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Reading Strategies

6. Getting Ready to Read: Extending Vocabulary

As you progress through school, you are required to learn increasingly complex texts. Your vocabulary may increase by as much as 2 000 words each year! To help you become more familiar with new words, keep track of them. Your instructor might have a place (such as a glossary) for you to put those words and their definitions. If a place is not provided for you, create one of your own to assist in your learning.

Before reading your text, skim or scan to find new vocabulary words. Skimming means to read quickly – horizontally – through the text to get a general understanding of the content and its usefulness. Scanning means to read quickly – vertically or diagonally – to find single words, facts, dates, names, or details. Often content-specific words will be bolded - pay close attention to those! Write these words in a notebook, on recipe cards, bulletin board or other resource you have. Find the definition and include it in your resource. You may wish to include a diagram or picture that will help define the word.

Directions for skimming:

  1. Read the first few paragraphs, two or three middle paragraphs, and the final two or three paragraphs of a piece, trying to get a basic understanding of the information.
  2. Some people prefer to skim by reading the first and last sentence of each paragraph, that is, the topic sentences and concluding sentences.
  3. If there are pictures, diagrams, or charts, a quick glance at them and their captions may help you to understand the main idea or point of view in the text.
  4. Remember: You do not have to read every word when you skim.
  5. Generally, move your eyes horizontally (and quickly) when you skim.

Directions for scanning:

  1. Knowing your text well is important. Make a prediction about where in a chapter you might find the word, name, fact, term, or date.
  2. Note how the information is arranged on a page. Will headings, diagrams, or boxed or highlighted items guide you? Is information arranged alphabetically or numerically as it might be in a telephone book
    or glossary?
  3. Move your eyes vertically or diagonally down the page, letting them dart quickly from side to side and keeping in mind the exact type of information that you want. Look for other closely associated words that might steer you towards the detail for which you are looking.
  4. Aim for 100% accuracy!