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PLANNING READING LESSONSGuidance before readings Before the students begin to read the text, we can do quite a lot to make their task more explicit and their way of tackling it more effective we will consider these points: 1) Providing a reason for reading 2)
Introducing the text 3)
Setting a top down task 4)
Breaking up the text 5)
Dealing with new language 6)
Asking signpost questions Providing a reason for reading. In most classrooms, it is not practicable for the students to choose their own texts. In the absence of a real reason for a reading, it is helpful to give students an imaginary one, so that they can judge what to skim over and what to attend to in detail, otherwise the reading lesson may simply strengthen their belief that if do not understand the text completely, they cannot read it at all. There are many purposes (understanding a legal document for example) that do require us to understand every detail of a text, so this must be practiced but other ways of reading are valid in certain circumstances and they too need practice. Students usually need a lot of practice in adjusting their way of reading to their purpose- what we might loosely call “reading for relevance”. Let the students sometimes focus their reading for a specific purpose and ignore the rest of the text. You can always follow this with more detailed work if you wish. Reading the same text first purpose then for another, generates interest as well as flexibility of approach. The reason for reading does not have to be a stimulated “ real life” reason: it can also be the completion of a task, and if the task is mind engaging, this can be just as motivating., Introducing the textIt is often helpful to introduce atext before starting work on it, but the wrong kind of introduction is worse than none at all. The commonest faults in an introduction are these:
First ask yourself why you want to introduce the text. Usually the intension is to point the students in the right directions, get them into the right mood for this particular text and, if possible, make them feel interested in reading it. It seldom useful to give a potted biography of the writer, even if it has direct bearing on the content. (If curiosity is aroused, it can be satisfied later.) nor are extensive background details often necessary; for example, you may not need to know much about Switzerland min order to understand a text on alpine mountaineering. In deed, you may be able to find out agood del about Switzerland by read it carefully. A lengthily introduction takes up valuable time and is also likely (if it is not irrelevant) to give away too much of the content of the text. Have a look at the tasks you want to set. Will the students be able to attempt any of them on the basis of the introduction alone? If so change the introduction. It should not include anything the students can find out from the text, either directly or by inference. If it does you are doing their work for them. On the other hand some texts are difficult to understand if you do not know the background. If it is not possible to deduce enough information from the text itself, it may be sensible to give the students some facts. However, this should not be done without careful thought. Moreover it is surprising how often a student can give you the facts if you ask the right questions. A good rule is: NEVER SAY ANYTHING YOURSELF IF A STUDENT COULD SAY IT FOR YOU. Most things that need saying can be elicited from the class, and the best introduction are the once that the teacher mostly draws out from the students. Like most good things elicitation can be overdone, but a monologue from you is less likely to kindle curiosity than a discussion involving everyone: some teachers use debate and role-play as ways of getting the class into a receptive frame of mind. It is often easy to incorporate a signpost question into the introduction, and you can often introduce new language naturally at this point. This is convenient, but the principle goal is to arouse interest in the text and show its relevance for the class by discussing questions like “ have you ever….?” Or “what would you do if……?” or “ what is your opinion of…….?” To sum up, a good introduction has these qualities:
Setting a top down task: Detailed work on a text is more rewarding if students first get a global impression of the kind of the text it is. You might for example start by asking for predictions about the text based on the title or an illustration. Students might assign simple labels to paragraphs, sequenced, jumbled paragraphs or predict content of a paragraph you have removed from the text. Breaking up the text: A long text is daunting to readers who are not very skilled or speedy. You can change the fact that some people read better than others. - advantages of breaking up the text: it is easier to work thoroughly on a short section than on a complete text. More over, it is easier to hold students’ interest if you deal with one section fully and then move onto a fresh one. Finally it leads to more effective learning. - how to break up the text: you can divide the text arbitrarily if there are no natural boundaries. For elementary students, sections of four or five lines are long enough (50 words or so). Aim at the sections of up to 20 lines (about 250 words) with fairly advanced students. Dealing with new language: This is a controversial issue. Some teachers like to teach all the new words and the structures in the text before reading begins. New language would often be more easily and effectively learnt during the process of reading. Frequently a new structure hardly needs explaining. If you use course book text specifically intended to present new language, you cannot just ignore it. Finally there are often opportunities for presenting key language items during your introduction to the text; this is more effective than presenting them is isolation. Signpost questions:
A signpost question has a
function: it is purpose is not to text but to guide the readers, directing
their attention to the important points in the text, preventing them from
going off a long a false track. -
using signpost questions: you can ask an easy SPQ on the whole
text. Write text SPQ on the board. Ask the class to read the text silently
and find the answer. GUÝDANCE WHILE READING IS UNDER WAY How
can you guide students while they are reading? Three kinds of class organization: 1)
the individual mode: in the
individual mode, each student works on his own for much of the time. The
advantage is that every student read material that suits him. This amounts
to a self-access system 2)
the teacher centered class:
at the opposite extreme is the familiar teacher centered class. In this
mode, the class works with one text. The way it is tackled is controlled
largely by the teacher. 3)
Group work: in the group
work of organization, much of the guidance come from fellow students. The
effort to understand the text is made jointly. Motivation is generally
high, provided the tasks are challenging and promote discussion. And the
discussion helps students to see how to read thoughtfully. Guidance from fellow students: group work approach
Working in groups makes it
possible for students to help one another. 1)
Organizing groups: groups shouldn’t be large; if they have more
than five members, it is too easy for people to opt out. Each group should
sit in a group circle or square. 2)
Mixed ability groups: in mixed ability groups, weaker students may
benefit from the presence of stronger classmates; and the stronger ones
may be irritated by them. 3)
The teachers role in group work: while the groups are working, your
job is mainly to be available for consultation. This does not mean solving
problems for them. 4)
Planning group tasks: the teacher cannot be with more than one
group at once; therefore the tasks must be explicit so that there is no
doubt about what has to be done. 5)
Work sheets and answer sheets: a simple and effective way to
control group work is a work sheet setting out the task in order in which
they are to be done. This allows you to check progress and make sure the
work is done properly. Preparing worksheets is time consuming but they can
be really effective. For a large class where you cannot pay attention to
every group, prepare answer sheets to match the worksheets. Worksheets and
answer sheets can be issued to each student, but it may be enough to
prepare one for each group. An advantage is that this forces the group to
work together. ext to the outside
world. If it is primarily argumentative, now is the time to evaluate the
arguments. Each
kind of text, and each individual text requires different treatment. Most
of the work at this stage is best done orally, since discussion and
exchange of views are of its essence, but it could well culminate in
written work. Finally
you are asked to refer to that chapters for details. FOOTNOTE: A POSSIBLE SEQUENCE OF TEACHING Remember;
these are only suggestions. This is not a blueprint for a lesson. Any of
the steps might be omitted or altered. Step 1: set
overall purpose for reading this text. Step 2: introduce
the text. Step 3: skimming/scanning
or other top-down exercise on the whole text. Step 4: tackle the
text section by section. Procedure for each
section: a)
deal with essential language points for section (if any) b)
assign SPQ for the section. c)
Silent reading of the text by whole class. d)
Check answer to SPQ and assign other questions for the section.
Step 5: after completing section-by-section study, assign tasks (group or individual) requiring response to the text as a whole, drawing together information obtained from the detailed study and including the contribution of each part to the total message. Step 6:groups or individuals attempt tasks. Step 7:report back and final discussion \evaluation. Note: Depending on the text these steps might be spread over several lesson periods and homework assignments.
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