Choosing How to Read a Text
Match the reading to the job: skim to see whether a text is worth the time, scan for one fact, read closely when the wording carries the argument, reread when the first pass did not hold. Reading everything at one speed wastes the hours that the hard texts need.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Say before starting which of skim, scan or close read the task needs, and why
- Switch approach mid-text when the first choice stops working, and name the moment it stopped
- Justify rereading a paragraph rather than pressing on, pointing at what did not resolve
1 · Read
Match your reading to the job. Skim to judge if a text deserves your time, scan to hunt one fact, and read closely when the wording carries the argument. Reading everything at one speed wastes the hours that hard texts need.
Need the year a bridge opened. Scan headings and search for numbers until the date pops out. Need to say what the author believes. Slow down, mark the thesis, and note the evidence in your own words. Before you start, name your approach and your reason in one sentence.
Switch gears the moment your first choice stops working. If skimming no longer answers your question, slow to a close read. If a paragraph stays foggy, reread that knot and point at the lines that stayed foggy instead of pressing on blind.
Before you start, name your approach and your reason in one sentence. After a reread, point at what finally resolved. That habit turns rereading from shame into method.
Pick skim, scan, or close reading for the job, switch when stuck, and reread the knot.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.