comprehension (cont) : Reading for Thorough Comprehension (cont) You have understood the relationships of ideas in the text, including how they relates to the author’s purpose.
You have to understood most of the concepts in the passages as well as the vocabulary. This may require you to guess the meanings of unfamiliar words from context or to look up words in the dictionary.
You have begun to note that some of the ideas and point of view that were not mentioned were, however, implied by the author. This is called drawing inferences. It is the beginning of critical reading, which will be the focus of the next activity.
Critical Reading : Critical Reading When reading critically, we draw conclusions and make judgments about the reading. We ask questions such as, “What inferences can be drawn from this?. Do I agree with this point of view?” We often do this when we read, but in some cases it is more important than others, as, for example, when authors give opinions about important issues or when you are trying to make a decision.