Effective Reading Skills 1

The triple 'S' technique

Introduction

There are different ways to cover text other than reading it line by line. Even if you are not aware of it, you may already perform these methods of collecting information when you read a textbook. The three types of reading you can use when studying, science, history, etc., are skimming, scanning, and studying.

Skimming

Skimming is covering the chapter to get some of the main ideas and a general overview of the material. It is what you do first when reading a chapter assignment. You don’t read for details at this point. Here is how you skim a chapter:

• Read the first paragraph of the chapter line by line.

• Next, read all the bold print headings starting at the beginning.

• Read the first sentence of every paragraph.

• Study any pictures, graphs, charts, and maps.

• Finally, read the last paragraph of the chapter.

As you skim, you could write down the main ideas and develop a chapter outline.

Scanning

Scanning is what you do to find an answer to a specific question. You may run your eyes quickly down the page in a zigzag or winding S pattern. If you are looking for a name, you note capital letters. For a date, you look for numbers. Vocabulary words may be boldfaced or italicized. When you scan for information, you read only what is needed.

Studying

Studying is the third type of reading. This is when you actually read the whole chapter, line by line, for total comprehension. You are now actively reading to understand what is really going on in the chapter.

Once you get the skimming, scanning and studying down pat, you are ready to move on to the SQ3R reading method which employs all three techniques.

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