HOW TO TEACH a READING LESSON EFFECTIVELY GRADE 11 AT YEN DINH 2 HIGH SCHOOL

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO ĐẠO THANH HÓA TRƯỜNG THPT YÊN ĐỊNH SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM HOW TO TEACH A READING LESSON EFFECTIVELY GRADE 11 AT YEN DINH HIGH SCHOOL Người thực hiện: Dương Thị Linh Chức vụ: Giáo viên SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực : Tiếng Anh THANH HOÁ NĂM 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I INTRODUCTION 1 Reasons for choosing the topic 2 Subject of the study Method of the study Scope of the study PART II CONTENT Theoretical background 2 The actual situation 3 Solutions 3.1 Pre – reading activities 3.2 While – reading activities 3.3 Post- reading activities 12 Results 15 PART III CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 16 Conclusions 16 Suggestions and recommendations 16 2.1 For the professional team 16 2.2 For school leaders 17 2.3 For leaders of the Department 17 PART IV REFERENCES PART V APPENDIX 5.1 Appendix 5.2 Appendix PART I INTRODUCTION Reasons for choosing the topic In teaching and learning any language in the world, reading comprehension skills are always considered the most fundamental step We all know that learning English is just about learning a language To use that language fluently, learners must practice four basic skills: listening - speaking - reading - writing In which, reading skill plays a decisive role because it is the skill to create an important source of knowledge in learning foreign languages Right from the elementary and middle school levels, students are familiar with easy-to-understand short lessons With high school vocabulary and reading difficulty level improved, reading skills are required more rigorously Furthermore, the 11th-grade readings are often longer and the words are new, making it difficult for students to learn and for teachers to prepare lessons before teaching If the teacher does not have good teaching methods, it will not convey the entire content of the lesson To meet the practical requirements, each teacher needs to find an optimal teaching method, suitable for each actual object of each student to achieve high results Therefore, improving teaching methods and content has always been given due attention by the education sector The education sector always encourages teachers to make new innovations in teaching methods and to have interesting innovative topics, practically apply immediately to teaching or to improve teaching aids, etc… Subject of the study - Subject of the study for students in grades 11B3 and 11B5 at Yen Dinh High School, research program is the reading comprehension topics in the 11th grade English program for years Method of the study - Observing the process of students practicing reading comprehension in-class time - Studying theory and experiment in the practical environment to build the topic Scope of the study - With the above urgent reasons in terms of theory and practice, I have focused on research and applied "The method of teaching an effective reading period for grade 11 students in Yen Dinh High School " Research period: School year 2019-2020 PART II CONTENT Theoretical background There are many definitions of reading Linguists give definitions of reading in many different ways They say that reading is the process of understanding, to grasp the content of the reading They also added that reading is a process to understand what a written text means to extract the necessary information from it, as efficiently as possible Smith (2013) defines that reading is considered a creative activity and constructive has four fundamental and distinct characteristics - it is purposeful, selective, predictive, and based on understanding and all issues for which the reader must clearly control the operation Reading covers a lot of things It is not as simple as knowing the meaning of individual words in a particular text In other words, reading can be defined as the logical process of interpretation in understanding a text that has four features; purpose, selection, prediction, and comprehension Mikulecky and Jeffries (1998) say that meaningful understanding of what someone reads and connects ideas in text with what they already know According to Smith, understanding can be considered relevant aspects of the world around us - including what we read - to the knowledge, intentions, and expectations we already have in mind The actual situation Although English has become an official subject in schools, it has not yet paid much attention to its benefits: partly due to the limitations of facilities and teaching equipment in high schools on the other hand due to the low quality of teaching, has not attracted the students' passion for learning This is shown more clearly in English reading lessons, students are always looking for ways to avoid having to read long texts with dense new words On the other hand, students are only interested in the meaning of the word without going deeply into the content of the text, especially the up and down stresses of the text As a result, they are unable to complete the reading questions The quality of teaching is therefore reduced, not meeting the requirements that I have set In this case, the teacher needs to teach the students skills in reading and analyzing information From there, students can apply the homework quickly In addition, the role of the teacher is very important in improving the quality of teaching Teaching methods must be renewed in accordance with each lesson, each student object In the English 11 program, reading skills are trained separately, the more innovative methods in teaching, the more new topics are mentioned, the number of vocabulary is also increased, the old method is no longer suitable Therefore, in this, teachers play a key role in teaching how to both meet practical requirements and improve the quality of their learning Realizing