EXPECTATIONS

This module will help you to:

 identify the purposes, types, and categories of reading;
 identify the skills used in each of the stages of the reading process; and
 gain knowledge on basic reading skills (skimming, scanning, locating main
ideas, summarizing, paraphrasing).

Let us start your journey in learning more on Fundamental

Reading Skills. I am sure you are ready and excited to answer the
Pretest. Smile and cheer up!

PRETEST
Direction: Match the items in column A to the descriptions in column B. Write only the
letter of your choice on the space provided.

A
_________ 1. Browsing B
_________ 2. Critical reading a. aims to correct reading problems
_________ 3. Developmental reading b. aims to develop readers’ ability to read real and
_________ 4. Functional reading authentic reading materials
_________ 5. Inferential reading c. aims to entertain
_________ 6. Literal reading d. aims to systematically improve reading skills
_________ 7. Pleasure reading e. involves inspecting a text leisurely
_________ 8. Previewing f. involves a direct comprehension of explicitly
_________ 9. Rapid reading stated information
_________ 10. Remedial reading g. involves an in-depth evaluation of a text
h. involves reading between the lines
i. involves reading the text in a short span of time
j. involves the reading of table of contents

Great, you finished answering the questions. You

may request yourfacilitator to check your work.
Congratulations and keep on learning!
 !

It is not true that reading is an effortless task. It is instead a complex cognitive process. Aside from
this, it is also highly visual because it involves the transmission of messages through the optic nerves.
Although you may not be aware of it, you apply different skills when reading a particular text. You do more
than just read. You also locate main ideas, summarize, paraphrase, note details, and get the meaning of
words.
Reading is a language skill which can be developed through constant practice. As some scholars
found out, you can widen your vocabulary and develop skills in writing when you read. But reading can be
more meaningful if it will be viewed as an interactive process between the writer and the reader. As a
reader, you interact with what you read by asking questions, analyzing the assertions, adding your own
understanding, and relating your experience to the message.

DISCUSSION
SLesson 1 Fundamental Reading Skills

Reading Process
As a complex process, reading consists of the following stages.

While reading
Pre-reading Read the following except. Post-reading
One morning, when Gregor
Based on the title, Samsa woke from troubled Why do you think
"The Metamorphosis," dreams, he found himself this happened to
what do you think is transformed in his bed into a Gregor?
the story about? horrible vermin. He lay on his
armor-like back, and if he lifted
his head a little he could see his
brown belly, slightly doomed
and divided by arches into stiff
sections. The bedding was
hardly able to cover it and
seemed ready to slide off any
moment. his many legs, pitifully
thin compared with the size of
the rest of him, waved about
helplessly as he looked.
-The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
 Before you read the excerpt, you have to draw on your background knowledge by looking at the
title. This is the pre-reading stage. It aims to induce the readers’ motivation to read and to activate their
schema or background knowledge. Activities done during this stage include previewing, freewriting,
surveying, questioning, making assumptions about the author, identifying the purpose, and selecting a
reading system such as SQ3R (survey, question, read, recite, review).
In the while-reading stage, you may reread the text until you fully understand its meaning. The
specific skills in this stage include getting the meaning of words through context cues, predicting, inferencing,
monitoring comprehension, annotating the text, and reflecting.
In the last stage, you have to check your understanding of the text. This is the post-reading stage.
The skills include reflecting, summarizing, paraphrasing, drawing conclusions, making graphic organizers,
and journal writing.

Basic Reading Skills

The following are various skills which can enhance your reading experience and make you an
effective reader.
1. Rapid reading – aims to locate specific information or main idea in a very short span of time.
Examples of this include skimming and scanning, which are both pre-reading skills.
a. Skimming
When you try to get the general idea by reading through the text quickly, what you do is
skimming. It is a type of quick reading which aims to get the main idea and to get an overview
of the materials. It is usually done when reading newspapers, magazines, books, and letters.
The following are some techniques for effective skimming.
i. Use your finger as a guide when reading across the line.
ii. Focus more on the first and the last sentences of each paragraph; they usually
contain the main idea of the text.
b. Locating the main idea
Locating the main idea is another reading skill. It involves the identification of the central
message of a reading selection.
The main idea is usually found in either or both the first and the last sentences of a
paragraph, but it may also appear in the middle or may simply be implied and not explicitly
stated in the text.
To determine the main idea more easily, study the levels of ideas in a paragraph, and see
which elements help in pointing to the main idea.
Levels of Ideas in a
directly support the main idea
Paragraph
MAIN IDEA
Major details
Minor details directly support the major detail
Below are some techniques in locating the main idea.
i. Identify the topic or the subject of a text.
ii. Take note of transitional devices such as thus, therefore, to conclude, and to sum
up, as they may signal the main idea.
iii. Validate your identified main idea by analyzing if all supporting details directly or
indirectly support it.
 c. Scanning
Check the following information and look for the grade of Brutus. Do it as quickly as you
can.
Name Grade
Julius Caesar 90.5
Anthony 96
Pontius 100
Sophocles 76
Brutus 88
Archimedes 96
Aristotle 86
Since you are focused on getting only the grade of Brutus, you do not have to read through
the whole list. That is called scanning. It is a quick reading strategy which aims to get specific
information from a given text.
Scanning is useful in locating the specific name of a board passer, looking for an old email
in your inbox, or checking specific information in a graph.

