How to Teach Reading

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How to Teach Reading

• A Why Teach Reading?

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• 1. What is your response to the following
  questions?
• a What reasons are there for getting students to
  read texts in English?
• b What different elements of English can students
  study in a reading text?

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• 2. Complete the following sentences.
• a When I learnt a foreign language reading was
• b I think reading in the foreign language
  classroom is
• c Students need to learn how to read

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• B What kind of reading should students do?
• Authentic materials appropriate for
  beginner/elementary students
• When reading in class, students should only be
  given texts which are authentic.

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• C What reading skills should students acquire?
• Scanning (searching a text quickly for specific
  information)
• Skimming (reading a text quickly to get the
  general idea)
• Reading for detailed information
• Reading for pleasure

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• D What are the principles behind the teaching of
  reading?
• 1. What would you expect to get out of a good
  reading text
• a as a teacher? b as a students?
• 2. What have the following concepts got to do
  with using reading texts?
• active skill appropiate tasks engagement
  exploitation prediction response to content

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• E What do reading sequences look like?
• 1. Look at the reading text and complete the
  tasks which follow it.

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• Your Sleep and You
• Miriam Kellaway Reports
• How much beauty sleep do you need? According to
  Philip Sedgewick, research fellow at the Sleep
  Disorders Clinic at the Department of Mental
  Health at St. George Hospital, most of us need
  roughly eight hours a night if we want to stay
  healthy. And we need to have a regular routine
  too.

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• Problems for tired people
• ?More chance of bugs(???) and infections
• ? Shift workers (people who work at different
  times of day and night) get more infectious
  diseases than the rest of us?
• ? More chance of stress
• ? More need for energy food like chocolate,
  coffee, etc. Students in the USA say tiredness
  causes overeating. In a survey of hospital nurses
  across the country, ninety percent of those
  working on the night shif gained weight.
• ? Irritablity, grumpness(??)

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• Canadian sleep researcher Harvey Modofsky, at
  the Toronto Western Hospital took blood from
  sleeping people and he found that sleeping bodies
  were fighting infection better than those that
  were awake and in a recent study of 9, 000 adults
  in the UK those who slept between six and a half
  and eight and a half hours a night were more
  healthy than those who slept less.

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• REM Non-REM
• REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement. Thats the
  time we dream, when we sort out all the memories,
  thoughts and feelings in our head. Non-REM is
  often called Deep Sleep.
• Without REM people become forgetful, irritable
  and less able to concentrate.
• Deep sleep provides us with physical and mental
  recovery.

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• Things not to do in bed (accrding to sleep
  experts)
• Eat
• Read
• Watch television
• Work
• Drink caffeine
• Smoke cigarettes
• Have alcohol (it interferes with REM sleep. It
  can make you tired and irritable the morning
  after the night before).

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• A .What level do you think it might be suitable
  for?
• B. What kind of comprehension tasks could you do
  with it?
• C. How would you get students Engaged with the
  topic of the text?
• D. What language, if any, would you focus the
  students attention on in the reading text for a
  Study exercise?

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• 2. Can you think of answers to these
  reading-related questions?
• A. What kind of Engage activity would you use
  before students have about rock music?
• B. What follow-up activity might you use after
  your intermediate students have read a text about
  animal rights?
• C. Where would you look for authentic reading
  materials for your beginner students? What would
  they be able to cope with?
• D. Write a mock car advertisement as a reading
  text for beginner students.
• How easy is it? What problems did you have
  doing it?

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• What are the principles behind the teaching of
  reading?
• Principle 1 Reading is not a passive skill
• Reading is a incredibly active occupation. To do
  it successfully, we have to understand what the
  words mean, see the picturethat the words are
  painting, understand the arguments, and work out
  if we agree with them. If we do not do these
  thingsand if students do not do these
  thingsthen we only just scratch the surface of
  the text and we quickly forget it.

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• Principle 2 Students need to be engaged with
  what they are reading.
• As with everything else in lessons, students who
  are not engaged with the readingnot actively
  interested in what they are doingare less likely
  to benefit from it. When they are really fired up
  by the topic or the task, they get much more from
  what is in front of them.

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• Principle 3 Students should be encouraged to
  respond to the content of a reading text, not
  just to the language.
• Of course, it is important to study reading
  texts for the way they use language, the number
  of paragraphs they contain and how many times
  they use relative clauses. But the meaning, the
  message of the text, is just as important and we
  must give students a chance to respond to that
  message in some way. It is especially important
  that they should be allowed to express their
  feelings about the topicthus provoking personal
  engagement with it and the language.

