6 Techniques for Building Reading Skills—in Any Subject As avid lovers of literature, teachers often find themselves wanting to impart every bit of knowledge about a well-loved text to their students. And this is not just an ELA issue—other disciplines also often focus on the content of a text. However, teaching reading skills in English classes and across the disciplines is an almost guaranteed way to help students retain content. Unfortunately, the tendency to focus on the content is a real enemy to the ultimate goal of building reading skills. Without a repertoire of reading strategies that can be applied to any text, students are being shortchanged in their education. Teach Close Reading Skills Guide students in annotation by directing them to do more than highlight or underline. The list of possibilities is endless—the point is to have students form their own process when approaching a text. Appeal to the Senses Guide Students in Setting Reading Goals Vary Text Length Offer Opportunities for Choice Reading Assess Content and Skill
Integrated Skills Through Literature: “All Summer in a Day” – On the same page The story of Margot – of (in)difference, (in)justice, hope – was not unfamiliar to me but was brought to my attention during a workshop a few years ago and have since used it in my classes. Perhaps one of the reasons why Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day” (1954) works so well with teenage students is because they can easily relate to it from different perspectives. Despite the richness of vocabulary, it is also a text that is easy to read at language levels as low as B1, with the students being able to reconstruct the key elements of the story and a good amount of details without having to understand every single word. The ending is in fact a rather open one, and it is at this point of Bradbury’s story that I decided to start reading the last time I used it. Part 1: from “A boom of thunder startled them…” to “… and let Margot out”Part 2: from “’Ready, children?’ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Speaking 9. All Summer in a Day Worksheets.pdf All Summer in a Day Like this: Like Loading...
Almost 90% of new power in Europe from renewable sources in 2016 | Environment Renewable energy sources made up nearly nine-tenths of new power added to Europe’s electricity grids last year, in a sign of the continent’s rapid shift away from fossil fuels. But industry leaders said they were worried about the lack of political support beyond 2020, when binding EU renewable energy targets end. Of the 24.5GW of new capacity built across the EU in 2016, 21.1GW – or 86% – was from wind, solar, biomass and hydro, eclipsing the previous high-water mark of 79% in 2014. For the first time windfarms accounted for more than half of the capacity installed, the data from trade body WindEurope showed. Germany installed the most new wind capacity in 2016, while France, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Lithuania all set new records for windfarm installations. The biggest project was the Gemini windfarm off the Netherlands’ coast, which was connected to the grid last February and will be the world’s second largest offshore windfarm when finished this year.
The Landlady About this BritLit kit Billy Weaver, a young man visiting the City of Bath for the first time, is looking for accommodation. He is inexplicably drawn to a house where the landlady seems to be expecting him. The house and the landlady seem friendly and welcoming, and he looks forward to staying there. The themes drawn from this story include poisoning, embalming and taxidermy as well as a look at witches. The kit, originally written in 2003, was updated in 2007 and 2013. You can also listen to the audio included in the attachments below. How to use this BritLit kit The material is divided into three sections: Pre-reading, After reading, and Word Work. Landlady Pre-reading (pdf) examines who Billy and the landlady are and asks the students to speculate on what they might look like.
The 8 Best Audio/Video News and Current Affairs Websites to Learn English. I’m currently really tied up with checking exams, so I’m going to make the introduction to this blog post really brief. I’m sure you have enough on your plate, too. June is usually a hectic month for almost everybody, isn’t it? So, how do you keep up with the latest news? Or maybe, are you one of those who, sick and tired of reading bad news, have decided to completely isolate yourself from the world? I wouldn’t blame you! If you are one of those, I kindly suggest you make an exception for the sake of learning and improving your English. This is my selection of the best audio/video news and current affairs websites to learn English. I have looked at the following features in all the websites: If the news is written in levelsIf the same news is written/read at different levelsIf it is audio news or video newsIf the transcript is providedIf the site provides a ready-to-use lesson plan for the newsAny other relevant additional content The image below is interactive. • The news.
ndla Fear, physical and psychological horror, mystery, supernatural beings/phenomena, ghosts, haunted buildings, architectural traditions from the Middle Ages, castles, darkness, death, doppelgangers, insanity, secrets, graveyards, gothic doubles and curses... Literature including some of these elements is often referred to as Gothic literature. Gothic literature can be great fun to read but truly – even more fun to write. The following Gothic short story was written by Stine Erstad when she was a junior at Sotra videregåande skole. Everything Will Be Allright – plain text Tasks and Activities Understanding Gothic Which gothic elements are used in this short story? Write a Gothic Short Story Use your knowledge about gothic fiction and write a short story. Make an Animation Make an animation based on Erstad's short story or an animation of the story you have written yourself. Further Reading The Gothic NovelThe Tell-Tale Heart (short story)
Reason to Read – a genre specific approach to developing reading skills In my recent talk at IATEFL 2015, I argued that the standard approach to reading in ELT is ineffective and that tasks which reflect a broader range of genres and more realistic reasons for reading are preferable, and I demonstrated a few tasks which reflect this philosophy. At the end of the talk I promised that I would post the slides and pdf versions of some of the tasks I showed – so here it all is: Here is the first of the pdf handouts. Teflgeek – Reaction Reading Here is the second of the handouts. Teflgeek – Text Deconstruction Handout Finally, a video of the presentation is available from the IATEFL Online website. The link is here: And these are the abstracts for Peter and Mike’s talks: Peter Watkins (University of Portsmouth) Michael Green (Kansai Gaidai University) What do we mean by ‘fluent reading’ and how can we encourage it in the classroom? Like this: Like Loading...
How to use newspaper articles in language class How should teachers use 'authentic' texts like newspapers in class? Author, trainer and teacher Rachael Roberts gives advice on the example of newspapers. Back in 1981, Vivian Cook wrote: ‘One of the words that has been creeping into English teaching in the past few years is 'authentic'. Teachers and students are naturally attracted to authentic texts (by which I mean any text which has not been produced for the purpose of language-learning). But, as Cook goes on to say, we also need to consider just how helpful the authentic text we choose actually is for our students. First challenge: Text organisation For example, how clearly is the text organised? Second challenge: Headlines Newspaper headlines can also be hard to decipher. It's Bradley Zoo-per! Understanding the genre If we are going to work with news articles, students need some help and training in understanding the features of the genre. And then the first paragraph usually summarises the story: Fourth challenge: Idioms