Preview and Predict

 REVIEW I

Preview and Predict

Previewing and predicting are also skills that are important for readers to learn.  Before you read something, you will often be able to predict what it is going to be about.  How do readers  

make prediction?  One way to make good predictions is to look for clues about the topic by looking over the whole reading first.  This is called previewing.

Imagine that you are thinking of renting a new apartment.  Before you visit the apartment, you might find out the address and the rent.  Then, you might walk through it quickly to get an idea of what it looks like.  You will see where each room is located, how many bedrooms and bathrooms there are, the size of the kitchen and so on.  In this way you will get an overview of the place before you look carefully at each room and all the details of the apartment. After you do these things, you will be in a position to make some predictions about whether you might be interested in renting it.  In the same way, when you sit down to read something -especially a longer test like an article, book, or newspaper- you should take a few minutes to preview, or look over, the material and make some predictions about it.

Previewing means surveying a text quickly before you read it carefully.  When you preview a text, look at the title and subtitle, pictures and graphics, words in bold print or italics, and introductions.

Previewing gives you an idea about what the reading is about and how it is organized.  It also gives you an idea about the words that might be in the reading.  The information you gain from previewing will help you make predictions about what to expect when you read.  In this way, previewing and predicting are related activities.

Predicting is making an educated guess about what you are going to read.  One of the goals of previewing is to help you make a prediction.  You can also use what you already know about the topic to help you make predictions.  Then, as you react, you can continue to make predictions about what will come next in the passage.  Predicting is important because it keeps you actively involved in reading, and, therefore, helps you understand and remember more of what you read.

Scan specific information

Scanning is another way to read quickly.  But it is different from skimming.  When you scan you read quickly in order to find specific information.  To scan, you move your eyes quickly across the text.  You do not have to read every word.  To scan effectively you need to do several things.

1.  Know the specific information you are looking for:  a name, a date, a time, a key word

2.  Ignore the words and information that aren't important for your purpose.

3.  More your eyes rapidly across the text until you find the information and then stop 

                   reading.

Facts and opinions

Facts are statements that can be proven to be true.

Opinions are statements that describe someone's feelings or beliefs about the topic.  They cannot be proven.

The ability to distinguish between fact and opinions will help you to make judgments about what you need.

Making inferences

We make inferences all the time in our everyday lives.  That is, we think something is true although we have no proof.  Here is an example:  If I tell you that I am going shopping for a birthday soon.  I didn't tell you that someone I know is having a birthday soon.  You made the inference based on the information I gave you.

Writers don't always state directly everything they want you to know.  Often, they only suggest ideas by giving hints and clues.  They respect you to figure out some things on your own.  In other words, they want you to make inferences.

An inferenceis an educated guess based on information in the reading.  To make good inferences you should combine the clues in the reading with information you already know from your own life.

Identifying main ideas

Remember that a paragraph is a group of sentences about one topic.  Every paragraph also has a main idea.  In order to become a good reader, you also need to master the skill of recognizing the main idea of a text.

The main idea is the author's most important point about the topic.  The main idea answers the question, "What is the main point that that the author is making about the topic?"  How do you find the main idea of a paragraph? 

1.  You need to read the paragraph carefully and identify the topic.

2.  You need to ask yourself, "What does the author want me to know about the topic?" 

Many times you will find the answer stated in one clear sentence.  This is called the topic sentence.