Skimming, Scanning, and Inference / Find

Specific and General Information Quickly

SKIMMMING
 Warming up Activity…
John Walker was a British chemist
and inventor. Walker mixed some What does
chemicals with a stick then he the
scraped the stick on the floor to
remove the chemicals. As he passage
scraped the stick, it burst into
flames. This gave Walker the idea
mainly tell
of making matches. Walker’s about?
matches were first sold in 1827.
 Warming up Activity…
John Walker was a British
What does the
chemist and inventor. Walker
passage mainly
mixed some chemicals with a
tell about?
stick then he scraped the stick
on the floor to remove the
chemicals. As he scraped the
stick, it burst into flames. This How matches
gave Walker the idea of were
making matches. Walker’s invented?
matches were first sold in
1827.
 Skimming
Definition

Quickly identify main ideas of a text

Skimming is 3 to 4 times faster regular

reading

Used when there is a lot of material and a short

amount of time
 Other Definitions
A lot materials but limited
time
Skip the details over

Quickly identify main points

Speed reading
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How to Skim
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 Examples of Skimming:
• The Newspaper – to quickly get the
general news of the day
• Magazines – to quickly discover
which articles you would like to read
in more detail
• Business and Travel Brochures – to
quickly get informed
 Let’s
practice
…
• 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.
• Examples of Scanning:
• A google search list on the internet.
• A bus / airplane schedule
• Meaning of a word in dictionary
• Finding a telephone no in directory.
 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.
INFERENCE
 Thoughts on Inferences
“The Art of Predicting”
• Thinking at a higher level.
• It’s a way to gather information from
different sources to make connections or
conclusions about what the text means.
• It’s “reading between the lines” or
finding the clues to better understand
the text.
• It’s an author “showing rather than
telling” the emotions of a character.
 What is Prediction?
• A prediction is what you think will
happen based upon the text, the
author, and background
knowledge.
• Prediction is an educated guess
as to what will happen.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences
are ideas that are not stated directly.
They are conclusions we draw based on
things we see, hear, and read.

Conclusions

See Hear Read

 What is Inference?
• Inference is reading all of the clues
and making your best guess.
• Inference is similar to prediction but
they are not the same.
• When inferring, you are using all
clues to draw conclusions about
what is being read.
 What is the difference between
Prediction and Inference?
• When you make predictions, your prediction will be proven
by the end of the story. When inferring, you may or may
not know the answer to your question by the end of the
story.
• When predicting, you are focusing on what will happen in
the story. When inferring, you are making a guess about
what a character will do, how a character feels, and other
judgments.
• Prediction = answered by the end of the story
• Inference = may or may not be answered by the end of the
story
 How do you know that you are
being asked to make an inference?
One of these verbs will be used:
*suggest (Which answer does the text suggest is …)
*imply (Which answer does the author imply is …)
*infer (What can you infer from the text as the reason….)
*reasonably infer (What can you reasonably infer is…)
*suggested that (The author suggested that who…)
*with which would the author agree
(With which answer would the author agree as to…)
*which sentence would the author most
likely use…(Which sentence would the author most likely
use to explain…)
 When should a student
infer?
• Before Reading (the cover of a book, clues
from pictures, pre-reading questions, prior
knowledge for guessing, and clues from the
first page)
• During Reading (text, illustrations, text
clues, experiences/prior knowledge,
comparisons, cause and effects)
• After Reading (prior knowledge,
experiences, text clues, comparisons, causes
and effects, and connections to the text)
 When do you make Predictions?
• As a reader, you can make predictions a
text BEFORE reading.
• As a reader, you can make predictions a
text DURING reading.
• In other words, make predictions before
and during reading.
 Type of Inferences
• 1. Text-to-Text Inferences (Connects one part
of a text to another) (There can be text-to-
other-text connections from authors)

• 2. Text-to-Self/World Inferences (Connects

text to a student’s own experiences and
knowledge of the world around them.)
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading

Inferences in Reading

In reading, we make logical leaps from

information stated directly
to ideas that are not stated directly.

Information Stated Directly Ideas Not Stated Directly

 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading

To make inferences, we use all the clues provided

by the writer, our own experience, and logic.

Clues Inference
Experience Logic
Provided
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading

Below is a sentence you saw in the chapter “Vocabulary in Context.”

Many of us have ambivalent feelings about our politicians,

admiring them but also distrusting them.

That sentence does not tell us the meaning of ambivalent, but it does
suggest that ambivalent involves both positive and negative feelings.
Thus you can infer from this sentence that ambivalent feelings
probably means “mixed feelings,” and you’d be correct.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading
Now read this passage and consider the inferences.
A famous psychology experiment conducted by
Dr. John B. Watson demonstrates that people, like
animals, can be conditioned—trained to respond in
a particular way to certain stimulations. Watson
gave an eleven-month-old baby named Albert a soft,
furry white rat. Each time Albert tried to stroke the
rat, Dr. Watson hit a metal bar with a hammer.
Before long, Albert was afraid not only of white rats
but also of white rabbits, white dogs, and white fur
coats. He even screamed at the sight of a Santa
Claus mask.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading
Which inference is logically based on the information provided?

