Topic 2.

Reading Skills in the Malaysian Primary School English Language

Curriculum
 2. Reading Skills in the Malaysian Primary
School English Language Curriculum
WEEK 3

Reading Skills
Skimming
Scanning
Reading Comprehension Skills
Literal Comprehension
Reorganisation
Inferential Comprehension
Evaluation
Appreciation
Reading Activity Chart
Task

Work with a partner, fill in the chart below with

what you already know about reading.
Once complete, discuss answer together in
group.
Add any new information you hear in class.
Next, discuss the question that follow the
reading chart.
 What do effective readers do?

Effective readers

read silently and aloud

have a clear purpose in reading
read phrase by phrase, rather than word by word
concentrate on the important bits, skim the rest, and skip the
insignificant parts
use different speeds and strategies for different reading tasks
perceive the information in the target language rather than mentally
translate them
guess the meaning of new words from the context, or ignore them
use background information to help understand the text.

2. Reading Skills in the Malaysian

Primary School English Language
Curriculum

Reading Skills
Skimming
Scanning
 2. Reading Skills in the Malaysian
Primary School English Language
Curriculum
Reading Skills
Skimming
Skimming is used to check to get the main
idea, or gist of a text.
Skim a newspaper report if you wish only to
understand the main events
 2. Reading Skills in the Malaysian
Primary School English Language
Curriculum

Reading Skills
Scanning
Scanning means to read to locate specific
information.
Move your eyes across sentences and entire
paragraphs, noticing only the clue words to
locate an answer.
 Exercise: Skimming & Scanning

Exercise: Skimming & Scanning

Task
Read the Readers Digest article, Extraordinary uses for dishwashing
soap, to practice skimming for information.
Answer the skimming questions that follow.

Next, read the New York Times article, Marriage trends in the United
States, to practice scanning for information.
Answer the scanning questions that follow.
 Extraordinary Uses for Dishwashing Soap
Kill weeds kindly
Be gentler to the environmentnot so much to weedsby using a natural plant killer rather than
harmful herbicides. Mix 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid with 1 cup of salt and 1 gallon of white
vinegar. Pour the solution on weeds sprouting in the cracks and crevices of sidewalks, front walks,
and patio pavers.

Wash away ants

Outdoor ants can be just as annoying as indoor ants, particularly if they've invaded the crevices in
your patio where you eat. Get rid of them with a simple 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar
with a dash of dishwashing liquid. (You can substitute glass cleaner for the vinegar if you want.)
Spray the affected area with the mix, wait a few minutes, then happily return to your picnic.

Add life to your locks

If your hair isn't looking so lovely, try mixing a dollop of dishwashing liquid into your shampoo. It
fights grease in hair, as well as on dishes!

Clean your blender

Forget about taking your blender apart to wash it thoroughly. Instead, fill it partway with warm
water and dishwashing detergent, cover it, and run it for a few seconds. Empty it, rinse it, air-dry
it, and call it a day.
Readers Digest: http://www.rd.com accessed July 2012.
The Star
24 June 2017
 2. Reading Skills in the Malaysian
Primary School English Language
Curriculum

Reading Comprehension Skills

Comprehension can be described as an active process
Comprehension is used to check readers reconstruction of texts that have been read.

that
Teachers ask for reconstruction of meaning, inferences predictions, and conclusions to be made
inside the lessons to show pupils cognitive process.
Involves the reader in making meaning from visual

information
( e.g. print, puinctuation, illustration) and non-visual
information (e.g. background knowledge based on past
experience with language and the world)
Reading Resource book- Western Australia
 2. Reading Skills in the Malaysian
Primary School English Language
Curriculum

Reading Comprehension Skills

Comprehension is used to check readers reconstruction
Comprehension is used to check readers reconstruction of texts that have been read.

of texts that have been read.

Teachers ask for reconstruction of meaning, inferences predictions, and conclusions to be made
inside the lessons to show pupils cognitive process.

Teachers ask for reconstruction of meaning, inferences

predictions, and conclusions to be made inside the lessons
to show pupils cognitive process.

 Reading Comprehension Skills

Skill-Main ideas and supporting details

Example
Main Idea: The main message the author is conveying to the reader.
Supporting Details: The information that "backs" up the main
message.
Question Types
What are the main ideas in this text?
Who are the main characters?
What details support the main ideas?
 Reading Comprehension Skills

Skill-Inference, predicting and drawing conclusions

Example
Inference is using all the clues in the text and arriving at a conclusion of what will happen. There
may be some degree of truth in the decision made. Inferring is reading between the lines.
Inference and prediction are NOT the same. Inference allows for many more questions than
prediction
Question Types
What clues lead you to think that?
How does that character feel?
Why did the author write this story?
What would you do if you were the main character?
 Reading Comprehension Skills

Skill-Inference, predicting and drawing conclusions

Example
Predicting is making an educated guess on what will happen based on your background
knowledge. Predictions are answered at the end of the story.
Drawing conclusions is using evidence in the story to draw logical conclusions about what
happened. The author often gives away hints during the story and this makes it exciting to read.
When we draw a conclusion, we take the clues the author has given us and use it with what we
already know from our experience to help us understand what is happening in the story.
Predicting Questions
What is happening in the story?
What will happen next?
What else could happen?
 Reading Comprehension Skills

Skill-Sequencing
Example
Sequencing refers to the identification of the components of a story, such as the beginning, middle,
and end, and also the ability to retell the events within a given text in the order in which they occurred.
The ability to sequence events in a text is a key comprehension strategy, especially for narrative texts. 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.
Teacher may organize a lesson that pre-teaches transitional vocabulary to showcase sequencing in reading.

Questions
What happens first? (Once upon a time). How do you know?
Where is the middle of the story (then, later, along with)?
How does the story end (In the end)?
 Reading Comprehension Skills

Skill-Cause and effect

Example
Cause and effect is to demonstrate to children that our actions have measurable
results and they need to make a link between actions and effects. We teach cause
and effect every time we help a young child recognize a relationship between two
things, or when we demonstrate that one event is the result of another.

Questions
What happens if you go outside in the rain without an umbrella?
What happens if you dont eat lunch?
"If you drink your milk, you will grow big and strong!"
"If you clean up your toys, you can go play outside."
 Reading Comprehension Skills

Skill-Synthesizing
Example
Synthesizingrecognizes that the thinking process evolves during the
learning process. The reader's thinking changes as they gather more
information. New information makes the reader re-evaluate and
increase what they know.
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.
See Vygotskys (1978) zones of proximal development for further information.
Questions
Ask for a prediction, inference and then when the pupils realize
the story changed they can revise their reading schema.
Reflection can also be another way to synthesize information
after the lesson.
Reflection: KWL:
What I know
What I want to know
What I learnt from this story
 Reading Comprehension Skills

Skill-Evaluating
Example
Evaluating and 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.
Questions
What is the most important information in the story?
What order do events occur in this story?
Draw me a timeline of events to show what you think is most important.
BARRETTS TAXONOMY

APPRECIATION

EVALUATION

INFERENTIAL COMPREHENSION

REORGANIZATION

LITERAL COMPREHENSION