Reading skills

Recommendations

• It makes sense for teachers to read out the text to their students before they get to read it themselves. As an alternative, play a recording.
• Students should get a chance to read a text before presenting it in class.
• Be tolerant towards students who read slowly or make a lot of mistakes.
• Texts to be read in class should not be overly long – a maximum of 500 words should not be exceeded. If your text is superb but rather lengthy, have your students read it at home.
• Don’t offer too many word explanations. Your students should get used to guessing new words.
• Choose a reading strategy you want your students to practise: skimming (to get an overview of the text), scanning (to retrieve specific information), proof reading and error spotting, speed reading or reading for fun.
• Explain to your students how they can improve their reading skills.

Pre-reading activities

• Give your students a set of questions first; they try to guess what the text is about or reconstruct the plot.
• Present a hypothesis and make your students look for evidence.
• Present a problem and make your students browse the text for a solution.
• Present a provocative statement and make your students look for counter-arguments.
• Students are given the last / first sentence and speculate about the context.
• Students are given the title or first paragraph and speculate about the message.
• Students are introduced to new vocabulary and speculate about the plot.
• Students fill in a bingo grid with words they expect to be in the text.
• Students look at the illustrations provided with the text and speculate about the plot.
• Students look at the title and guess about the contents.

While-reading activities

Teacher-centred activities

• Coverup parts of the text or leave gaps.
• Have your class read the text together; guide them with your voice.
• Make the students read – tell them to concentrate on the text, whatever you may be doing. Then, walk around while the students are reading the text and distract them.
• Only parts of the class read along to the teacher’s voice; good criteria for reducing the number of students are: age, months of birth, clothing colours, students with one or two siblings…).
• Play a passage from a recording of the text taken from somewhere in between; the class must say what happened before or after that passage.
• Play a recording of the text and pause; students guess what comes next, then the recording gives the answer.
• Read one sentence to one student; he or she must try to memorize the sentence and repeat it without looking at the book.
• Read out the text and add some new words; the students must find out which words do not appear in the original text.
• Read out the text and make your students do an echo by imitating your intonation patterns, stress etc.
• Read out the text and pause deliberately; the students try to guess the next word.
• Read out the text and tell your students to focus on specific words: whenever they come up, your students are to respond in a specific way: repeat the words or stand up and shout them out

Student-centred activities

• Each student gets one sentence of the text; have them read out their sentence. Then, it’s the next student’s turn. It helps to give the next word on the slip of paper, too, so students can prompt each other.
• Every student learns a few sentences of a text by heart – in class, they try assemble the whole of the text.
• Give your students a blank chart to fill in while reading the text.
• Some texts can be divided up into different sections. Students read their sections and sum up the plot for the rest of the class.
• Split class into two groups – one group starts reading the text, the others listen; they might keep their books open or shut. Then group one gets a chance to correct their own mistakes, group two corrects what they think needs to be corrected.
• Students are given some limited time to read the text; afterwards, ask how far your students have gotten; next, make them explain what happened in the story.
• Students are given specific roles; everybody else keeps their books shut, then the students who have prepared individual passages read out the text.
• Students find a comfortable spot and move their chairs to wherever they want to sit; they can also sit on the floor, on desks, or even lie down. They are given time to read the text and look up words they don’t know.
• Students hold up their books and walk around, reading the text (without bumping into each other).
• Students read one sentence only, then it’s their partner’s turn.
• Students read one sentence; they stop as soon as the teacher calls out the next name – you might also give your students numbers and call them out one by one.
• Students read one word of the text only, then it’s their partner’s turn.
• Students read parts of text to each other.
• Students read the text sentence by sentence; after every sentence, they must look up from their book and try to repeat the sentence without making a mistake and without consulting the book.
• Students work in teams of two: student A holds up the book and moves it slowly while student B tries to read the text.
• The students are given a worksheet with questions beforehand and select some pieces of information.
• While student A is reading out the text, student B distracts
• While student A is reading out the text, student B marks student A’s mistakes (pronunciation, stuttering, pauses…).

Post-reading activities

Interactive tasks

• After reading the text, students are given time to write down a number of statements about the text that might be true or false. Then they ask each other.
• Read the text to yourself quietly and as fast as possible; one student shouts “stop”, then read out one sentence aloud. Have your students explain what happens before or after.
• Students create quizzes or puzzles based on the text.
• Students draw some scene from the text; their partners (or the rest of the group) must try and guess what is depicted.
• Students make annotations or add footnotes.
• Students record themselves reading the text.
• Students write down additional questions about the text.
• The students are given a series of faulty statements and must correct them by browsing the text.

