Previewing

Previewing is a strategy that readers use to recall prior knowledge, set a purpose for reading, and prepare for what’s coming next. Previewing texts before reading helps improve your comprehension and retention of what you read.

previewing

Previewing involves skimming the text before diving in, paying attention to headings, bolded terms, summaries, and other key features. This quick overview gives you a sense of what to expect and highlights important details, making it easier to focus and understand the material when you read it more carefully later.

Think about the word itself in parts. “Pre” is prefix that means “before” and the word “viewing” is to see. You are quite literally thinking about how to see before you read. 

Think of previewing a text as similar to creating a movie trailer. A successful preview for either a movie or a reading experience will capture what the overall work is going to be about, generally what expectations the audience can have of the experience to come, how the piece is structured, and what kinds of patterns will emerge.

How to Preview

Your approach to previewing may vary depending on the genre:

• For nonfiction, focus on understanding the subject matter and identifying what you already know and what you want to learn. Skim headings, subheadings, and illustrations (and their captions) to see how the author organizes information. This helps you connect prior knowledge to new content and set goals for your reading.
• For biographies, look for clues about the person’s life, the historical time period, and possible key events or places. Titles, chapter headings, and introductory notes can provide valuable insights into the focus of the biography.
• For fiction, identify key elements like characters, setting, and plot. Use the headers, illustrations (and their captions), and any introductory material to make predictions about the story’s conflicts and resolutions.

Scanning

Scanning is a reading technique used to quickly get an overview of a text or locate specific information. To scan effectively, look for subheadings, keywords, and topic sentences to understand the structure and main ideas. You might also read the first sentence of each paragraph to follow the flow of the discussion.

When scanning for details, such as a name, date, or vocabulary word, let your eyes move quickly over the page—often in a zigzag or S-shape—until you spot what you need. Using internet tools such as a search bar or Ctrl + F can also be useful when scanning online or digital texts. Focus only on the relevant information and don’t worry about unfamiliar words unless they’re essential to your search.

Some tips for scanning:

• Scan for titles, headings, and subheadings
• Scan the first sentence after each heading
• Scan any supplemental material at the beginning or end of the text, such as chapter outlines, chapter objectives, discussion questions, or vocabulary lists

Skimming

Skimming is used to quickly gather the most important information, or “gist” of a text. Run your eyes over the text, noting important information. Use skimming to quickly get up to speed on the basic content coverage; it’s not essential to understand each word when skimming. As you skim, you could write down the main ideas and develop a chapter outline. Some tips for skimming:

• Skim the first paragraph or introduction
• Skim the last paragraph or summary
• Skim the abstract (if provided)

When you preview, you look for signposts by making a note of graphic aids such as figures, tables, charts, graphs, and images. You can get a lot of information about the reading itself if there are images included. You may also want to note typographical aids such as bold-faced or highlighted words and phrases. Previewing engages your prior experience and asks you to think about what you already know about this subject matter, or this author, or this publication. Then, anticipate what new information might be ahead of you when you return to read this text more closely.