Study skills: Reading Practice

We read every day. The material we read is always different. What material can you think of?

Here is some common reading material we read:
a bus timetable       the menu in Costa         the school timetable      the teacher's writing on the board
your coursebook    the Kaplan website        this blog            a text message    a Whatsapp message      a Facebook post          an email        a free newspaper         an article on the internet     a study book

Why do you read? Do you read for pleasure and enjoyment? Do you read to find out facts and information?

When we read, we use different skills. These skills are:

skimming What is the article about? We skim a text for a general understanding. For gist.
scanning  We scan a text for specific information. For example, what time does the film start? When does the bus leave?
reading for detail We want to know more information and detail. For example, what colour was the man's jacket? How did James Bond feel?

Look at the reading material above. Which would you skim, which would you scan, and which would you read for detail?

a bus timetable: scanning       the menu in Costa: scanning         the school timetable: scanning        the teacher's writing on the board: detail  your coursebook: detail    the Kaplan website: detail        this blog: detail         a text message: scanning/ skimming    a Whatsapp message: scanning/ skimming a Facebook post: skimming/detail        an email: detail    a free newspaper: skimming/ scanning/ detail an article on the internet: skimming/ scanning/ detail     a study book: scanning/ detail

In the study centre, there are many graded books. These are books that are written specifically for your level of English. Each book has questions at the back and some of the books have an audio CD, so you can listen to the book too.

Here are some websites where you can practise:
http://englishteststore.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=77&Itemid=284  There are 29 reading texts listed at the bottom of the page. Click on a link and the text will open. Read the text and choose the correct answer at the bottom. When you have answered the first question, click on Next for the next question. When you have answered all the questions, press Submit to see your score.

http://elt.oup.com/student/bookwormsleveltest/st2/stage2_1?cc=global&selLanguage=en&mode=hub Complete the story choosing the correct word from the drop down menu. Try and complete Test 1 and Test 2. If this is too easy, try Stage 3 http://elt.oup.com/student/bookwormsleveltest/st3/?cc=gb&selLanguage=en If it is too difficult, try Stage 1 http://elt.oup.com/student/bookwormsleveltest/st1/?cc=gb&selLanguage=en

What can I do next?
 

• When you have finished the texts, read them again. This time, look more closely at the vocabulary. Which words are new to you? Try and use them in your next piece of writing or in a conversation. 
• Look more closely at the grammar that is being used. Do you know why these tenses are used? Can you see any irregular verbs? 
• Look at the punctuation that is used.
• Copy part of the text to help you remember vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure.
• Can you remember the text? Try and re-write a paragraph from memory. Try and summarise the text in your own words.