that the results and effectiveness of teaching English reading skills in elementary schools still have many obstacles, I boldly learn and apply "The method of teaching an effective reading period for grade 11 students in Yen Dinh High School " Solutions Activities to practice developing reading comprehension skills are usually conducted in steps as follows: Pre – reading activities While – reading activities Post – reading activities 3.1 Pre – reading activities Introducing the reading: It is a very important activity to provide students with information about the text A good introduction is usually short; excites and makes students want to read the text more; Help students relate the reading text to what they have learned Skills to help introduce a reading: The teacher begins the reading with an introduction to help the students realize what they are going to read, then the teacher lets the students guess the content and becomes more interested in the reading Activities I have applied during class time in Pre-reading: - Use visual aids: Teachers can use pictures to draw students' attention to the main topic of the reading and create a sense of excitement in the classroom Example with the reading Unit 6: Competitions Teachers can provide visual images of some major competitions so students can guess the name of the contest and ask some questions related to the topic of the reading Do you like taking part in competition like these? Why/ why not? Do you hope to win a competition? Is winning the most important thing in a competition? Through minutes of warm-up with visual aids and open-ended questions, students will surely have certain background knowledge about the reading topics: "Competition" Unit WORLD POPULATION take advantage of visual images in textbooks to provide understanding for students about the topic of reading The teacher asked the following questions to lead the students: Where can you find these scenes? What does each of the pictures tell you? Do you think that the larger in population a country is, the stronger it is? Why/Why not? Provide some new words/ structures (needed): For students with weak proficiency, especially those from Yen Dinh High School, it is necessary to explain new words to students before reading comprehension text That will make it easier for the students to approach the lesson It is not necessary to explain all the new words in the text Students can guess new words by continuing to read the text Some ways to explain new words:  By using visual images: students have memorized words through pictures, which helps to remember words more deeply  By using context, word description definitions in English, or synonyms Example explaining new words through images and definitions in unit 4: Volunteer work 3.2 While – reading activities The practice activities while reading are exercises that are performed while the students are reading the text, students can read over and over (read silently) to the exercises The form of practice in this step is to learn and exploit the content of the course and depending on the content of each lesson, there will be different types of questions and exploitation requirements Exercises and methods common at this stage usually take the following form: - Skimming: after getting familiar with the vocabulary, the teacher gives the whole class 3-5 questions, suggesting the main content of the story, allowing the class to read and answer the above questions to grasp the overall lesson read - Scanning (deep reading): after skimming, teachers let students read the text of the reading in detail Usually, the teacher will read and answer the questions given by the book For students to grasp the reading more deeply, teachers should spend time quietly (Silent Time) and let the class sit and read in concentration Instead of simply reading and completing the exam, allow your students to read and understand thoroughly at their own pace After reading, each of them will recap in 3-5 sentences what they find interesting from the text Note: When the whole class focuses on reading, the teacher needs to go to you, ask a little question to see if you understand, you need any help If you don't pay attention, the teacher sits next to you so that you have the motivation to focus Just by doing it regularly, our students will gradually form a serious and very beneficial reading habit in the future - The teacher also needs to ask students to carefully read the questions and underline key words The types of lessons are often applied in reading comprehension skills Basic question types in a comprehension exercise Question 1: Find the main idea of the reading lesson Question 2: Inference, finding the meaning Question 3: Determining the information stated in the article Question 4: Identifying information not stated in the article Question 5: Searching for synonyms or antonyms (Vocabulary) Question 6: Find a word or phrase that is mentioned or referred to Question 7: Determining where this information is covered in (Where questions) These questions are divided into the following types Type 1: Find the main idea of the text Main ideas questions What is the topic of the passage? What is the subject of the passage? Frequently asked What is the main idea of the passage? questions What is the author’s main point in the passage? With what is the author primary concerned? Which of the following would be the best title? What is the author’s main purpose in the passage? Usually at the beginning or end of each paragraph If Answers the main idea is not specific at the beginning or end of the paragraph, we will leave it to the last after having time to answer the detailed questions - Read the first lines of each paragraph - Find the most common idea in the first line and find the relationship between them - During the reading process, pay attention to keywords that are repeated over and over Methods - Usually, this last question