SKKN ( 09 - 10 )

Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? Le Thi Thu page1 INTRODUCTION. Experience is a work that you have from doing your work many times . During a long time you do your work , you overcome bad things , improve them and make them better and better. Then , whenever you do that work ,you always use the method you have used before and get a good result . The method you use to make your work better is considered an experience of your own. Teachers always try to find the best methods to teach their students . I do , too . I have many experiences during my life of teaching , such as experiences in teaching Listening , experiences in teaching speaking, experiences in teaching reading and experiences in teaching writing . In this material , I will tell you my experiences in teaching reading . I myself think the followings are the best experiences of my own . But each person has different points of view . Anyway, I hope my experiences will be supported and all of you are certain to help me make my experiences better and better after reading my experiences . Le Thi Thu . Binh Nghi Secondary School . Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? PART 1 I. REASONS OF CHOOSING THIS TOPIC . Reading skill is one of the most important skills to language learners . The purposes of learning English are to learn how to listen , speak , read and write English well . Englins is an international language . It is a means to communicate with other people in the world . Many books are written in English .So how to help readers understand information written in English in books, newspapers , magazines ,etc is more important . If students have a good reading skill, they can easily understand the information written in English well . To English teachers , helping students drill their reading skill is more important because it is one of the four skills in teaching English . Moreover , teachers have to teach students reading skills so that they can understand the knowledge in English books and in English tests . To students , about 30 percent or even more than 30 percent of the exercises in their English tests are to test their reading skills .So if students have a good reading skill , they can easily complete their English tests well. Moreover,people said that “A good reader make a good writer”. If students are good at reading, of course , they are good at writing, speaking, and listening. In conclusion , how to teach students to be good at reading skills in English is very important. And my ideas above are the reasons why I have spent most of my time studying the topic : ” How to teach reading effectively ? “. II. TASKS OF THE TOPIC. ( WHAT TASKS DOES THIS TOPIC SOLVE ? ) In this topic , I focus on the following contents : 1.The ways to read texts . 2.Sub-skills in teaching reading . 3.Principles of teaching reading . 4.Steps for presenting a reading text . 5.Some purposes of reading texts . 6.Techniques of teaching reading . 7.Games often used in teaching reading . Le Thi Thu page2 Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? 8.Some kinds of exercises in reading. III . METHODS TO RESEARCH THIS TOPIC . First of all , I use the knowledge of methods I have learnt at University . Secondly , I read many methodogical books to get the knowledge of the methods to teach reading . Moreover , I learn many experiences from my colleagues . With all the knowledge I have collected , I use them in teaching my students reading skills. After that , I choose the methods which are suitable for my students . this means that I choose the methods which make my students good at reading skill . I use these methods many times and then they become my own experiences . Now I am writing my own experiences in teaching reading in this material . IV .THE PLACE AND THE TIME TO RESEARCH THIS TOPIC . During a long time teaching English at Binh Nghi secondary school , I am experienced in teaching reading skills. I have researched this topic for over 3 years . ( from 2004 upto now ) . PART 2 THE RESULTS . A . THE SITUATION OF LEARNING READING IN ENGLISH OF THE STUDENTS AT BINH NGHI SECONDARY SCHOOL AT PRESENT . * Students get acquainted with many kinds of reading exercises , and they do reading exercises well. * Students have a lot of skills and methods in doing reading texts and their reading skill is becoming better and better . * Students have many pleasures in reading periods . * Students read English texts more fluently and they can easily understand the contents of the English texts . * Students can do many reading exercises in the reference books by themselves at home . * Students enjoy reading periods . * When my students take part in examinations , they all get good results at reading . * Students have a lot of abilities in doing reading exercises and they do reading texts carefully *Students’English pronunciation is better . Le Thi Thu page3 Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? B .SOLUTIONS TO SOLVE THE CONTENTS IN THIS TOPIC . I . The ways to read English texts : There are many ways to read English texts . 1.Reading aloud : The purpose of reading aloud is to communicate someone’s information written to other people such as reading newspapers , news , letters , passages , messages ,etc … In teaching foreign languages , reading aloud has fewer effects to the development of students’reading skill, but It mainly helps students practice pronunciation , intonation , stress or reading for announcing something . 