Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Using Different Reading Rates
You have the reading material in front of you. You have determined your purpose for reading the selection. Now you need to decide what reading rate to use. There are at least five different reading rates you can choose from.
The technique of skimming is used often by readers. It is best to use when reading content that is familiar to you. You can also use it with material that is easy to read. Fiction novels and magazine articles can be skimmed. Use skimming when previewing text books and prereading more difficult materials.
When you skim a reading selection, you do not read all of the words. Skimming is done at a much faster pace than normal reading. You quickly run your eyes over the text. If you are previewing an article, you can read the first and last paragraphs quickly. This will give you a sense of what the article is about. When you skim, you will get a sense of the main ideas of the material.
Scanning is another fast reading technique. You can use it to find specific details such as dates, names, and keywords. Scanning helps you to find answers to specific questions. It can also help give you a sense of the main topics and overall organization of a reading selection. You can use scanning when studying lists such as a table of contents, indexes, and glossaries. You might be familiar with scanning if you have ever looked for a person's number in a phone book.
As with skimming, you do not read all the words when you scan. You quickly run your eyes down the page. Use scanning when you know what you are looking for. Look for clues from the author. These include bold-face type, italics, and colors. They help you to quickly find the information you are looking for.
