Skimming and scanning are critical academic skills that our students and teachers need to succeed throughout their careers. This post is another in our series on acquiring or honing academic skills.
Objectives: SWBAT define and practice skimming and scanning and to differentiate between a main idea and a detail.
Materials: “Best Hot Air Balloon Rides” text (doc) Download this resource
Presentation
Skim: to look over or read (something) quickly especially to find the main ideas (Merriam-Webster)
Skimming Strategies: Survey the text, looking at titles, subtitles, or section headings. Read the first sentence of each paragraph or read the first and last paragraph. Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. Use skimming when you want to see if an article may be of interest in your research.
Scan: to read quickly and systematically in search of a particular item. It involves moving your eyes quickly down the page to locate the specific words, numbers, or data you are looking for. Test questions often provide the clues you need to find information quickly: how much and cost tell you to look for monetary symbols or numbers ($, 500); where tells you to look for places, which in English are often capitalized proper names.
Production
Skim and scan the text below to answer the questions that follow.
Best Hot Air Balloon Rides
Stepping aboard one of these hot air balloons is a guaranteed way to rekindle a love of air travel. It’s an opportunity to revel in the world’s most beautiful landscapes, high above the fray. And it’s the kind of worthwhile splurge that you’ll be talking about long after you’re back on solid ground.
Festivals also celebrate ballooning as a lofty spectator sport. Fans turn out in droves each October to watch as hundreds of jaunty balloons ascend en masse into the cerulean skies above Albuquerque, New Mexico, making it the world’s most photographed event. Whether you choose the birds’-eye view over a French château à la the Montgolfiers’ original flight or prefer to skim the treetops of the Costa Rican rainforest, your spirits are destined to soar.
Melbourne, Australia
Greet the day, and Australia’s second largest city, from high above the glistening skyline with a one-hour Balloon Over Melbourne flight. You’ll take in views of the city’s central business district, its parks and gardens, and notable landmarks like Melbourne Park and Rod Laver Arena, site of the Australian Open. From $320 per person; balloonovermelbourne.com.au
Serengeti, Tanzania
Lions, hippos, leopards, giraffes and zebras thrive on the grassy plains of the Seronera River Valley, as you’ll witness on a Balloon Safari. Flights also catch sight of the estimated two million wildebeest that migrate from Kenya to Lake Victoria each year, often passing through the valley between May and early June and again from late October to December. $529 per person; balloonsafari.com
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Each October, more than 500 colorful balloons take flight during early morning mass ascensions at the International Balloon Fiesta, the largest such event and the most photographed event worldwide. The dedicated 365-acre Balloon Fiesta Park just north of Albuquerque also hosts special-shape balloon rodeos and the popular evening balloon glow. Prices range from $299 to $499 per person for a 60-minute ride; rainbowryders.com.
- Where is the world’s most photographed event?
- How much does it cost to go on a hot air balloon ride in Australia?
- Scan for the word “landmarks.”
- All of the following are true EXCEPT
- You can see an estimated two million wildebeest in Tanzania.
- Melbourne is Australia’s largest city.
- In October, 500 balloons take flight.
- It costs $320 to take a hot air balloon ride in Australia.
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