2. Silent reading : When we want to read in order to understand something or to get information , we often read silently . It means that we only look at the words and understand them in our mind . 3. Intensive reading : including two kinds of reading . * Reading for details or research . * Reading for analysis .( in order to learn the language ) . 4.Extensive reading : including three kinds : * Reading for pleasure . * Scanning . * Skimming . II . READING SUB-SKILLS: There are some main reading sub-skills that I often drill my students . 1. Reading for recognizing words and their meanings in the text . 2. Reading for understanding sentences or paragraphs in the text . 3. Scanning . 4 Skimming . 4. 5.Predicting the content of the sentences or texts . 5. 6.Guessing the meanings of the new words from contexts . 6. 7.Using dictionaries for reading . 7. 8.Inferring meaning . 9.Reading for total comprehension . 10.Critical reading . 11.Outlining . 12.Paraphrasing . 13.Summarizing . 14.Timed reading . 15.Strip stories ( ordering exercises ) . 16.Clozing . III . PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING READING : 1. When teaching a reading text , It is benificial to state a purpose for reading a given text . Tell the students why they are reading the text . It is to skim for the main ideas ? It is to Le Thi Thu page4 Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? scan for specific information ? It is for critical reading ? The purpose of reading task should be stated to the students before they read . 2. Prepare the students to read by introducing the topic of the passage . 3. Before the students read the text , have them read questions about it before hand to help them focus on the meaning . 4. Do not pre-teach vocabulary unless necessary . 5. Have the students read silently without whispering the words or moving their lips . This will help them read more quickly and focus on the more important words . 6. Discuss difficult vocabulary after reading the text .If they do not understand certain words by guessing from context , help them by explaining the meaning, by definition or example . 7. When discussing the answers to comprehention questions , be sure to refer back to the text often . 8. Finally , remember to focus on developing the skills of the readers . The purpose of teaching reading is not only to help the students understand the context for that day , but also to help them learn to read effectively for themselves . To do this ,they must develop many sub-skills of reading like skimming , scanning , predicting , guessing from context and reading for total comprehension . IV : STEPS FOR PRESENTING A READING TEXT : 1.Give a brief introduction to get students thinking about the topic of the text . 2. Ask students to say more words they know about the topic . 3. teach some key words . 4. State a purpose for reading the text ( skim , scan , read for total information , etc … ) . 5.Write one or two guiding questions on the board to focus their attention . 6. Tell the students how much time they have to read . Do not allow them much time , especially in skimming and scanning exercises . 7.Have the students answer the given questions about the text . 8.Present a follow-up activity .In this , the students can share their own opinions or discuss what else they know about the topic of the text . V .THE TWO KINDS OF READING TEXT . There are many purposes of reading texts , but in this material I will mention two kinds of reading texts with two different purposes . * The reading text in order to present the language . * The reading text in order to teach students reading skills . HOW TO EXPLOIT THE TWO KINDS OF READING TEXTS : 1.Exploiting the reading text in order to present the new language : -If the main aim of the reading text is to present the new language , the teacher’s work is to help students understand the text through presentation , explanation , and noticing students about the content as well as the new language in the text .Then the follow-up tasks are in order to check the students’understanding and the use of the new language . Followings are the basic steps to exploit the reading text in order to present the new language : a. Introducing the text by using many different techniques such as telling stories , Le Thi Thu page5 Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? asking questions , revising previous lessons relating to the new lesson . b. Introducing the content of the text ( using pictures if possible ) and introducing new words and structures . If the text is long , we can divide it into small paragraphs . c. Practising asking and answering about the text , using the new language in the text . d. Practising the new language in the context of the text and the content of the text . e. Consolidating , summarizing , building up the text , using the following exercises : - Rearrange the text in order . - Build up the text . - Retell the story with prompts given . - Retell each part orally . - Sum up the main ideas of the text , basing on the prompts given . f. Read the text aloud in order to practice pronunciation , intonation . g. Follow-up activities ( intergrate the 4 skills : listening , speaking , reading , writing). 