How to promote extensive reading?

How to Promote Extensive Reading?

        Nowadays, it is hard to find people who read a lot without being required to. In many schools, Students read because their teacher asks them to read. Do some of them read a great deal at home? Maybe YES but most of them don’t do it. Would Students be interested in reading something in a language that they are still learning? I don’t think so. In my life I have seen that reading is not the best hobby. Here is where the teacher has to act. To promote and get students interested in reading, It is advisable that He/She:

-Be a role model: What happens if your parents don’t behave correctly as they tell you to do? Nothing positive happens. You just don’t feel like doing it. The same thing happens in reading, if your teacher doesn’t read much, you won’t be motivated to do it. What if your teacher tells you that he has read many books articles, magazines, newspapers, etc and then shows what she has learned by doing it; Students will be more encouraged. Students will want to be like the teacher. There was a time when I saw my friend translate paragraphs from English to Spanish. At that time I said to myself “IF HE CAN DO IT, I WLL BE ABLE TO DO IT” Since then reading English Grammar books was my hobby.

-Remind students that understanding every single word in the reading is no the aim, but getting the general understanding.

-Allow students to the book which they are interested in: The book have to depend on the student level in the language. It is important that there not be much follow discussion or work in class about the reading because they are reading for pleasure; it shouldn’t be an obligation for students. What would happen if they feel like they don’t understand or enjoy? They would feel frustrated. For this reason, the teacher can allow the student to choose another book.

-Try to find a successful start: Once they manage to read successfully, they will feel more comfortable. Therefore, they will try to repeat it again. To do this, teacher can give students a pile of easier books to read.

-Highlight the benefits of this kind of reading: This way, they will know why they are going to do it. This will be a motivation to do it.

Interesting and fun writing activities.

Fun and interesting  writing activities.

Sometimes students can be a reluctant to write something in class. It shouldn’t be a problem because there are different activities to make students write enthusiastically.  Teachers can be able to have Ss interested in writing using the following activities…

1^st- Variations on a theme. For this activity, T needs 10 different pictures that are not quite different in theme. They can be pictures e.g. of only landscapes but in different places. Then T needs to put them on the wall or board so that everyone can see them. Ss have to pick one of the pictures and write a description of it on a piece of paper. T has to give Ss limited amount of time. When Ss are finished, T write letter (a, b, c,…) on the pictures and number on the descriptions (1, 2, 3,…). Finally Ss have to match them (the descriptions with the pictures).  To make it even more engaging, T can give a prize to the S who watches correctly (like a competition).Nobody wants to lose…

2^nd- How to get to my house. For the next activity, the teacher needs to prepare a map of a town. T has to name some of the buildings. This map has to have a railway station. T then photocopies as many maps as the number of Ss in the classroom. T has to make sure that each map has a different building on each map. Then T assigns each Student a partner to whom this student will write. After that, T tells her that she she/he has to write a letter to his partner how to get het/his home from the railway station. T tell him/her that her house is the marked building. When Ss Finish to write their letters, they send them to their partners. And their partners have to find the building based on their description that they received. Finally, T has to ask them to compare their maps for checking.

3^rd-Which picture is it about?. For this activity, T has to give each student a picture about any topic. Then, they have to write a sentence describing their pictures. It shouldn’t be very easy to discover which picture the sentence is describing. When they finish writing the sentences, they have to give their picture to their partner next to them. By doing this, all the Ss will write a sentence about all the pictures. T waits until everybody finishes writing the description about each picture. Then, T puts all the pictures on the board and the each student has to read his/her sentence. The others have to try to guess which picture he/ she is describing. In case they are not able to guess which picture he is describing , he wins a point. This activity can also be helpful to teach grammar. T can ask Ss to use certain grammar in the sentences.

Teaching listening activities.

How to teach listening activities?

In a classroom, Ss are always listening. They listen to the teacher’s instructions, classmates’ opinions, etc. Even though they practice it in every class, they get a little scared when they are required to listen to a recording to do some task such as answering given questions, getting the main idea, and getting details. It is true that it is not the same to listen to the teacher’s instructions and follow it than to listen to a recording to do certain tasks.

