Advisory Teaching Service

Advice Sheet for Scanning and Skimming Reading Techniques

Scanning and skimming reading techniques are useful strategies for pupils to
develop as part of their study skills. When reading, pupils don’t always have to read
everything with the same amount of care and attention. Sometimes they need to be
able to read a text very quickly.
What is Scanning?

Scanning is one type of fast reading. It is used to read a text quickly in order to find a

specific word, phrase or piece of information e.g. figures or names.

You might use scanning to:

• look up a word in a dictionary or index

• find an address or a phone number in a directory

• check what time your programme is on television

• look up details or prices in a catalogue

• pick out the website you want from options on a Google search

What is Skimming?

Skimming is another type of fast reading. It involves reading a text quickly to get a
general idea of meaning. This can help to decide whether to read it more slowly and in
more detail.

Advisory Teaching Service April 2020

You might use skimming to:

• see what’s in the news in a paper or on a website

• browse through a book to see if you want to read it

• look through the television guide to see what’s on one evening

• flick through a catalogue to see what’s on offer

• look through the options given on a Google search to see what sites it suggests

Reading Speed

Increasing reading speed is important for pupils to be able to skim and scan texts
efficiently.

A simple way to do this initially with older pupils is to divide the page vertically into
three or four sections, either by folding it or drawing lines, and to look only at the
middle of each section. As the pupil becomes more proficient with this they will not
need to fold the page or draw lines, and may even be able to reduce the number of
sections to two per page.

Younger pupils can complete speed reading activities focusing on specific words and
letter patterns to develop fluency. How many words can they read accurately in 1
minute?

Advisory Teaching Service April 2020

 Activities to develop Scanning and Skimming Skills:

Scanning Skills Skimming Skills

Teach pupils to use clues on the Skimming to see who can find the
page, such as headings and titles, mistakes in a given text first.
Look out for words highlighted in bold
or underlined.

Give the children a time limit (e.g. 5 Finding a word in a dictionary –

minutes) and ask them to find as competition to see which team does it
many occurrences of a certain the fastest.
consonant blend (e.g. "ch").

Choose 2-3 words, each occurring Who can find the answer to the
only once on the page. Write the question the fastest – using an
word, then the page number on the unseen text.
board. The winner is first person to
find the word and prove by reading
the sentence containing that word.
Then children can identify and write
up their own keywords for others to
find.
Provide a sheet with individual words Copy a text, blocking out everything
plotted on it from a variety of but the title, pictures, first lines of
categories e.g. children’s names, each paragraph, and the last
clothing, food etc. Pick one topic and paragraph. From this information, ask
Advisory Teaching Service April 2020
 ask the pupil to circle/highlight as
many of the words on the page from
that category as they can in 1 minute.
Ask children to find a specific word in
a wordsearch. Explain how they could
scan for the first letter of that word
then look around the letter to see if
the second letter connects etc.
Using books such as ‘Where’s
Wally?’ can really encourage children
to scan quickly. Encourage pupils to
use their finger to help focus their
gaze.
students to identify the main idea and
why the author is writing this story.
Give children a text and a short
amount of time. Ask them to skim the
text then report back to what it is
about.
Finding answers to Who? What?
Where? questions.

Useful Websites

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/scanning

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/skillswise/skimming-and-scanning/zd39f4j

Advisory Teaching Service April 2020