2. Exploiting the reading text in order to develop students’reading skills: In some reading texts in order to develop students’reading skills , teachers not only help students to understand the content of the text , but also give out some follow-up tasks in order to help students practice their reading skills .Those skills can help students read different passages with different purposes . In this kind of reading text , teachers do not present , introduce the content of the reading text , but the students themselves have to read the text and find out the content of the reading text . The role of the teacher is to help , prompt , guide ,give out suggestions ,and check the students’answers . The activities in order to develop students’reading skills are usually carried on with 3 stages : -Pre-reading activities . -While-reading activities . -Post-reading activities . a. Pre-reading activities : The activities and the techniques at this stage are in order to reach the following purposes: -Arouse interest ( gây hứng thú ) -Set up the context ( thiết lập ngữ cảnh ) -Create reasons for reading . -Pre-teach structures , new words . -Introduce briefly the topic ; content . -Eliciting , guiding questions . -Predict the text . -Give expectation about the text .( nêu những điều muốn biết về bài đọc ) b. While-reading activities : While-reading activities are exercises which are done while students are reading the text. Students can read the text many times and do these exercises . At this stage , students exploit the content of the text . Depending on the purpose and the content of each certain text , There will be different questions and different requirements . The followings are activities and techniques usually used at this stage: -Find the word / sentence that says ………. -Check / tick the correct answer . Le Thi Thu page6 Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? -True-false -Complete the table -Fill in the chart -Make up charts / diagrams . -Make a list of ……… -Matching -What does …… stand for ? / refer to ? -What does …………. Mean ? -Answer the questions on the text . c . Post-reading activities : After students read and do the exercises about the text , teachers go on giving some exercises that require the understanding of students about the total content of the text , relate to real life , consolidate the structures , and the new language in the text . Followings are some kinds of exercises usually used at this stage : -Arrange the events in order . -Find the sentence that summarizes the paragraph / text . -Give the tittle of the reading text -Give comments , opinions on the characters in the text -Discussion questions . -Reproduce the text ( written or oral ) . -Gap-filling . -Rewrite the story from jumble sentences / words / visual cues . -Role-play basing on the text -Make dialogues basing on the text . -Guess the consequences / results of the story . -Develop another story basing on the text . -Personalized tasks . ( e.g : write / talk about your own school / family / town / story on … ) . + Tell a similar event on …… + What would you do / behave / say in that situation ? + Make your own plan / decision ……… -Grammar practice and exercises ,etc ……… VI . TECHNIQUES OF TEACHING READING : * Pre-reading techniques : 1. Ordering statements : - From a story , the teacher jumbles the sentences in the story and then asks the students to put the sentences in the correct order. 2.Jigsaw dictation : Ex :- Draw a stadium and give some words about the players . - Ask the students to put the words ( the names of the players ) in the right places in the stadium to have a team in the field . 3. Ordering pictures : Ex : When students read a text about a christmas tree , the teacher gives some pictures about ornaments , colour lights , gifts , etc …and a Christmas tree .Students have to put the pictures Le Thi Thu page7 Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? in the right positions on the Christmas tree . 4. Listen and draw : Ex : When the students read a text about a farm , The teacher reads a discription about the things on the farm , students listen and draw the scenery on the farm . 5. True – false statement prediction : Ex : when students read a text about a famous person , the teacher gives some information about that famous person such as : date of birth , place of birth , date of death , famous inventions …. .Students have to guess whether that information is true or false . 6. Open-prediction : Ex: when students read a text about the Tet holiday , the teacher gives some questions such as : a What do Vietnamese children do at Tet ? b.Do children in England visit their relatives during the Tet holiday ? c.What do people in Viet Nam prepare for Tet ? -Students have to find out the information to answer these questions . * While – reading and post – reading techniques : 1.True – false statements . 2. Yes-no questions . 3.Right or wrong ( v ) or ( x ) . 4.Answers given : the teacher gives some answers and students have to make questions for those answers . 5.Wh – questions : 6.Multiple choice : Choose the best answer :A , B , C ,or D . 7.Gap – filling : 8.Grids and forms : 1.Name : 2.Place of birth : 3.Date of birth : 4. Job : 5.Place of burial : 6.Date od dead : 7.Names of his novels : 9.Role-play : Interviewer. 1.Where were you born ? 