Improving your students' reading skills

All levels British and American English Rob Nolasco suggests a number of strategies to train students how to read. Reading is one of the most important skills for most students. In most English classrooms a lot of time is spent reading. However, considerabl less time is spent training students in how to read. !his article suggests a number of strategies to help in this process.

1. Is what we do in class consistent with what good readers do?

It is generall accepted that fluent readers emplo some or all of the following strategies. "ood readers do not need all the words and letters to understand a te#t or sentence. $or e#ample, can ou understand these sentences% C ns n nts ar mp rt nt. M ny v w ls ar r d n d nt. !he deduce or infer from minimal information and often guess the meaning of new words. !he use their prior knowledge of the sub&ect. !he look for whole ideas and move from the global to the particular. !he anticipate what is to come and often read ahead. "oing slowl through the te#t on a word'b 'word basis does not encourage an of these good behaviours. !his article will present some tasks and task t pes that can help students become better readers. (eanwhile it can help to raise awareness of these issues through the )Awareness task) .

2. How do we activate a student's prior knowledge?

Here are a few useful ideas for making sure that students bring what the know about a sub&ect to a te#t. (ake use of the title. *rite the title on the board and ask students to guess what the article is about. (ake a list of ke words in the te#t. Add some other words to the list and put them on the board or on an +H!. Ask the students to decide which of the words the are likel to find in an article on that topic. (ake use of an pictures to help students guess what a te#t is about. ,se the worksheet )Between the lines) or poems to show students how much the can bring to a te#t.

3. Understanding discourse structure

!asks in which students have to put a te#t in the correct order can be ver useful in training students to make use of the discourse features that will help them become better readers. !he simplest version is to &umble up links or sentences of a te#t and ask students to arrange them in the best order. $or an e#ample of what ou might want to use with students above intermediate level, visit )!he .entence +rdering task). However, the task works much better if ou/ 0op the sections1sentences and give them to students in sections as this makes it more interactive. 2ou can make the task more difficult b giving one section to each student and asking them to memori3e or paraphrase the section prior to having the group tr to arrange them in the right order. 4ut the material on computer so that pairs of students can order the te#t on screen. Introduce variations. $or e#ample, introduce blank sentences. .tudents need to identif where the missing section is and write the missing sentence. If ou have weaker students ou can alwa s help them b giving them the first and last line of the te#t. !his t pe of task works well with stories, instructions, poetr and songs.

4.

uestions! "uestions! "uestions

Adolescent students are particularl resistant to the notion of having to answer 5uestions on the te#ts the have read. *h the ask, should we bother answering 5uestions we all know the answer to% !here is, however, a need to check comprehension. Here are some wa s of making the process more d namic and e#citing. 4repare one set of 5uestions and put them on our desk. Have students work in teams where one of them has to come to ou to get the 5uestions. !his introduces more urgenc and means that students do not slow down or stop after the have done a few 5uestions. 0onsider wa s of making the process more d namic. $or e#ample, our students have read a te#t in their te#tbook on conservation or the environment. Ask them to work in pairs. +ne person in the pair is a reporter. .he1he uses the 5uestions to interview a )scientist) about the topic. Role pla can add a lot to te#t work. Another conte#t that works well is to role pla a chat show appearance b someone students have read about. 2ou can ease students into the process b taking the role of the host and asking all the students to respond as if the were the characters the have read about. $or e#ample, ou could interview the couple in the article from Twist! 1. .tudents should use the information in the te#t and their own ideas to answer our 5uestions.

#. $i%%erent types o% reading

E#tensive reading, or reading for pleasure, is an important part of developing good reading skills. !he fact that there are e#cellent collections of motivating and interesting readers at all levels is a real bonus. Having a bo# of readers in the classroom is a great wa of dealing with mi#ed abilit students who finish earl . !hese students can have the reward of being able to read something the want to read while ou can help the students that need help. ,se the )Book review grid) to encourage students to contribute short reviews of books the have en&o ed. 7ast but not least encourage students to make the most of the vast amount of reading material that is available on the Internet. Encourage students to share addresses for their favourite sites and see what follow'up material the can find on interesting course book topics. !here is a world of reading out there.

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