A famous psychology experiment conducted by

Dr. John B. Watson demonstrates that people, like
animals, can be conditioned—trained to respond in
a particular way to certain stimulations. Watson gave
an eleven-month-old baby named Albert a soft, furry
white rat. Each time Albert tried to stroke the rat, Dr.
Watson hit a metal bar with a hammer. Before long,
Albert was afraid not only of white rats but also of
white rabbits, white dogs, and white fur coats. He
even screamed at the sight of a Santa Claus mask.
A. Dr. Watson did not like small children.
B. Before the experiment, Albert was not afraid of white
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading

A famous psychology experiment conducted by Dr. John B. Watson

demonstrates that people, like animals, can be conditioned—trained to respond in
a particular way to certain stimulations. Watson gave an eleven-month-old baby
named Albert a soft, furry white rat. Each time Albert tried to stroke the rat, Dr.
Watson hit a metal bar with a hammer. Before long, Albert was afraid not only of
white rats but also of white rabbits, white dogs, and white fur coats. He even
screamed at the sight of a Santa Claus mask.

A. Dr. Watson did not like small children. We might certainly

question the way the baby was used, but the passage doesn’t
give enough information for us to infer logically that Watson
did not like small children. This is not a logical inference.
B. Before the experiment, Albert was not afraid of white rats.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading

A famous psychology experiment conducted by Dr. John

B. Watson demonstrates that people, like animals, can be
conditioned—trained to respond in
a particular way to certain stimulations. Watson gave an
eleven-month-old baby named Albert a soft, furry white rat.
Each time Albert tried to stroke the rat, Dr. Watson hit a
metal bar with a hammer. Before long, Albert was afraid not
only of white rats but also of white rabbits, white dogs, and
white fur coats. He even screamed at the sight of a Santa
Claus mask.
A. Dr. Watson did not like small children.
B. Before the experiment, Albert was not afraid of white rats.
This is a logical inference.
Because Albert tried to pet the rat, it is fair to assume that he wasn’t
frightened of the animal.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading

Which inference is logically based on the information provided?

A famous psychology experiment conducted by Dr. John B. Watson
demonstrates that people, like animals, can be conditioned—trained to respond in
a particular way to certain stimulations. Watson gave an eleven-month-old baby
named Albert a soft, furry white rat. Each time Albert tried to stroke the rat, Dr.
Watson hit a metal bar with a hammer. Before long, Albert was afraid not only of
white rats but also of white rabbits, white dogs, and white fur coats. He even
screamed at the sight of a Santa Claus mask.

C. Albert was afraid of unexpected loud noises.

D. Albert had been familiar with rats before the experiment.

 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading

A famous psychology experiment conducted by Dr. John B. Watson

demonstrates that people, like animals, can be conditioned—trained to respond in
a particular way to certain stimulations. Watson gave an eleven-month-old baby
named Albert a soft, furry white rat. Each time Albert tried to stroke the rat, Dr.
Watson hit a metal bar with a hammer. Before long, Albert was afraid not only of
white rats but also of white rabbits, white dogs, and white fur coats. He even
screamed at the sight of a Santa Claus mask.

C. Albert was afraid of unexpected loud noises. Since the noise is

what made Albert afraid of the rat, we have to infer that he was
afraid of the noise. In addition, experience tells us that babies
are likely to be frightened of unexpected loud noises.
D. Albert had been familiar with rats before the experiment.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Inferences in Reading

A famous psychology experiment conducted by Dr. John B. Watson

demonstrates that people, like animals, can be conditioned—trained to respond in
a particular way to certain stimulations. Watson gave an eleven-month-old baby
named Albert a soft, furry white rat. Each time Albert tried to stroke the rat, Dr.
Watson hit a metal bar with a hammer. Before long, Albert was afraid not only of
white rats but also of white rabbits, white dogs, and white fur coats. He even
screamed at the sight of a Santa Claus mask.

C. Albert was afraid of unexpected loud noises.

D. Albert had been familiar with rats before the experiment.

The passage gives no clues about Albert’s having previous
experience with rats.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Which inference is most logically based on the

information suggested by this cartoon?

A. The couple is not

likely to have a good
dining experience at
the restaurant.
REAL LIFE ADVENTURES © 2006 GarLanco. Reprinted with
permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.

B. The couple will

never eat at the
restaurant.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

A. The couple is not likely to

have a good dining
experience at the restaurant.

The “help wanted” sign

indicates that the restaurant is
REAL LIFE ADVENTURES © 2006 GarLanco. Reprinted with seriously understaffed.
permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.

