You already do this every day. You skim a bus app, scan a text for a time, and slow down when money or a form is involved. Today you name those three moves: skimming, scanning and close reading.
You will practise on short everyday Irish texts modelled on real services (an appointment message, a Revenue note, a travel-card notice) and leave with a Reading Strategies Worksheet for your Communication Portfolio.
Three tools. Match the tool to the job.
| Term | Use when |
|---|---|
| Skimming | You need the gist in seconds: what is this, and do I need it? |
| Scanning | You already know the one detail you want (date, price, name, stop) |
| Close reading | A missed line could cost you money, time or a place |
Try all three on this bus notice:
Route 14 diverted via O'Connell Street this Saturday 08:00-18:00 due to match day. Next bus from stop 2041 at 09:12. Check the app for live times.
Skim: bus diversion on Saturday. Scan: stop 2041, 09:12. Close read: full-day diversion; live times only on the app, so the printed time may already be wrong.
Mark the appointment message in the activity. Tag at least four useful spans (who sent it, when or where, action needed, key fact, or can skip for now), and write one short sentence on what each span tells a busy reader.
This is practice for the worksheet you will build next. Keep your marks tight: the four words you would still need if this flashed up on a packed bus.
What does this message actually need from you?
Today's Portfolio piece is one Reading Strategies Worksheet covering three everyday texts. Press Enter Your Work below the activity to open it. For each text, fill in the strategy you used, the key information in your own words and what you would do next.
Text 1: HSE appointment. Use your marks from Mark It Up.
Text 2: Revenue message. Mark it in the activity below first, with the same labels as before.
Text 3: Leap notice. Read the notice below.
TFI Leap: Your student Leap card ending 4821 expires on 31 August. Renew online at leapcard.ie before that date or pay adult fare from 1 September. Top-up and helpdesk details are on the site.
In class: finish Texts 1 and 2 fully. If time runs short, complete Text 3 and the folder line at the end as homework before you file.
When you finish, copy the worksheet into your Communication Portfolio folder as m1_l3_reading_strategies_<your-initials>.docx (or a page in your folder).
What does this Revenue message need from you?
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