1. Basic Academic Reading Strategies

2. Skimming How to skim a long text:
process of reading (quickly) only main ideas within a passage to get an overall impression of the content.
Now skim Reading 1 in the Handout and answer the questions
How to skim a long text:
Read the title.
Read quickly the introduction or the first paragraph.
Read the first sentence of every other paragraph.
Read any headings and sub-headings.
Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs.
Notice any italicized or boldface words or phrases.
Read the summary or last paragraph.

3. Scanning
is a reading technique to be used when you want to find specific information quickly.
In scanning you have a question in your mind and you read a passage only to find the answer, ignoring unrelated information.
How to Scan:
State the specific information you are looking for.
Try to anticipate how the answer will appear and what clues you might use to help you locate the answer.
For example, if you were looking for a certain date, you would quickly read the paragraph looking only for numbers.
Use headings and any other aids that will help you identify which sections might contain the information you are looking for.
Selectively read and skip through sections of the passage.
Now scan text 2 in the handout and answer the questions
Practice Skim and Scan on texts 3-8

4. Detailed Reading Vocabulary in Context
refers to the sentences or the whole paragraph surrounding an unfamiliar word. 
Context clues are used to make a good guess at the word’s meaning. 
There are different types of context clues:
definition/restatement
The adversities of the winter—that is, the hardships and calamities that the family lived with Daily—disappeared with the warmth of spring.
Example
Pioneer women met adversity head on; for example, they used paper for windows, carried water for miles for the weekly washing, and made dough with corn meal rather than flour for the daily baking.

5. Aside from these, you can look for -synonyms -punctuation
3. Contrast
It was adversity, not prosperity, that shaped the lives of the early American pioneers.
4. Wh- markers
The cold-cellar was where the farmers stored their fruits and vegetables for winter.
Aside from these, you can look for
-synonyms
-punctuation
-compare/contrast
-cause/effect, etc.
Now do Reading 9 in the handout.

6. Checking Purpose and Organizational Patterns
Purpose is the intent of the author (why did s/he write it?)
Organizational pattern is the way the author organized the information
Comparison / Contrast
Examplification
Narration (Chronological), etc
Now do reading texts 10-11

7. Understanding Details and Factual Info
Understanding meaning: deducing the meaning of unfamiliar words and word groups; relations within the sentence/complex sentences; implications - information not explicitly stated, conceptual meaning, e.g. comparison, purpose, cause, effect.
Understanding relationships in the text: text structure; the communicative value of sentences; relations between the parts of a text through lexical and grammatical cohesion devices and indicators in discourse.
Understanding important points: distinguishing the main ideas from supporting detail; recognising unsupported claims and claims supported by evidence - fact from opinion; extracting salient points to summarise; following an argument; reading critically/evaluating the text.
Now do reading text 12

8. Making Inferences
is a comprehension strategy used by proficient readers to “read between the lines,” make connections, and draw conclusions about the text’s meaning and purpose.
Now do reading texts 13-14