Module 4: Lesson 3 - Reading activities and materials

Question 1

Describe and evaluate 5 reading materials you could use.

Answer 1

Comic strips:
- provides combination of images and text.
- fun, colorful, interactive material suitable to young learners (visual).
- huge variety available and increases learner engagement with material.

Brochures:
- authentic material with basic info on various topics.
- colorful, well designed, reliable in terms of language used.

Newspaper articles:
- provides wide range of topics, readily availalble online & print.
- good source of up-to-date topics with high degree of accuracy.
- ideal for advanced students.

Blog posts:
- diary-style online text that provides commentary on particular subject.
- offer informal input and appeals to young adults and teens.
- check for lexical and other errors, as it’s not subject to rigorous checks.

Reviews:
- Covers wide range of topics where professionals share opinions on experiences and make recommendations.
- Easy to find and of interest to learner if it’s relevant to the topic.
- Exposes learners to different levels of formality - TripAdvisor vs Newspaper.

Question 2

Name 8 types of reading activities you can use in the classroom.

Answer 2

• Sequencing activities
• Mix up
• Order the paragraphs
• Missing sentences
• Titles
• Comprehension questions
• Prediction using keywords
• Sentence stems

Question 3

Describe and evaluate the following reading activity:

Sentence stems

Answer 3

Sentence stems:
D: the first part of a sentence - learners read the text, complete the sentence stem, and discuss in pairs.
E: gets learners to personalize the topic (motivating).
E: encourages critical thinking about point of view and writer’s perspective for advanced students

Question 4

Describe and evaluate the following reading activity:

Prediction using keywords

Answer 4

Prediction using keywords
D: give keywords from text and title or topic, learners guess how it relates to topic, then read and compare.
E: gets learners interested in topic and can be used to pre-teach vocabulary.
E: promotes interaction, while practicing skill of prediction.

Question 5

Describe and evaluate the following reading activity:

Comprehension questions

Answer 5

Comprehension questions
D: learners read the task and answers comprehension questions - most questions help learners read for detail. Can use true/false, multiple choice, open-ended questions.
E: true/false questions help readers read for purpose and understanding details.
E: multiple choice helps develop skills in reading closely for detail and understanding.
E: open-ended questions can be more challenging since they have to write own answers.
E: encourages close reading and discussion generation.

Question 6

Describe and evaluate the following reading activity:

Titles

Answer 6

Titles
D: provide selection of summary titles for parts of text. Put L’s into groups, have them match paragraphs with titles.
E: good global understanding task.
E: focus on overall meaning of each section of text.

Question 7

Describe and evaluate the following reading activity:

Sequencing activities

Answer 7

Sequencing activities:
D: Using set of pictures that relate to the text and ask learners to describe sequence of actions based on the text.
E: Can be used while-reading and post-reading to remind learners what they read.
E: Can also be used for pre-reading activity to guess the topic.

Question 8

Describe and evaluate the following reading activity:

Mix up

Answer 8

Mix up
D: mix up of selection of key content sentences from the text, ask learners to put in correct order.
E: helps learners understand how to build structure into piece of writing and to recognize text progression.
E: can be done alone or in group, increases interaction, also good for kinesthetic learners.

Question 9

Describe and evaluate the following reading activity:

Order the paragraphs

Answer 9

Order the paragraphs:
D: text cut up according to paragraphs, L’s have to put in order to reconstruct text. Can be done alone or in groups.
E: L’s focus on progression of text as a whole, how it’s put together, structure of intro can conclusion, and overall coherence.
E: Attractive for kinesthetic learners.

Question 10

Describe and evaluate the following reading activity:

Missing sentences

Answer 10

Missing sentences
D: give L’s text with key sentences removed. Give L’s missing sentences, they decide where it goes and why. They have to find lexical and structural clues to complete original text.
E: L’s have to read in detail, can work together to discover where and why.
E: shows how texts are structured and understand usage of writing features like grammar, vocabulary, etc.