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• Principle 4 Prediction is a major factor in
  reading.
• When we read texts in our own language, we
  frequently have a good idea of the content before
  we actually read. Book covers give us a hint of
  whats in the book, photographs and headlines
  hint at what articles are about and reports look
  like reports before we read a single word.

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• The moment we get this hintthe book cover, the
  headlines, the word-processed pageour brain
  starts predicting what we are going to read.
  Expectations are set up and the the active
  process of reading is ready to begin. Teachers
  should give students hints so that they can
  predict whats coming too. It will make them
  better and more engaged readers.

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• Principle 5 Match the task to the topic
• We could give studnets Hamlets famous
  soliloquy To be or not to be and ask them to
  say how many times the infinitive is used. We
  could give them a restaurant menu and ask them to
  list the ingredients alphabetically. There might
  be reasons for both tasks, but, on the face of
  it, they look a bit silly. We will probably be
  more intersted in what Hamlet means and what the
  menu foods actually are.

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• Once a dcision has been taken about what
  reading text the students are going to read, we
  need to choose good reading tasksthe right kind
  of questions, egaging and useful puzzles, etc.
  The most interesting text can be undermined by
  asking boring and inapproriate question the most
  commonplace passage can be made really exciting
  with imaginative and challenging tasks.

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• Priciple 6 Good teachers exploit reading texts
  to the full.
• Any reading text is full of sentences, words,
  ideas, descriptions, etc. It doesnt make sense
  just to get students to read it and then drop it
  to move on to something else. Good teachers
  integrate the reading text into interesting class
  sequence, using the topic for discussion and
  further tasks, using the language for Study and
  later Activation(??).

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What do reading sequences look like?

• In the following 4 examples, we are going to
  look four different kinds of reading texts and
  four different kinds of reading tasks. In each
  case we will see how the reading text fits into
  an ESA(Engage,Study, Activate) sequence.

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Example 1(elementary)

• In the first example for elementary, the teacher
  has introduced the topic of attraction. He asks
  the students what they find attraction in a
  person. With luck, the discussion of the topic
  should be enjoyable and amusing.
• He then tells the studnets they have to fill in
  the following chart about what their partner
  thinks is important when he or she meets a new
  friend.

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Very important important Not very important
Physical appearance
Clothes
Job or education
Money and possessions
Personality or character
Religion
Politics
Other

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• The students now have to list the qualities in
  order of importance for them as a whole class.
  The teacher then tells the class to read the text
  on the next page to see how their opinions are
  different from the men and women being described.
• When the students have read the text, the teacher
  allows them to discuss their answers in pairs,
  This is to give them a chance to clear up any
  small comprehension problems before they talk in
  front of the class.
• The students now have to complete the following
  task.

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• Read the first part of the article again. Use
  these words to answer the questions below.
• eyes legs face smile figure teath
• Which do men think are most important?
• Which do women think are most important?
• Do you agree?

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• The Main Attraction
• Suddenly it happens. You just know hes the man
  for you, and you havent even been introduced
  yet. But how do you know? And can you make sure
  he feels the same way? Company investigate

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• What first attracts men to women? Whereas women
  tend to notice the eyes, teeth and smile in
  particular, men will be more likely to assess the
  face in general and pay more attention to figure
  and legs.
• According to a recent survey by Singles magazine,
  these are the top ten attributes that men and
  women look for in each other, in order of
  priority.

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• Men look for a woman who is
• Attractive
• Sincere
• Slim
• A non-smoker
• With a sense of humor
• Affectionate
• Tall
• kind

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• Women look for a man who is
• Tall
• Professional
• With a sense of humor
• Attractive(not necessarily handsome)
• Sincere
• Intelligent
• Handsome
• kind

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• As a follow-up to these reading tasks, the
  teacher asks the students to think of people who
  they find attractive (friends, film stars,
  athlets, etc.). They are then asked to say what
  the most attractive thing about them is. The
  discussion can lead on to descriptive writing,
  etc.

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• Notice that this patchwork lesson(????) started
  with an Engage activity, them went on to an
  Activate exercise (working with a partner),
  followed by an Active reading (do you agree with
  the passage?), a Study reading (answer the
  questions) before being followed up with Active
  exercise.

