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Some
students, especially those who are visual learners, need to “see” the
information. Can you see the main character in your mind’s eye based on
the description? Can you picture the contaminated river
as described in the news
article? Visualizing also involves organizing the information in a visual way, usually
through the use of a mind map or other graphic organizer.
Reading Exercise:
Have
students read a text like By the Water.
After the reading, ask students to record the
images that come to mind as they read:
I can picture the sun shining on the water and
the birds flying above
…
Asking and Answering Questions
What questions come to mind when you preview an article? How will the main
character solve this problem? Students need to come up with questions they would like
answered in the text and pay attention to how they are answered.
Reading
Exercise:
Read a news article or a piece like this one about the Boston Marathon. After
reading
the title, ask students to come up with three questions they expect the article
will answer and then read to see if they find the answers.
Summarizing
After the reading, students should be able to summarize what they’ve read. This may be
a short oral summary or a full paragraph. Summarizing includes a very important skill:
getting the gist. What was the main point in the story? Summarizing is not retelling
everything
that happened as it happened, and students need to not only tell the
difference, but also learn to give back information in a clear concise manner.
Reading
Exercise
: Ask the class to read the story of Helen of Troy. Then, ask them to summarize
in just one sentence or two what caused the Troyan War.
Skimming
Skimming and scanning are usually considered speed-reading skills because they are
not used for intensive reading. They are essential
skills nonetheless, and students need
to know that sometimes intensive reading is not necessary. “Skimming a text involves
running your eyes over it quickly to get the main idea. It also allows you to identify
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which parts of a long text you might want to read more closely”
9
. This skill is
particularly useful, for example, for Business English students
who have to read long
reports that are several pages long. By skimming the report, they can still follow the gist
and stop when they find something of particular interest to them
. Reading
Exercise
: Hand out different magazines or newspapers in English, and tell the class they
have five minutes to skim one. After they’re done skimming, ask them what stories they
remember reading.
Scanning
Scanning, on the other hand, allows you to quickly search a text for a particular piece of
information. Scanning is ideal when students need
to find a phone number in a
directory, the date of a historical event or the time their train is leaving.
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