after answering the detailed questions first to save time - Quickly scan the whole article to check if you have found the correct main content - Eliminate the options that are sure to be wrong, usually main idea (too general), (too specific) or (not mentioned) - Choose the best option among the remaining options Example: Unit 4: Volunteer work: Reading has this question: The best tide for the passage is ………… A Taking Care of Others B Voluntary Work in the United States C Volunteers: The Happiest People in the World D Helping Old and Sick People in the United States In the first and last paragraphs, it is clear that volunteering brings a lot of happiness So the title of the short paragraph will highlight the meaning and content of the volunteer work, so answer C is the correct answer Type 2: Inference, finding the meaning Frequently asked questions Answer Implied detail questions It is implied in the passage that … It can be inferred from the passage that It is most likely that… What probably happened….? The answer to this question is often based on their understanding of the text, but students can search according to the order of the text - Find keywords for each question - Skimming to see where the keyword and key idea lie in the paragraph (usually in the order in the article) Methods - Read carefully the sentences containing keywords and ideas - Find the right answer by the passage - Use the method of eliminating the worst-case scenario, then choose the best one from the rest of the options Type 3: Determining the information stated in the article (Stated detail questions) Frequently asked questions Answer Methods Stated detail questions According to the passage,… It is stated in the passage… The passage indicates that… Which of the following is true… The answer is in the reading - Underline the main and important words in the question - Use scanning skill to find suitable sections to read carefully to get information - Read carefully the questions containing the keywords and ideas in the question carefully - Eliminate the most likely wrong answers and choose the best answer among the remaining options Example: The population of the world has been increasing faster and faster In 10,000 B.C., there were probably only 10 million people In A.D 1, there were 300 million It took 1,750 years for the world population to reach 625 million In 1850, only one hundred years later, the population reached the figure of 1,300 million In 1950, the figure had more than doubled to reach 2,510 million In 1985, only 35 years later, there were 4,760 million people In 2000, the world's population was about 6.6 billion, and by 2015 it is expected to be over billion The question: What was the population of the world in 10,000 B.C., 1750, 1850, 1950, 1985, and 2000? Use the underlined details to answer the question Type 4: Identifying information not stated in the article (Unstated detail questions) Unstated detail questions Which of the following is not stated ? Frequently asked Which of the following is not mentioned ? questions Which of the following is not discussed…? All of the following are true except Which of the following are false…? Answer The answer will be information that does not appear in the article or the answer is incorrect compared to the article - Read carefully the question and available options, underline the keywords - Scan quickly to localize the appropriate information for the keywords - Read carefully the sentences Methods containing the ideas in the selection - Eliminate options that are mentioned or correct from the text - Choose the option that is not mentioned or does not correspond to the text Example: What is NOT true about the Women's World Cup? A The number of girls and women playing football has equaled that of men B Almost one billion people watched the 1999 Women's World Cup finals on TV C The first Women's World Cup tournament was held in China D The 2003 championship finals were hosted by the United States Answer C is incorrect due to carefully reading the information in the article as follows: “The most important championship in international football competition for women is the Women's World Cup Organised by FIFA - the sport's largest governing body - its first tournament was held in 1991, sixty-one years after the first one for men.” Type 5: Searching for synonyms or antonyms (Vocabulary) Vocabulary in context question What is the meaning of “X” in line “Y”? The word “X” in line “Y” could be replaced by … Frequently asked Which of the following word has the closest meaning with questions the word “X” in line “Y”? Which of the following has the opposite meaning with the word “X” in line “Y”? Answer Based on information around the given word to guess the meaning of the word - Find the word in the text - Read the sentence containing that word carefully Methods - Find clues in the context to help understand the meaning of the word - Choose the answer that the context shows Example: What could best replace the phrase growing in popularity? A not liked any more B liked by more people C increased in number D played by adult women “Although established not long ago, the Women's World Cup is growing in popularity Its first championship was hosted in China with 12 teams sent to represent their countries.” Type 6: Find a word or phrase that is mentioned or referred to Reference questions Frequently asked The word “X” in the passage refers to… questions Answer Usually, phrases in the sentences before or in the sentence that contains the referenced word - Read the question and available options - Swipe through the text to find the word referenced in the question Methods - Read carefully the sentence containing the referenced word and the sentence before it and look for the phrases listed in the answer selection - Eliminate the most likely false, choose the best one from the rest Example: The FIFA Women's World Cup 2007 was decided to be held in