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• Notice too, how important the first Active
  exercise was it gave the students a chance to
  predict what was coming.

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Example 2 (lower intermediate)

• In the second example, the class is once again
  prepared for reading by discussion what, if
  anything, the students know about ghosts. The
  teacher may get them to say whether they believe
  in ghosts or not and if they have ever seen one.

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• After that, the textbook from which this reading
  text is taken gives students some information
  about ghosts (that they are ususlly the result of
  a tragic death, that they appear at night, etc.).

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• The students are now asked to read the text on
  page 74 to say whether Orcas Manor is a typical
  haunted house. This is a general reading task
  designed to let them get an overal picture of the
  text.
• For the next reading, the students are asked more
  detailed Study-type questions, eg.

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Complete the table
Which ghost He killed . You can see him in .
1previous owner
2 visitors
3 The corridors
4
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• The students can check their answers in pairs
  before the teacher puts the chart on the borad
  and has individuals come out and fill it in to
  check that the whole class have understood the
  text.

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• Sandford Orcas Manor(??)
• Next to the church in the village of Sandford
  Orcas there is an old gatehouse. If you go
  through the gate you arrive at the sinister
  (????)manor house which is famous for its large
  number of ghosts.

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• The present owner of the manor says it is
  difficult to keep servants because the ghosts
  frighten them. Many people have seen the ghosts
  of the previous owner. He was a farmer who
  committed suicide by hanging himself from the
  gatehouse, and he often appears in the garden
  wearing old working clothes.

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• Another ghost is an 18th century priest who used
  to kill visitors while they were asleep in their
  beds. He still sometimes frightens guests in the
  middle of the night by standing over their beds
  holding a knife.

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• The ghost of a servant sometimes walks along the
  dark corridors of the house. He murdered his
  master at Sandford Orcas, but nobody knows why.

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• But perhaps the most frightening story is of a
  young man who grew up in the house and them
  became a sailor. While he was at sea, he killed a
  boy, and then went mad. When he retured to
  Sandford Orcas, they locked him in a room at the
  back of the house. He never left the room again,
  and died there several years later. On some
  nights when the moon is full, you can hear him
  screaming and banging on the door of the room.

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• The teacher wants students to understand how we
  use pronouns to refer back to subjects we have
  already mentioned. He asks them who or what it,
  them and He refer to in paragraph two. What
  do they, their, he refer to in paragraph
  three?

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• As a follow-up task, students can write a
  description of a haunted house which they can
  invent. They can do this individually or in pairs
  or groups.

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• Once again, a patchwork lesson has started with
  an Engage session where teacher and students talk
  about haunted houses and read some information
  about ghosts. Then they read for general
  understandingan Active type of exercisebefore
  Study the textboth for meaning and then for
  language use (personal pronoun use in text
  writing) and then doing another Active follow-up.

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Example 3(intermediate)

• In this example for intermediate students, the
  students first look fat a picture of people
  sunbathing and say whether it is a positive, safe
  and attractive imageor whether it is the
  opposite.
• They are then shown the following magazine
  article.

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• Polly Griffiths Goes down to the Sea for Advice
  on How to Look Good and Stay Safe

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• So you think youre too pale and want to get a
  good suntan this summer? Why not? Except that
  unless youre careful the sun can make your skin
  old and leathery and can even give you skin
  cancer.

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• If you must sunbathe (and lets face it, lots of
  us think its a good idea), then have a look at
  these gorgeous guys and babies I found on the
  beach and see which of them is like you.

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• Im the type who always burns. Its because Im
  fair-skinned and Ive got red hair and freckles.
  Thats why Im so good-looking! But I still burn
  unless I use a really high APF (sun protection
  factor) about 20 in strong sun.

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• Melinda
• I have to be careful cause Im the type who
  burns easily. But I do tan in the end. If youve
  got fair hair and blue eyes like me youd better
  use quite a strong sunscreen (an SPF of 15 to
  start with)

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• Jean
• Yeah I tan easily. People like me who are
  dark-skinned (with dark hair and brown eyes) are
  not only realy cool but we go even browner in the
  sun. I still use a sunscreen though, something
  light with an SPF of about 6

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• Alice
• Me, Ive got built-in protection! I dont burn,
  but I dont sunbathes anyway. I mean what for? I
  like messing around on the beach though.

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• So the message is Check out what kind of skin
  youve got and then be safe and sensible and
  have a good time! See you at poolside Bar!