Creative response tasks

• One of the students acts if he were one of the characters from the story and takes their place on a hot chair; they must answer questions (if information is not given in the text, they are free to improvise).
• Students compose a rap to be performed in class.
• Students compose one of the character’s diary or blog.
• Students create a fairy-tale from the elements of the plot.
• Students create interviews with characters from the text.
• Students do a mime based on the text which is read out by a third student.
• Students draw a picture / map / poster / cartoon / storyboard based on the text.
• Students find an alternative ending for the text.
• Students identify some key scenes and re-write them to alter the course of events or modify a character’s treatment by the author.
• Students read different paragraphs of a text, then do an impromptu scene in class.
• Students simulate a phone-call between two characters.
• Students transform the text into a short story.
• Students transform the text into an audio drama.
• Students try and improvise dialogues between characters from the text.
• Students use a detail from the story to add some context (blowing-up technique).
• Students use puppets to illustrate a scene from the text.
• Students use the plot to create a miniature story (30, 50, 70 words).
• Students write a letter from a character’s point of view. Other students might write a response letter.
• Students write a new scene or passage for the text that is contained in the original version.
• Students write a newspaper article (report, comment) based on the text.
• Students write a play based on the text, then rehearse it and present it in class.
• Students write a poem or song lyrics

Reading comprehension tasks

• Adaption tasks: e.g. Create a dialogue by using a narrative text!
• Closed tasks: Statements about the text are given, students have to decide on their accuracy (non-verbal tasks), e.g. true / false / not in the text or right / wrong / I don’t know; or: multiple choice tasks.
• Comparative tasks: Various questions and tasks regarding parallel texts, comparing text types (intertextuality) etc.
• Creative response: Write a reply letter, write an application, make a comment, write a letter to the author / publisher. Have a discussion about what you have read (use notes) or conduct an opinion poll in class (making a survey, pros and cons technique).
• Evaluative tasks: Questions and tasks for the personal evaluation of the text by the reader: about content, author's intention, information content, relevance for the reader.
• Explorative tasks: Questions and tasks that open up the classroom setting: gathering information, exploring sources, starting surveys, researching on the Internet.
• Half-closed tasks: Simple content-related questions and tasks that can be answered or completed by locating the text and reconstructing it (with only minor changes).
• Inferential tasks: Questions and tasks that require understanding of the content that is not explicitly mentioned in the text (inferential skills), such as: B. guessing words from the context, complete the storyline, recognize causes and effects, draw conclusions, predict the further course of the text (predicting), etc.
• Interpretative tasks: Content-related questions and tasks that can only be answered by combining the information extracted.
• Labelling: Students are expected to find suitable subheadings or an appropriate main heading.
• Lifting: The answers can be found by copying the corresponding text passage without having to change it.
• Marking and annotations tasks: Highlight the main statements in colour, underline them or make marginal notes, note contradictions, etc.
• Matching tasks: Questions and tasks that require students to match text and images.
• Comprehension tasks: Content-related questions and tasks that can only be answered by understanding several sentences or an entire passage (reconstructive questions and tasks;).
• Personal response: The reader is asked for his personal opinion, for his background knowledge, his experiences, ideas, suggestions, alternatives and wishes.
• Reading between the lines / beyond the lines: Questions and tasks to which reading between the lines is an absolute prerequisite.
• Structuring tasks: Students have to organize and structure information, e.g. B. Action sequence, categorization, character traits of the people etc.
• Summarizing: Various questions and tasks regarding text summary and abbreviation, table of contents, outlines, etc.
• Transformative tasks: Changing texts with regard to text type specifics, style characteristics, language, register, forms of politeness etc.
• Visualization: Questions and tasks for the graphic representation of text content (create bar or pie charts).

Resources

• Barzillai, Mirit; Thomson, Jennifer; Schroeder, Sascha et al. (2018): Learning to read in a digital world. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, (Studies in written language and literacy; vol. 17)
• Farstrup, Alan (Ed.) (2005): What research has to say about reading instruction. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association
• Nuttall, Christine E. (2014): Teaching reading skills in a foreign language. Ismaning: Hueber
• Oakhill, Jane (2015): Understanding and teaching reading comprehension: a handbook. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• Philipp, Maik (2015): Lesestrategien: Bedeutung, Formen und Vermittlung. Weinheim: Beltz-Juventa
• Edelhoff, Christoph (Ed.) (2014): Skills, Kompetenzen und Bildung: Leseverstehen im kommunikativen Englischunterricht. Braunschweig: Diesterweg (Perspektiven Englisch, 10)