Teaching Reading Skills and Vocabulary in Malaysian Primary ESL Classroom TSL 3106

Topic 4/Week 5 : Reading Skills in the Malaysian Primary School English Language Curriculum

Group Members:
1. Mohd Afif Norsetilah 2. Viviana Mihen 3. Clara Beatrice Logie

Reading Skills Skimming Scanning Reading Comprehension Skills Reading for main ideas and supporting ideas Inferencing, predicting and drawing conclusion Sequencing Cause and Effect Synthesizing Evaluating

SKIMMING
refers to the process of reading only main ideas within a passage to get an overall impression of the content of a reading selection. How to Skim: * Read the title. * Read 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.

SCANNING
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.

Reading for main supporting ideas Main Idea

ideas

and

also called the central idea or main point, is the primary concept of a passage. represents the essential point that the author is trying to convey. may be clearly stated as a sentence. usually reinforced by a series of other points or details.

Supporting Details
The supporting details are the things that describe the main idea. These supporting details make the main idea stronger. support the premise of the main idea. include key details and minor details. Key details are those that directly explain the main idea, while minor details are those that add information, offer an example, or further explain one of the key details.

Questions that help students identify main ideas and supporting details:
Based on the title, what do you think the article will be about? What do you think is the BIG IDEA of this article? Of this paragraph? What two words would you use to describe the gist of the paragraph? selection? Which details helped you picture . . .? What details from the selection support this hypothesis? When students read, they think about what most of the sentences are describing. Is there one sentence that describes the main idea for this topic? What was the focus of this reading selection?

Interfering, predicting and drawing conclusion

Inference Inference: an idea that is suggested by the facts or details in a passage Prediction As you read a story, get into the habit of guessing about what will happen next.
Making predictions, just like inferencing, involves looking for clues that the writer gives.

Conclusion a decision about what may happen or about the result an event may have

How to make an inference or draw a conclusion

Observe all the facts, arguments, and information given by the author Consider what you already know from your own experiences When faced with multiple choice answers, determine whether each is true or false based on the information in the passage Think about the facts of the passage and what may result from them Think about causes and effects

Example :
The woman waited nervously in line. When the counter was empty, she carefully unloaded her items from her cart. Lines creased her forehead as if to show the calculations ringing up in her head. Finally, the cashier began ringing up the items as the woman clutched her purse.

# Inference/conclusion: The woman may not have

enough money to cover the cost of her groceries.

Sequencing
Sequencing is one of many skills that contributes to students' ability to comprehend what they read. refers to the identification of the components of a story, such as the beginning, middle, and end, and also to the ability to retell the events within a given text in the order in which they occurred. the ordering of events in a story, along with connecting words such as once upon a time, then, later, afterwards, and in the end, are good examples of textual features.

 provide an opportunity for students to examine text and story structure, which, in turn, strengthens their writing skills. Two examples of ways to help students hone their sequencing skills are read-aloud story or independent reading.

Cause and Effect

Definition Many times when one event happens it causes something else to happen. The cause is the first event that makes another event happen. The effect is the event or events following the first event that happened.

Why is Cause and Effect an important reading strategy? Understanding cause and effect helps us to make connections with why events happen. It helps us to think about what will, or might happen because of something else. In life we have to think about the consequences of our actions. Understanding cause and effect helps us to make better choices.
How do we use cause and effect to help us understand what we are reading? As you read, ask yourself, "What Happened?" and "Why?" The answer to "What happened?" tells you the effect. The answer to "Why?" tells you the cause.

 SYNTHESIZING Synthesizing is the process of ordering, recalling, retelling, and recreating into a coherent whole the information with which our minds are bombarded everyday. Synthesizing is closely linked to evaluating. Basically, as we identify whats important, we interweave our thoughts to form a comprehensive perspective to make the whole greater than just the sum of the parts.

EVALUATING (DETERMINING IMPORTANCE) Determining importance has to do with knowing why youre reading and then making decisions about what information or ideas are most critical to understanding the overall meaning of the piece.