To avoid and/or decrease these feelings on the Ss, T should prepare Ss. First of all T ought to introduce the topic and discover what Ss already know about the topic that they are going to listen to (it work as the lead-in). What teachers usually do is to ask to Ss questions about the topic so that they can predict what the listening will be about. If it is really necessary, T should provide any new vocabulary that Ss may need. It might be seen in Basic levels; some books have vocabulary that for Ss are impossible to find out the meanings. Once Ss have already discussed the questions, T has set the questions. If she wants the Ss to listen for the gist (skimming), she might give one or two questions. It is advisable that T tell the Ss that they don’t have to worry that they have to understand every word in the recording. Actually, understanding every single word on the audio is not the goal. After you do it all, Ss will be more confident. The recording should not be long. It will depend on the Ss’ levels. If it is a Basic 1 course, it must be less than a minute.

If Ss are going to skim, T has to play the recording only once. Then, T has to ask Ss the questions previously given. Ss get the right answers most of the time in this task so there not necessarily be comparing. Before playing the second time  T should be very specific about what Ss will listen for( this time for scanning) such as emotional tone, answering very detailed questions, finding out who says what, etc. T might need to play one more time. Since listening should focus more on the process rather than the product, it is crucial that T ask the Ss to get in pairs or in groups to compare and agree with the best answer. In case that Ss are not doing most of the tasks well, T has to play the recording one more time. Then the Ss will have to compare their answer again. There might be cases when Ss cannot get the right answer, in this case you will have to play the recording only on the relevant parts. Finally Ss should tell their answer to the class. It is important that T ask others if they agree with their classmate.

After that T has a variety of activities to choose. For instance, ask Ss to write a summary of the listening, work on new vocabulary, the pronunciation, grammar used, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91GL21bCjAE

Personally speaking I love this video because it has a complete listening lesson, from pre-, listening, listening itself to post listening. The lead-in is engaging because it includes competition. The procedure is almost similar to the one that I wrote above. You guys should watch this video. It is a good example of a listening lesson.

Lesson plan

Preparing a Lesson Plan.

When you are preparing a Lesson Plan, you should consider the students’ interests level, attention level, abilities to work in group, knowledge, accommodations and learning preferences. The main objective of all these considerations is to meet the students’ needs since it is the key in successful teaching and learning. Trying to do an activity that fit most of the learners’ needs is an important step. When the school in which you teach provides you curriculum guides, you should use it. It is a better idea to use it than to make something on your own. Remember that the ones who designed it know why they do it that way. Not only do you have to use the materials that the school gives you, but you also can look for materials that you will need for your activity. You may think that need materials only for doing the lead in. Keep in mind that you might need materials the whole lesson. When planning to give instructions, you have to make a list of the most important facts, keys , concepts, Skills, or the vocabulary. You could prepare an outline.

The following link shows us a lesson plan that includes a good Outline for a conversation activity: http://esl.about.com/od/conversationlessonplans/a/high_ask.htm

Identify the aims and outcomes that Ss wil have achieved at the end of the task. For example: to give advice using modals (could, should, etc)… you hope that by the end of the activity Ss will be able to use the modals to give advice. The main objective is the task that Ss are expected to perform. Plan a great lead-in that could include a focusing event or attention grabber that will engage the Ss to pay attention and learn about what you plan to teach. It is great to have motivated Ss from the beginning of the lesson. It is your job to make it possible.

Make a list of many ways in which you give Ss opportunities to practice wht you want them to learn. First, plan to give clear instructions so that Ss can perform the activities on their own. The more practice you give them, the better chacces they have to lean well the teaching point. For example when you ask the student to describe a person using adjectives, They wil be able create their sentences on their own making use of the vocabulary you hope them to learn. Make a list of how to check for comprehension without using” DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”. At the end of the lesson you can ask the Ss what they learned. Plan how to measure the Ss success in achieven the items you planned to reach. The objective is to evaluate Ss performance. You can do it using True or false responses, Matching, oral presentations. The last section is to be completed after the lesson  because it is your reflection about the lesson. It represents the feedback to your performance, what work, wht did not work and what improvements you need to make. The important parts of a lesson plan mentioned here are:  Information about the Ss, materials, teaching point, aims, introduction, development, practice, checking for understanding, Closure, evaluation and teacher reflection (personal goals)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp0m-4zxjBgt  This video shows us Six diferrent Lesson plan formats for different types of lesons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohmj5Hln7w This video shows us how important is to write a good lesson plan and what you should include here

Here are two different lesson plan examples....