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• The teacher checks that they have understood by
  asking them questions like What sun protection
  factor does Roger use? Does Melinda burn? Who
  is dark-skinned, fair skinned? etc. Students
  then use language from the article to describe
  themselves.

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• In this straight arrow lesson, the teacher strats
  by Engaging the students with discussions of
  sunbathing. They then Study the text before going
  on to Activate the knowledge which the text has
  given them.

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Example 4(intermediate to advance)

• The final example shows that reading does not
  have to be a static activity dealing with prose
  passages. We can make much more dynamic than
  than.
• The teacher wants to get his intermediate
  students reading poetry, both because he thinks
  they will enjoy it (if done in an Engaging way)
  and because he thinks it can provide a useful
  focus for language study.

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• He askes students if they like poetry. Can they
  remember any poems? What are they about? What do
  poets normally write about?

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• He tells them that he is going to put students in
  groups of nine. Each student in the group will
  get a line from a poem. They can read it aloud
  but they must not show it to the other eight
  members of the group. The task of the group is to
  put the lines in the right order for the poem.
• He then hands out the following lines (at random)
  to the nine members of the group.

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• And would suffice.
• But if it had to
  perish twice
• From what Ive tasted desire
• I think I know enough of hate
• Ice
  is so nice
• I hold with those who favour fire.
• Some say
  in ice.
• To sat that for destruction
• Some say the world will
  end in fire.

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• They read their lines out to each other and see
  if they can put them in the right order. Ideally,
  the groups will be standing up in circles so that
  the members can change position when the group
  have decided where their lines come in the poem.

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• As the activity goes on, the teacher goes round
  the groups listening to how they are getting on.
  If they are not making any headway, he may prompt
  them by saying Shall I tell you what the first
  line is? or Think of the sounds of the last
  word in each line etc.

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• When the students( think they) have finished the
  task, the teacher reads the poem aloud for them
  to check their version. This is what he reads

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• Some say the world will end in fire,
• Some say in ice.
• From what Ive tasted of desire
• I hold with those who favour fire.
• But if it had to perish twice
• I think I know enough of hate
• To say that for destruction
• Ice is nice
• And would suffice.

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• The groups have to decide on a good title for the
  poem which they can them compare with the
  original (which is Fire and Icethe poem is by
  Robert Frost).
• The teacher can then ask students to say whether
  they like the poem and whether they think it is
  funny, sad, serious or tragic. He then gets them
  to describe the rhyme scheme of the last words in
  each line (, B, A, A, B, C, D, B, B).

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• The teacher then gives students first lines of
  poems and tells them to write down their own (he
  can make it the worst poem in the worlds
  competition to bring in humor) using a particular
  rhyme scheme, for example.

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• This reading activity works because students
  really have to engage with the meaning and
  construction of the poem. When they are trying to
  put the poem in order, you will hear them
  discussing rhymes, punctuaton, logic and word
  meaning. It is popular with students (if used
  only occasionally), even with those who are not
  natural fans of poetry. Interestingly, after an
  initial Engage session, it quickly becomes a
  perfect mixture of Study and Activationstudying
  the poems construction whilst still activating
  all the language they know.

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More reading suggestons

1. Students read small ads for holidays, partners,
   things for sale etc., to make a choice. They
   amplify the ads into descriptions.
   (intermediate/advanced)
2. Students read jumbled instructions for a simple
   operation (using a public phonebox etc.) and have
   to put the instruction in correct order.
   (elementary/intermediate)

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• 3. Students read a recipe and after matching
  instructions with pictures, they have to cook the
  food! (elementary/intermediate)
• 4. Students are given a number of words from a
  text. In groups, they have to predict what kind
  of a text they are going to read. They then read
  the text to see if their original predictions
  were correct. (elementary/intermediate)

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• 6. Students have to match topic sentences with
  the paragraphs they come from. (intermediate and
  uper intermediate)
• 7. Students read a text and have to guess which
  of the group of people they think wrote the text
  (using the picture provided). (lower
  intermediate/advanced)

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• 8. Students read a narrative with the end
  missing. In groups, they have to supply their own
  ending. (intermediate/advanced)
• 9. Students read a factfileabout a country,
  population, machine or process etc. They have to
  convert the information into bar graphs(???)or
  pie charts(???). (intermediate/advanced)

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• The End
• Thank you!