B. The couple will

never eat at the
restaurant.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

A. The couple is not likely

to have a good dining
experience at the
restaurant.

It would be logical, then, to infer that

the restaurant cannot provide patrons
REAL LIFE ADVENTURES © 2006 GarLanco. Reprinted with with a good dining experience. This is
permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.
a logical inference.

B. The couple will never

eat at the restaurant.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

A. The couple is not likely

to have a good dining
experience at the
restaurant.

REAL LIFE ADVENTURES © 2006 GarLanco. Reprinted with

B. The couple will never
permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.
eat at the restaurant.
The man’s comment that “this
isn’t the best time” suggests
that he may be willing to try
the restaurant once it has
solved its staffing problems.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

Which inference is most logically based on the

information suggested by this cartoon?

C. The restaurant was

recently closed for
health violations.
REAL LIFE ADVENTURES © 2006 GarLanco. Reprinted with
permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.

D. Whoever is running the

restaurant is not doing a
good job.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

C. The restaurant was

recently closed for
health violations.
D. Whoever is running the
restaurant is not doing a good
job.
REAL LIFE ADVENTURES © 2006 GarLanco. Reprinted with Experience tells us that good
permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.

managers are able to hire and

retain qualified employees. The
“help wanted” sign suggests quite
the opposite—that a number of
employees have recently quit or
been fired.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

C. The restaurant was recently

closed for health violations.

REAL LIFE ADVENTURES © 2006 GarLanco. Reprinted with

permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.

D. Whoever is running the restaurant

is not doing a good job.
The lack of staff, in turn, has caused the
couple to decide against dining there.
Clearly, this is no way to run a business!
This is a logical inference.
 CHAPTER 7 Inferences

C. The restaurant was recently

closed for health violations.
Nothing in the cartoon suggests that
the restaurant was recently closed for
health violations. This is not a logical
REAL LIFE ADVENTURES © 2006 GarLanco. Reprinted with inference.
permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.

D. Whoever is running the restaurant

is not doing a good job.
Let’s Go through These One at a Time.

Define
* unknown words using
Inference Context Clues
The resilient survivors were soon cracking jokes.
Can you guess what “resilient” means from the sentence?
A skilled reader uses context clues to “infer” the meaning
of the word. He knows that the prefix “re” means again.
He knows the meaning of “survivors.” He “infers” from
the fact that they are soon cracking jokes, that the
survivor is doing fine now. “Resilient” must have to do
with overcoming something.
Let’s Go through These One at a Time.

Learn about a character.

“My mother had to try to keep track of

us. She finally took us and tied us all
together so that we would stay
together. And that’s the way we came
off the boat.”
--A Swiss Immigrant
A skilled reader can infer from these words of the
character about his belief that his mother wanted to
 Let’s Go through These One at
a Time.
Picture the setting

The French town was in shattered ruins:

buildings were jagged shards now and
rubble was scattered everywhere.

The skilled reader can infer from the details a picture

of this devastation in his mind.
Let’s Go through These One at a Time.

Use prior knowledge to

better understand the
reading
John Glenn was the first American to
successfully orbit Earth three times. He
got a hero’s welcome comparable to the
one Charles Lindbergh received 35
years before.
The skilled reader knows that Charles
Lindbergh was the first to fly trans-
 NUMBER 8

Radio became the most common

communication medium in 1920. Three
decades later television came along.

Inference: What would you infer about the

sale of radios in the 1950’s? Increase or
decline?
 NUMBER 12

John F. Kennedy in 1963 said “And this

nation, for all its hopes and boasts, will
not be fully free until all its citizens are
free.”

Inference: Is he referencing the freeing of

Mexican-Americans or African-Americans?
 NUMBER 16

There was a crowd of customers

sampling the first ice cream cones at the
St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

Can you infer what season it is?

 NUMBER 17

The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 is

listed as a major event of the century.

Inference: Can you reasonably infer that

many people died?
 NUMBER 18

Piggly Wiggly grocery store was the first

store where shoppers could get their own
packaged foods. Before that the clerk
had to weigh and package each item.

Inference: Did the customers like this change?

 Super Short Story
ONLY
Completed with Inference:
 Answer in Pairs
1. What do you think has happened?
2. Why did it happen?
3. What are the possible relationships between
the violin player and the woman?
4. How does the story end?

Possible Discussion Ideas:

What facts did the story actually give?
Have you ever lived with someone who is learning to play
an instrument?
Who was it?
Did they enjoy the experience?
What do you think San Jose might be like?
 Conclusion
• Inferring requires the reader to ask questions
during reading.
• Predicting requires the reader to ask questions
before and during reading.
• Making inferences/predictions are a way to
check for understanding.
• Making inferences/predictions require the use
of additional strategies to ensure
comprehension.
• Your prediction will be proven/disproved by
the end of the reading. Your inference may or