To the Student: Skimming What Is Skimming? ‘Skimming is very fast reading. When you skim, you read to get the main ideas and a few, but not all, of the details. To skim rapidly, ‘you must leave out parts of an article or story. ‘Skimming is a very useful skill. twill allow you to get information quickly from anything you read. Knowing how to skim will make you a better reader. ‘Skimming versus Average Reading Itis important to note some basic differences between skimming and average reading. In average reading you do not skip any material; you cover all of the reading matter. In skimming, however, itis fair to leave out material. In many cases you may leave out half or three-quarters of a paragraph if you feel you've grasped the main idea. Comprehension Skimming also differs from average reading in that your comprehension will be lower. In average reading you attempt to comprehend as much ‘as you can while reading at an average speed. ‘This usually means you will comprehend 70 ‘or 80 percent of what you read. In skimming, your comprehension will be less. Fifty percent isa good average comprehension score for skimming; a skimming comprehension score of 60 percent is a little better than average. ‘Speed Your skimming rate should be about twice as fast as your average reading speed. If, for example, your average reading speed is 400 words per minute, you could achieve a skimming rate of 800 words per minute or better. ‘The table below shows various reading rates of a good reader. Notice that flexible readers have three reading speeds: slow, average, and fast. Each of these speeds is appropriate for a specific type of reading material, Note also that as reading speed increases, comprehension decreases. How to Skim ‘What can you do to achieve an extremely fast rate of skimming? What material should be left ‘out? The following steps will help you increase your skimming rate. Read the First Several Paragraphs. Suppose you are skimming a factual article with several thousand words. To get started, read all of the first several paragraphs in order to identify the topic of the article, the subject, a little of Kind of Reading ‘Adult Rate 5th GradeRate Comprehension ‘Slow: Study reading speed is used 20010 7500 80-90% when material is difficult or high 300 wpm 150 wpm ‘comprehension is desired. ‘Average: An average* reading speed is used. 25010 13500 70% for everyday reading of magazines, 500 wpm 250° wpm newspapers, and easier textbooks. Fast Skimming is used when the highest rate ‘800+ 400+ 50% is desired, Comprehension isintentionally lower. wpm pm sefanen eae rere excelent reading rater and tend occur after ou have had sone ding see improvement SNSthe author's style, the author's viewpoint, and soon. Leave nothing out, but read at your top speed. Frequently, an author will give an introduction in the first few paragraphs; this will help to give you an overall picture of the article. Leave Out Material. Once you have a general overview of the article, you should begin to leave out material right away if you are to achieve a high skimming rate. So, on the fourth or fifth paragraph you may read only the key sentences to get the main idea and skip the rest of the paragraph. Perhaps you will read the key sentences and let your eyes jump down through the paragraph, picking up one ‘or two important words, phrases, or numbers. Find the Main Ideas. In skimming, try to get the main idea of every paragraph plus a few facts, You cannot hope to pick up all the facts in the article, but you might pick up some facts, names, or numbers. Sometimes the main idea will not be the first sentence in the paragraph. In some paragraphs the main idea is located in the middle of a paragraph or at the end. You will then have to spend some time looking for the key sentence. In addition, you may come to a paragraph that does not have a key sentence at all; that is, the main idea is not summarized in any one sentence. You will have to look more closely to find several phrases or sentences that give the main idea. You may even have to read the entire paragraph in order to get its meaning. However, if you read one paragraph all the way through, you must then skim even faster on the next few paragraphs to make up for lost time. Note that the final paragraphs often summarize a story or article, so it may be worthwhile to read them more fully. Read Fast. Skimming must be done “against the clock.” Thatis, you must try to skim as fast as you possibly can while leaving out large chunks of material. Be careful to avoid getting too interested in the subject or the story, since this might slow you down and cause you to read unnecessary details, Remember that the purpose of skimming is to get the author's main ideas at a very fast speed. How to Use Part 1: Skimming 1. Preview the selection by reading the title and noting how itis organized. 2. Skim the selection. Look for main ideas and details. 3. Record your reading time on the Reading Time line at the end of the selection. 4. Convert your time to a words perminute rate using the table on page 72, Record your reading speed on the Reading Speed line in the box. 5. Complete the Comprehension Exercise. ‘Answer the questions without looking back at the selection. Use the Answer Key provided by your teacher to correct your work. Record your score at the end of the Tesson. 6. Record your comprehension scores and your reading speed on the Progress Graph on page 73. Practice daily. Make skimming a regular part of your everyday reading activities.1 | Mammals in the Sea by Patricia Lauber Skim this excerpt from Lauber’s nonfiction book The Friendly Dolphirs, ooking for main ideas and a few detaile, When you Finish, enter your readin time and speed in the box that follows the selection. FA carpnin ots moretbes Hoh than certain fish do. It has a smooth, streamlined bods. [tis an excellent swimmer. [As its powerful tail moves up and down, the dolphin seems to flash through the water. Like fish, dolphins are completely at home in the water. There they play, feed, sleep, and pear their young, Dolphins live in the sea and ‘an live only in the sea. Yet they are not fish. Ifyou watch a dolphin, you will see something that shows itis nota fish. A dolphin must come to the surface to breathe Fish can take oxygen out of the water. Dolphins cannot. Like us, they breathe with Jungs and must take their oxygen from the air. And, like us, they are mammals. Mammals are a large class of animals with backbones. Mammals nurse their young on milk. They are warm-blooded, ‘Almost all mammals bear living young. And most of them have hair. Dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, mice, monkeys, and bats are all mammals. We are mammals, So are dolphins and their close relatives, the whales and porpoises. Dolphins belong to 2 family that scientists call the Cetacea. The family has two main branches. ‘One branch is made up of the world’s giant whales. The scientific name for them is. Mystacoceti, which means “mustache whales.” Mustache whales do not have teeth, Rather, they have something like a huge mustache inside their mouths. This is baleen, or whalebone. The big whales strain their food out of the sea through the balees. ‘The other main branch of th e family is made up of Odontoceti, which means “toothed whales.” There is only One giant in this branch of the family—the sperm whale. ‘The other members are small wkvales dolphins, and porpoises. Dolphins and porpoises are sery much. alike, In fact, they are so much alike that there is only one sure way to tel them apart. ‘That is by the shape of their teeth. Porpoises have spade-shaped teeth. Dolpimins have cone- shaped teeth. Because dolphins and porpoises are alike, many people call all of them po-rpoises. (A second reason is that there is a “large fish also named dolphin.) Other people prefer to use both names—porpoise and dolphin ‘There are many kinds of do Iphins in the sea. Among the best known is he bottle- nosed dotphin. This dolphin lives along ‘coasts. So it a familiar dolphin =and one that scientists have studied closely. "Abotde-nosed dolphin maw be 7 to 11 feet Jong and weigh 300 to 700 pounds. The easiest way to tell a botle-nose is by its mouth When the mouth is closed, a benttlenose appears to be smiling. This is nmot areal smile but just a curve of the mouth. “The curving mouth gives the dolphin a frie=ndly look. And bottle-noses are friendly: Like all Cetacea, dolphins are mammals of the sea, Most mammals are lapad animals. So