Lesson: Scanning

Lesson: Scanning

Description

The purpose of this lesson is to teach students why and how to scan textual material. Scanning enables students to locate specific information quickly and efficiently by moving their eyes down a page looking for specific facts or key words or phrases. When using books, students should pinpoint specific pages to scan by first examining the table of contents and/or index.

Learning Outcomes I Suggested Procedure I Assessment for this Lesson

Materials for this Offline lesson:

Textbook or multiple copies of an informational book

Other informational books

Time allotment: 30 minutes

Grade Level: Grade 3 - 12

Information Literacy Standard:
1. The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.

Learning Outcomes

Students will know the purpose of scanning.
Students will be able to locate specific facts, key words, or phrases within a text.
Students will know to use the organizational tools such as a table of contents and index.

Suggested Procedure

As a whole class, discuss the definition of scanning and the purpose of scanning. Provide the class with a question they will try to answer in guided practice. Follow the steps below together:

Circle key words and/or phrases in the question, and identify synonyms related to the question.
Open the book and look at the table of contents. ( Make sure students know that the table of contents is located at the front of the book.) The Table of Contents may include all or some of the following:
a. preface
b. introduction/preface
c. chapter headings listed in sequence
d. subsections of each chapter
e. lists of diagrams, tables or illustrations
f. conclusion
g. afterward
h. appendices
i. bibliography
j. index

Have students look for keywords and their synonyms in the Table of Contents. If Keywords and their synonyms appear in the Table of Contents, go to the appropriate section of the book and try to find the answer to the question. As students read in this section their eyes should move quickly across the page. They should look for:

underlining
bold face print
italics
words printed in CAPITAL LETTERS
subheadings

If keywords and their synonyms are not located in the Table of Contents, look at the index. (Make sure students know that indexes are generally located at the back of a book and arranged in alphabetical order. In multi volume sets, the index may be a separate volume.)

Search the index for keywords and their synonyms.
If found, go to the appropriate page or pages and try to find the answer to the question.

As students read in this section, their eyes should move across the page. They should look for underlining, bold face print, italics, words printed in capital letters, subheadings.

If students are unable to find the answer to the question, have them try another source. (For the guided practice, teachers should ask a question they know can be answered by the text).

Assessment

Provide students with a choice of questions and a selection of informational books. Have students independently follow the above steps to answer their question.

Last Lesson I Home I Next Lesson

This page was last updated February 21, 2002
This lesson was created to support the AT&T/UCLA Initiatives for 21st Century Literacies.
Scanning was created by Judith Kantor.