2. Previewing – is a skill wherein a reader looks over a material and focuses on the information
he/she finds relevant. Previewing also allows readers to set the purpose and link the content of the
material to their background knowledge. It is conducted during the prereading stage.
Effective previewing involves clarifying the purpose, reading the title and headings, and
checking the illustration and other visuals. Browsing, or inspecting unhurriedly, the table of
contents, introduction, or summary, is also a previewing technique.

3. Literal Reading – involves the understanding of ideas and facts that are directly stated in the
printed material. Skills under this category include note-taking, paraphrasing, and summarizing.
These are done in the postreading stage.
a. Summarizing
It is a reading skill that involves condensing a lengthy text into a shorter passage which is
usually 15 to 30 percent of the source materials. It is essential that the thesis statement or the
topic sentence is included in the summary. Major details may also be mentioned, but they are
not required. A citation of the original source is always necessary.
b. Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing involves restating ideas from the original text. Unlike a summary, the length of a
paraphrased text is almost similar to the length of the original text because it focuses on the
details and not on the main idea. A paraphrased text also cites and preserves the tone of the
original text.

4. Inferential reading – refers to the process of deducing facts and ideas not directly expressed in
the text. It is also known as “reading between the lines.” This skill includes making generalizations,
inferences, and conclusions. This is applied during the while-reading stage.
An inference is an idea drawn from facts or details in the text. Along with the evidence in
the text, prior knowledge and experiences, as well as personal beliefs, are also used a bases in
making an inference.
 5. Critical reading – refers to the close and thorough evaluation of the claims in the text in terms of
relevance, validity, and logic. This skill includes distinguishing facts from opinions and detecting
logical fallacies. As with inferential, critical reading happens in the while-reading stage.

Types of Reading
People have different reasons why they read, but most of these reasons, if not all, fall under three
general purposes: to be informed, to be entertained, and to be inspired.
Some of the various types of reading are defined and classified according to purpose. Read the
following to learn about them.

Ryan reads a long text to Karen reads her favorite Felipe reads a college Francis reads a
improve his reading book, To Kill a application form to pronunciation chart with
comprehension skills. Mockingbird, to relax understand how to fill it his teacher to help him
after a long day. out. correct his pronunciation
of diphthongs.

Developmental Pleasure reading Functional reading Remedial reading

reading
a systematic instruction a more passive type of designed to help aims to correct the
which aims to develop reading that primarily students learn basic effects of poor teaching
the students’ reading aims to provide functional reading and poor learning
skills enjoyment and ability
entertainment

ACTIVITIES
Activity 1.
Directions: Read the poem and encircle your answers to the succeeding questions.

The Child’s Wish Granted

By George Parsons Lathrop

Do you remember, my sweet, absent son,

How in the soft June days forever done
You loved the heavens so warm and clear and high;
And when I lifted you, soft came your cry, —
“Put me ‘way up—‘way, ‘way up in the blue sky”?
I laughed and said I could not; —set you down,
Your gray eyes wonder-filled beneath that crown
Of bright hair gladdening me as you raced by.
Another Father now, more strong than I,
Has borne you voiceless to your dear blue sky.
 1. The poem is probably about…
a. The persona’s child’s death
b. The relationship of the personal with his child
c. The child’s fascination with the sky

2. It can be inferred that the “dear blue sky” in the last line is…
a. Heaven
b. Home
c. The future

3. The “Father” in the second to the last line is…

a. The child’s real father
b. God
c. Death

Part A. Directions: Write B on the space provided if the task is done before reading, D if
done during reading, or A if done after reading.
__________ 1. Checking the table of contents
__________ 2. Checking the length of the article
__________ 3. Getting the main idea of the article
__________ 4. Getting the meanings of difficult words through context clues
__________ 5. Marking the text for possible contradictions
__________ 6. Predicting the possible ending of the article
__________ 7. Predicting the theme of the article
__________ 8. Preparing a fishbone map
__________ 9. Summarizing texts
__________ 10. Writing a reading log

Part B. Directions: Write E if the statement shows an effective strategy in reading and I if
ineffective.

__________ 1. Adding comments on a paraphrased or summarized text

__________ 2. Citing paraphrased text
__________ 3. Making inferences based on own assumptions
__________ 4. Changing all the words in a paraphrased text
__________ 5. Preserving the tone of the original text during paraphrasing
__________ 6. Comparing the paraphrased and summarized text to the original text
__________ 7. Stopping and looking back at the previously read lines during scanning and
skimming
__________ 8. Focusing on all parts of the paragraph during skimming
__________ 9. Using transitional devices as a clue when locating the main idea
__________ 10. Identifying the subject when locating the main idea
 SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

READING and WRITING

SKILLS
Module 3
Fundamental Reading Skills