'Scanning' tutor notes

The aim of the 'Scanning' topic area is to help learners understand and practise the reading technique of scanning. This will help them find key information such as dates, names etc in texts quickly without having to read them in careful detail.

Other areas on the site which link in with this module are:
'Skimming'. Before students complete the worksheet in the scanning module, they can use the same text to answer skimming questions in the skimming module.

How does this tie in with the curriculums?

• England
  Rt/L1.5 - 'Use different reading strategies to find and obtain information'.
  
• Wales
  As England.
• Northern Ireland
  As England.
• Scotland
  See www.aloscotland.com for details of the Scottish curriculum.

In the Skillswise module you'll find:

Scanning game - 'Who killed Angela Spelling?'
For several months this game has only been available from the tutor notes page, but we have now moved it into the main body of the site and you can now find it under the 'game' tab.

The feedback about this game has been very positive and the context of the game (a private detective investigating the possible murder of Angela Spelling) doesn't seem to have been a problem. However, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you, especially if you feel the times we have allowed within the game are too fast or too slow.

Please note that this game will take approximately 25-35 minutes to complete and once started really needs to be completed in one sitting, as once you close it down it won't remember where you have been or what you have found out.

The cluesheet is designed to go with the game so that students have something to remind them what to scan for, as well as having somewhere to write down information. The same questions appear in the game, but the game practises scanning better when played with the cluesheet.
Print out the cluesheet
Print out the answer sheet

Scanning quiz
The 3 level quiz for this section has a timer option to encourage students to scan texts quickly to find the correct answers to the questions. There are three different texts to look at with level A being the easiest and level C the hardest.

Top Tip! Students can use the keyboard 'page up' and 'page down', as well as the cursor keys, for scanning up and down the page.

There is a system in place that allows students to print out a certificate if they score 50% or over in the quiz. This appears as a link on the results page - click on the link and the certificate will appear in a new window. A student can write their name in once the certificate is printed.

If you feel that any of the timings in the quiz are either too fast or too slow please let us know.

Scanning factsheet
The factsheet in this module explains the technique of scanning as well as offering useful hints and tips on when and how to scan effectively.

If you feel that any important information has not been covered please let us know.

Scanning worksheets
There are two printable worksheets in this module.
The first worksheet is in two parts. The first is a printable job advertisement and the second is a set of 15 questions about the advert which students will need to scan for the answers.
In the second worksheet students have to scan a page from a primary school prospectus and answer ten questions.
To encourage quick scanning in both worksheets you could time students, or encourage them to try and race against each other to see who can finish first.

If you have any great worksheets that practise working with scanning, let us know . We are always interested in finding good worksheets to publish on the site.

Technical help:

To get the most out of this topic area you need the following 'plug-ins':

• Flash
  The game in this topic section uses Flash. This is free to download and should only take a few minutes. You can follow the BBC WebWise instructions to download it to your machine.
  Find out more.

If you don't have Flash the same learning points are covered in the quiz and in the worksheets and factsheets.
If you are new to the web, why not try the BBC WebWise online course, Becoming WebWise? It's free, you can do it in your own time from any computer and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching.
Get WebWise.

You can find out more about the technical requirements for Skillswise in our Help - Technical Information section.

Taking it further:

With Skillswise:
Don't forget to check out the Skillswise Lesson plans and Teaching inspirations areas for more ideas about scanning.
If you have any worksheets or ideas about teaching scanning don't forget to share! Just email us at skillswise.feedback@bbc.co.uk.

On the web:
Here is a suggestion of other places on the web that you might find useful to adapt or use for teaching scanning.

• Pulp Friction
  A timed quiz with a piece of text about environmental issues and accompanying questions.
  

• Reading Comprehension - Scanning
  An ESOL based resource which may also be useful for basic skills students which uses comprehension questions as cues for scanning a television schedule.
  

• BBCi A-Z index
  This index is in alphabetical order and lists all BBCi sites. The lists are split into site name and topic area which could be used for scanning practise.
  

• Loot
  The Loot website where you can search for or print out classified adds which could be useful for scanning practise. The search functionality before you get to the adds can be a bit confusing for someone new to the web so you may wish to print out lists of ads for students to use or help them work out how to search the site first.
  

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.

Do you know of any other great online resources for helping to teach and practise scanning? Let us know if you do.