2.When were you born ? Shakespeare. a.I was born in Stratford-on- Avon. b. 10.Matching : 11.Rewrite : 12. Discussion : 13.Songs and rhyms / songs on tapes . * Beside the techniques I often use above, the followings are also techniques which are used in Le Thi Thu page8 Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? teaching reading. DIY word order ; Tapped dictation; Write the text before you read it; Draw a text; agreeing and Disagreeing; Punctuating a text; First and Last Letter Dictation; Running Dictation; “Orange” Dictation; Stop and correct; Scrambled Dictation; Chain Story; Tape Dictation; Did you read that?; Question Brainstorming; Spider Diagram; Dictated Titles; The Really New and the Merely New; Keywords; Hiding words in the text; Visualizing the text. VII .SOME MAIN KINDS OF READING EXERCISES : Students must get acquainted with many kinds of exercises when studying reading skills . The followings are some of the most popular kinds of reading exercises . 1.Read a text and answer the questions . Ex: Read the text carefully , then answer the questions. The ancient town of Hoi An lies on the Thu Bon River , 30 km south of Da Nang . It was formerly a major trading center in Southeast Asia between the 16 th and 17 th centuries. Hoi An is famous for its old temples , pagodas , small tile-roofed houses and narrow streets . All the houses were made of wood and their pillars were carved with ornamental designs. All visitors to Hoi An are recommended a visit to the Assembly Hall of Cantonese Chinese Congregation . This house was built in 1855 and still keeps many precious objects that belonged to the Chinese community of Hoi An. Another attractive address to tourists is Tan Ky House , which was constructed nearly two centuries ago as a house of a Vietnamese merchant . the house now looks almost exactly as it did in the early 19 th century . In recent years, Hoi An has become a popular tourist destination in Vietnam. In 1999, it was certified by UNESCO as a world Cultural Heritage Site . 1.Where is the ancient town of Hoi An situated ? 2.What was Hoi An known as between the 16 th and 17 th centuries? 3.What is it famous for ? 4.What are the old houses in Hoi An like ? 5.How old is The Assembly Hall of Contonese Chinese congretation? 6.When was Tan Ky House built ? 7.When was Hoi An declared by UNESCO as a world Cultural Heritage Site ? * Answers : 1.The ancient town of Hoi An is situated on the Thu Bon River , 30 km south of Da Nang . 2.Between the 16 th and 17 th centuries , Hoi An was known as a major trading center in southeast Asia. 3.Hoi An is famous for its old temples, pagodas, small tile-roofed houses and narrow streets. 4.All the old houses in Hoi An were made of wood and their pillars were carved with ornamental designs. 5.The Assembly Hall of Cantonese Chinese Congretation was built in 1855. It’s about 152 years old. 6.The Tan Ky House was built in the early 19 th century. 7.In 1999. 2.Read a text and decide whether the following statements are true or false . EX: Read the passage and decide if the statements below are true (T) or fales(F). Le Thi Thu page9 Experienced Initiative. Binh Nghi Secondary School How to teach reading effectively ? Pollution is a major problem of our times.Air , water and land are all polluted.Poor waste disposal is to blame for many of the problems and the situation is particularly acute in heavily industrialized and over-populated regions. Pollution of the atmosphere has led to the destruction of the ozone layer and to the green house effect.Other environmental problems have been caused by too rapid a use of resources. There are far fewer fish in the sea because of over-fishing and the destruction of the rain forests is having unforeseen ecological consequences.Battery farming provides a lot of food but involves keeping animals in unnatural and unhealthy condition. * Decide if it is true(T) or false(F).Correct the false sentences. 1…… pollution is an important problem nowadays. 2…… Pollution of the atmosphere has destroyed the ozone layer. 3…… There are more fish in the sea due to over-fishing. 4…… Battery farming provides a lot of food and involves keeping animals in good condition. 5…… Poor waste disposal causes pollution. Answers: 1.T 2.T 3.F. there are far fewer fish in the sea because of over-fishing . 4.F. Battery farming provides a lot of food but involves keeping animals in unnatural and unhealthy condition. 5. T 3.Read an open – text and find out the suitable words to fill in the blanks . ( the words are not given , so students have to think and find out the suitable words to fill in the blanks ) . Ex : Read the open text and then find the missing words to fill in the blanks. Everyone wants to reduce pollution. But pollution problem is (1)……… complicated as it is serious. It is complicated (2)……… much pollution is caused by things that benefit people. For example, exhaust (3)………. Automobiles causes a large percentage of all air pollution. But automobiles (4)…………transportation for millions of people. Factories discharge much of the material (5)………. Pollutes the air and water , but factories give employment to a large (6) ………of people. Too much firtilizer or pesticide can ruin soil , but firtilizers and pesticide (7) ……… important aids to the growing of crops. Thus, to end (8)……… greatly reduces pollution immediately , people would have to (9)……… using many things that benefit them. Most people do not want to do that , of course . But pollution can (10)……….gradually reduced in several ways. * Answers: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 as Because/ as from provide which member are or stop be 4.Read a text and fill in the incomplete sentences given with the information from the text Ex : Read the passage carefully and complete the following sentences . Northern Japan has been rocked by a series of earthquakes and aftershocks that began on 23 October 2004 and left at least 23 people dead and thousands more injured and homeless. Le Thi Thu page10 [...]