 

Giving Instructions Appropriately

Giving Instructions Appropriately

First, T has to keep in mind the learners’ level. T should not use long sentences with high level grammar to give instructions to Basic 1 or 2 Ss, instead T should use commands. It helps the teacher to avoid obvious words and difficult grammar in the instructions. Also T has to know the things that they don’t have to do. For instance: to talk to the board, to avoid boring long explanations, to ask them for comprehension asking “do you understand? because Ss are very likely to say yes even though they don’t, and not to make the activity clear with examples.

  T has to prepare the instructions before coming into the room in order to make it better. If T understands the instructions that she gives, Ss might not understand. There is  something that happened to me related to it…Once when giving instructions, I assumed that certain things were obvious as I was familiar with the activity. However, it wasn’t obvious for the learners.

T has to think on the number of activities she is going to make Ss do in class. If T has more than one activity, T can give instructions for the first activity and then T can check for comprehension. It might be confusing for students, I you give them instructions for the two activities together. T has to get Ss  attention before starting giving the instructions. T could play music or clap aloud to get their attention. T has to know the she has to give instruction even on the first day of the lesson (Basic 1). May T cannot understand “Get into pairs” But they would be able to understand “You two, you two and you two” obviously using gestures. T has to check for comprehension. Of course, never say DO YOU UNDERSTAND? for reasons that were previously mentioned. T has other options for checking for comprehension. First, T could ask one of the Ss to repeat back to her the instructions. It has to be the average S. Another, T could ask some Ss to demonstrate the activity to the class. As soon as Ss started the activity, T has to walk around to chec if they have understood. If only one group is stuck, just help this group to understand. But if most of the groups are, T should stop the activity. Then, T can ask the Ss who have understood to demonstrate the the activity to the others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wam5PscoSjU&feature=player_embedded#

This video shows us clear instructions for grammar activity.

Kinaesthetic Intelligence.

Kinaesthetic  Intelligence.

If you are not good at understanding formulas or structures, don’t think that you are not intelligent. I have heard a lot of people say, ”I am not intelligent” .I always replied saying “ Why?”.They usually say “I am not doing well at school, I don’t understand well or at all the teacher’s explanations.” I want to say to those people that they are intellingent. The only thing that make them feel like that is that they don’t understand; however it doesn’t mean that they are not able to understand. Of course they are smart. The problem is that thay have other kinds of intelligence that don’t adjust to the teacher methods.

Those people are probably kinaesthetic (body-smart). Not only do Body-smart people think and feel through touch and movements, but they also enjoy lots of sports and physical activity. If you are good at dancing, acting or sport, you are kinaesthetic. The more skin and muscles you use, the better you remember. It means that in a classroom teacher should consider this fact. In general body-smart people  may welcome opportunities to get up and move around the class.

 Kinaesthetic learners can use gestures to learn the information. For instance in a language class, you can give the meaning od a new word by using gestures rather than using a long sentence. It may sound odd, but it is a good idea for kinaesthetic learners to chew gum while studing. Also listening to music while studying is a great idea as the more senses you can involve in learning, the better you will remember it.

Lexicl approach.

First, I wild like to tell you what skills students can improve by using this approach. Students can improve speaking, listening, reading and writing. You may wonder why.

We must know that lexical approach focuses more prefabricated items or chunks that represent a significant portion of a native speaker’s spoken and written output. So you should not pay attention to the grammar, the structure or the vocabulary, if so you won’t get confused. I don’t think that translating a chunk word by word  is not good idea.

 I remember the time when I was in basic. I had trouble understanding some questions. For instance, “How old are you?” ,etc. Definitely, You will have problems to understand If you translate the chunks, You had not better do it. When you find a chunk on a reading, you should believe that grannar and vicavulary are false.

The focus of lexical approach is on the real English. Guessing the meaning of vocabulary items from context is a great way to come up with the meaning of the chunk. Personally apeaking, lexical approach must be applied in higher level (imtermediate…higher)....