How to Skim a Textbook Step-by-Step

Raise your hand if you believe students should read their textbooks… ??

Now raise your hand if you’re confident they get through all of the assigned readings…

For one reason or another, too many reading assignments are never completed. So, what’s the solution? Do we stop asking them to read?

Nope. Let’s teach them how to skim.

Recently, I got two new books and carved out a few hours to get through them, but I knew that if I wanted to get through both, I’d have to skim.

I grabbed my favorite cuppa and sat to get started but then thought, “Wait! I should record this!” It’s true that I’ve shared my best skimming tips in the past, but this time I wanted to do something new and invite you to skim these books with me in real time.

If you’ve never taught your students how to skim, I encourage you to do so. It’s such a beneficial strategy for them to practice, especially as their lives get busier and busier. I also want to challenge you to model skimming live for them—it’s great to tell them how to do it, but something magical happens when you model and practice new skills with them.

The video at the top of this post shows exactly what I mean. Because of the highly visual nature of watching someone skim two books in real time, the video above is strongly recommended. However, if you prefer, you can continue reading for a written walkthrough of what I did and what I noticed.

In the video above, I demonstrate skimming two books—one I hadn’t even opened, and one I’d opened and briefly looked at the table of contents. My purpose in skimming these books was to get my brain working around what I wanted to share with teachers at a school I was consulting with around the science of learning. What’s the most important thing to share from my model, and from other people’s models too? I technically had all day to read these books, but it was my only available day, so I needed to use my time well.

Skimming Book One

We’ll start with skimming the book I had already opened: Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning by James M. Lang.

Right away, I realized I had made a mistake when I first opened this book. Yes, I had read the Table of Contents, but then I had just turned to the Introduction and started reading. The opening of the book is about baseball, which doesn’t interest me. Just two pages in, I noticed my energy around the book was already falling. That’s when I realized my mistake—and I think it’s a common one that many readers make. I had started reading the chapter without looking ahead to determine the structure of the chapter first.

So, as I skim the Introduction by moving my finger down the center of each page, I notice a few things.

Bold type. After a few pages of background information, there are three topics in bold, and I immediately know that I want to read deeply enough to understand those three topics.

The author’s teaching strategy. The author tells me how he’s going to teach me what he wants me to know. This is wonderful, because it’s exactly what I want teachers to do in classrooms, whether they’re teaching content or supporting executive function coaching for neurodiverse learners.

He tells me that each chapter will contain: 1) an Introduction, 2) Theory, 3) a Model, 4) Principles, 5) some Quick Tips, and 6) a Conclusion. That already helps me get excited about the chapters.

Then I move to the first chapter to verify that the author actually includes each of those six components. As I skim, I’m happy to see bold headings for each one. This reassures me that I’m going to enjoy skimming this book. There’s so much repetition in the structure of ideas, and I can already see how quickly it’s going to answer some of my big questions about how educators can incorporate brain science into their teaching. That tells me this book will help me meet my goal for today’s reading.

Skimming Book Two

The second book is Neuro Teach: Brain Science and the Future of Education by Glenn Whitman and Ian Kelleher. I hadn’t cracked this one open at all, so what you see in the video above is me, with a very fresh brain, uncovering which sections I do and don’t want to read, and skimming in real time.

Here are my noticings.

The first thing I always do is go to the Table of Contents. On the way there, I notice the book was published in 2016.

When I get to the Table of Contents, I immediately see that it doesn’t have sections. That tells me I’m going to need to take a closer look and possibly create my own structure.

The chapters look like a series of essays rather than a clearly structured progression. That’s a little disappointing to me, though some chapter titles—like “How Much Do We Need to Know About the Brain”—are very appealing. I have some strong opinions about the least teachers need to know, and I’m curious what the authors are going to say.

There’s a conclusion and a couple of appendices, so already I know I don’t need to read the whole book. I can focus on the chapters that align with my current professional learning goals.

I move to the Introduction, hoping it will tell me something about the structure of the book. While I notice a few passages that catch my eye—including one that includes the number four, which briefly made me hopeful—it doesn’t actually explain how the book is organized.

So then I skim a few chapters looking for structure. I find pictures, which I love, but no headings or subheadings. That tells me I’m probably going to need to create my own structure in the margins if I read more deeply.

I do notice that the authors provide retrieval practice questions at the end of each chapter. I always love asking myself retrieval practice questions before I’ve been exposed to the information, so I make a mental note that I might grab my pencil and write right in the book. I also notice that at least one question is designed to help the reader put the learning into action, which I appreciate.

Then I get genuinely excited when I hit a heading: “The Unconscionable List aka the Despicable Baker’s Dozen Things a Teacher Should Never Do Again.” Oh my goodness, I love it. I know immediately that I’m going to want to read that list, and I notice there’s even some retrieval practice built in.

As I’m flipping pages, I also notice a chart—and I love a good chart.

At this point, I confirm for myself that this book really is a collection of essays. So I make a plan to read only the essays that support the specific professional development I’m creating. It took me about eight minutes to do this skimming (and it probably would have taken less if I hadn’t been talking it through). I can see that the first book is likely worth a deeper dive, while the second one will work well as a targeted resource if I zero in on the chapters that matter most for today. Now my day of skimming is set up for me.

Practicing What I Preach

But this wouldn’t be an Anti-Boring Learning Lab post if I didn’t practice a little of what I preach.

You may know from other videos that I use an “infinity loop” in my work with both students and educators. It’s the Do/Notice Loop. We do a little something, and then we notice about it. Then we do a little more, and notice again. After skimming those books, I paused to notice what made my reading—or more accurately, my skimming—Anti-Boring.

Here’s what I noticed.

First, I looked for the structure of ideas in the book, both at the book level and within individual chapters.

Then I identified which sections I wanted to read in more detail and why. I was very clear about what I was reading for, and I made sure I didn’t feel obligated to read everything. I targeted the parts that served my goals.

I also identified how I was going to interact with the text as I read. I got out my pencil when I realized I wanted to practice retrieval where it was offered, and I noted places where I’d need to write my own headings because the author hadn’t provided them.

There you have it—skimming made easy. These are just a few of the ways I set myself up for less boredom while reading. That’s one part of what it means to be Anti-Boring. I’m curious about what you noticed in the video above. Did you see me do other helpful things? Did you notice anything unhelpful? Either way, I’d love for you to leave a comment. I pay close attention to these reflections when creating future resources for educators, coaches, and those building an academic coaching business or a private practice for educators.

And if you don’t want to have to read—or skim—big, long books to learn about the science of learning, there’s a shortcut you might enjoy. You can explore the Visitor’s Center at the Anti-Boring Learning Lab for free, student-tested resources related to academic coaching, executive function coaching, and supporting neurodiverse learners:
https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources

A version of the following article was originally published here on May 2nd, 2023.