... the Parker family in the American state of (1 ) …… Mr Parker is a (2 ) ………and Mrs.Parker (3 ) ……….in a nearby town They have two children, (4 ) ……… and (5 ) ……… .Van often does chores (6 ) ……… School Sometimes , he also helps on the (7 ) ……… The family relaxes on Saturday afternoon and (8 ) ……… Peter play (9 ) ……… Van likes the Parkers, and he enjoys being a (1 0) …… of their family 8.Read a text and fill... people (3 ) …….years making plans for when the festival will be in (4 ) ……… town Each festival is (5 ) …… by about 160,000 people They travel not only from naerby towns and villages (6 ) …….also from the rest of the British Isles and (7 ) …… from abroad There are concerts, plays and (8 ) …… To find best singers , poets, writers, and so on Shops sell Welsh music , books, pictures and clothes as (9 ) ………as... Vietnamese’s New year is( 1) …….according to the Lunar calendar.It is officially known as the (2 ) … ……New Year or Tet It occurs in (3 ) …….January or early February The exact date changes from year to year Vietnamese people usually( 4) …… preparation for Tet holiday several weeks beforehand They clean and decorate (5 ) ………homes,cook special food such as (6 ) ……rice cakes, and make offerings (7 ) …… the family... 2005: - Trần Thị Nhiên : giải nhì - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện - Nguyễn Thị Hồng Tươi : giải ba - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện 2.The school year : 2005 – 2006 -Trần Thị Nhiên : giải nhì - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện / giải khuyến khích - học sinh giỏi cấp tỉnh -Nguyễn Thị Hồng Tươi : giải nhì - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện -Huỳnh Thị Thuý Kiều : giải nhì - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện - inh Thiên Kim : giải ba - học... giỏi cấp huyện - Huỳnh thị Ánh Tuyết : giải ba - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện 3.The school year : 2006 – 2007 - ặng Thị Minh Chung : giải nhì - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện - ặng Nguyễn Thuỳ Linh : giải nhì - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện -Nguyễn Thị Hiếu : giải nhì - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện -Nguyễn Thị Thảo : giải nhì - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện -Nguyễn Đắc Lộc : giải ba - học sinh giỏi cấp huyện -Nguyễn Thị Tuyết... open – text and choose the correct word or phrase ( A , B , C ,or D ) to complete the passage Ex: Read the passage below and choose the correct word for each space Wales has a (0 ) … of about three million English is the main language and only twelve per cent speak both Welsh and English Every year (1 ) ……August there is a Welsh-speaking festival It (2 ) …… place in a different town each year so everyone... (5 ) ………homes,cook special food such as (6 ) ……rice cakes, and make offerings (7 ) …… the family altars.On Tet,people usually put on their new clothes , give (8 ) ……… another the Tet season’s (9 ) ……… , and pay mutual (1 0) ……… * Answers: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 celebrated lunar late make their sticky on one greetings visits 19.Read the text and do the matching Ex: Read the text carefully and then match the... difficult to remember 4 Pyramid ( Ask the students to work in groups to make a list of the words relating to a topic) We can use this game at the Lead-in stage in order to help students to remember as much as possible words relating to the topic of the lesson 5 Matching Le Thi Thu page20 Experienced Initiative How to teach reading effectively ? Binh Nghi Secondary School - If there are many new words... the pictures + Match the English words with real objects 6 Lucky numbers - We can use this game at the warm-up stage in order to review the previous knowledge - We can also use this game at the consolidation stage in order to check the students’ understanding of the lesson 7 noughts and crosses This game can be used at the lead-in stage or at the consolidation stage 8 Network We can use this game in... want products that will not only work effectively, but also save money For most North American households, lighting accounts for 10 percent to 15 percent of the electricity bill However, this amount can be reduced by replacing an ordinary 100 -watt light bulb with an energy-saving bulb These bulbs use a quarter of the electricity of standard bulbs and last eight times longer Therefore, consumers can . the American state of (1 ) …… . Mr Parker is a (2 ) ………and Mrs.Parker (3 ) ……….in a nearby town. They have two children, (4 ) ………. and (5 ) ………. .Van often does chores (6 ) ………. School. Sometimes. purposes: -Arouse interest ( gây hứng thú ) -Set up the context ( thiết lập ngữ cảnh ) -Create reasons for reading . -Pre-teach structures , new words . -Introduce briefly the topic ; content . -Eliciting. . -Reproduce the text ( written or oral ) . -Gap-filling . -Rewrite the story from jumble sentences / words / visual cues . -Role-play basing on the text -Make dialogues basing on the text . -Guess