4H Reading

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Welcome H4

1. Reading Strategies 

2. Practise reading 

Reading strategies

Together, we'll read 2 texts and answer a couple of questions about them.

Text #1:
Find the word

 'enema'. Put your hand up when you find it.

1 One hot evening in Padua they carried him up onto the roof and he could look out over the top 

2 of the town. There were chimney swifts in the sky. After a while it got dark and the searchlights 3 came out. The others went down and took the bottles with them. He and Luz could hear them  4 below on the balcony. Luz sat on the bed. She was cool and fresh in the hot night.

5 Luz stayed on night duty for three months. They were glad to let her. When they operated on 

6 him she prepared him for the operating table; and they had a joke about friend or enema. He  

7 went under the anaesthetic holding tight on to himself so he would not blab about anything  

8 during the silly, talky time. After he got on crutches he used to take the temperatures so Luz    9 would not have to get up from the bed. There were only a few patients, and they all knew about 10 it. They all liked Luz. As he walked back along the halls he thought of Luz in his bed.

What did you do to find the word?

When reading text #1, which strategy do think you used?

1. skimming
2. scanning

You used: Scanning

You scan a text to look for detailed information hidden in the text

How to scan: 

- Know what information you are looking for (so see the question first)

- Move your eyes through the text quickly

Text 2: What could the title of the text be?

I am new to the city. I do not know anyone. But an old woman lives next door. Her name is Val. She gives me a big box of vegetables.

She grows them in a garden by the sidewalk. There are carrots, tomatoes, beans, and peas. They are the best vegetables I ever ate. Val lives alone, too. But she seems happy in her garden. She loves plants. Sometimes, I can hear her talking to them. Maybe that is why they grow so big.

One day, I stop seeing Val in the garden. I see people take many boxes from her home. Weeds grow in her garden. The dirt is dry. The plants look sad. Val must have passed on.

So I pull the weeds. I water the garden. I even talk to the plants.

Then a family moves next door. They are new to the city. They do not know anyone. And I give them a big box of vegetables from Val’s garden.

Title: Val's garden. My neighbour Val...

Title ?

When reading text #2, which strategy do you think you used?

1. skimming
2. scanning

Skimming

You skim a text to get a general idea of what the text is about.

How to skim:

- Look at the title, subheadings, pictures and read the first an last lines of the paragraph

Why should you skim?

- To save time and to orientate yourself what the text is about

Reading strategies

We use strategies while reading to make it easier and less time consuming to answer questions about texts.

Skimming and scanning are two reading strategies.

In your reading practice:

Try to use the strategies:

ACTION PLAN:

1. Look at the title, pictures

2. skim the text (what is it about?)

3. Read the questions

4. Use skimming or scanning

5. Answer the questions

Individual task

1. Click on this link and do assignments: 

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/b2-reading

2. DONE? Readtheory! https://readtheory.org/