China Originally, China was to host the 2003 Women's World Cup, but due to the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in that country, the event was moved to the United States Having hosted the 1999 version of the World Cup, it was thought to be the only nation that could organise the tournament in such a short time The question: What does the event refer to? A China B the outbreak of SARS C the 2003 Women's World Cup D the 2007 Women's World Cup The information implied will be answer C Type 7: Determining where this information is covered in (Where questions) Question about where in the passage Frequently asked Where in the passage….? questions Answer The answer will be a few consecutive lines in the article containing the information in the question - Determine the keyword or main idea in the question - Quickly read the choices given - Browse through the whole article to determine the Methods location that contains the keyword information in the question - Select the answer which is the place that contains the information in the question Example: The words "capital" and "capitol" are confused in spelling and in meaning by a lot of people who try to use them Both their spellings and their meanings are quite closely related A "capital" is the location of the center of government, while a "capitol" is the actual building where the government officials meet Thus, in the United States, for example, the Capitol building is located in Washington, D.C., which is the capital city of the United States The question Where in the passage does the author define the word "capital"? A Lines B Lines 2-3 C Line 4-5 D Line To answer this question, students should read the question and underline the words “define” and “capital” right away so that they can determine the content they need to find Then you should quickly surf in the lesson were to say the definition of “capital” We immediately see "A" capital "is the location of the center of government " is located on lines and 3, so we choose the right answer is B 3.3 Post- reading activities Tell students to recall the sequence of the text: Maybe ask students to the homework For data scrambled and rearranged in order as reading content Summary of the reading: The teacher might ask some questions such as: Can you tell me about Hoa’s day? Let’s tell about Trung’s favourite book Organize discussion: Sometimes some of the readings are related to our everyday practice so it is important to have student discussion For example, after the reading, I will have students work in groups to relate themselves through writing and speaking skills Organize some games: help consolidate the content of the reading while increasing the fun atmosphere in the classroom For example, I have applied some games as follows - Word Jumble Race This is a game that helps students reinforce the memorization of the text The teacher will write or cut out many English sentences in the text and then shuffle the sentences At this point, the class will be divided into groups of - students The task of each group is to quickly put together a complete reading The winner will belong to the group with many correct sentences and the earliest completion time - Lucky number In this game, the teacher will draw on the board the numbers in the order of questions 1-6 Each question will correspond to a question of checking the reading and the teams in the class will take turns to choose their favorite number Among them, teachers will put 1- any lucky numbers to increase the animation of the game - Bingo Bingo is a game for effective reading comprehension skills The teacher let the students choose a list of words from the story, English reading text then write in grid, called a Bingo board The teacher will read out the names of the words at random and the child's task is to listen and match the words they just read into their Bingo board If you complete a straight line connecting the words before, say Bingo At the end of the game, whoever connects the most straight lines wins 4 Results Through the quality survey after applying this topic, I realized that students have made remarkable changes In general, students understand and grasp the lesson better Skill training is at a pretty good level Over time, applying the topic, specifically from the reading comprehension test (Appendix 1) period and the reading comprehension test period (Appendix 2) Results and evidence of the student's progress when applying the measure (Attached) Table Results of reading scores before impacting Grade 11B3 11B5 Number of pupils Ranked academic Excellent 6,7% 3,7% 41 38 Good 23,3% 11,1% Average 43,3% 55,6% Weak 20% 18,5% Poor 6,7% 11,1% Table Results of reading scores after impacting Grade 11B3 11B5 Number of pupils 41 38 Ranked academic Excellent 13,3% 11,1% Good 46,7% 37% Average 40% 51,9% Weak 0% 0% Chart 1: Before and after impacting – 11B3 Poor 0% 0% Chart 2: Before and after impacting – 11B5 PART III CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions The most basic evaluation conclusions about the initiative (significance and effectiveness of the applied measure) Novelty and applicability and deployment: Measures include methods that are easy to understand, many positive points, and easy to apply to many different educational institutions across the country in general and in high schools in the province in particular With its own realities in teaching and learning reading skills for students, the above applied method is meaningful as a guideline to help our teachers apply the teaching steps more smoothly and effectively With students, they have made remarkable progress after each lesson, the classes become more exciting with lots of pictures, the method is short, but it is like a sure framework for children to be more confident in their reading comprehension skills Moreover, teamwork skills are pushed up, the class team becomes more united and more creative Suggestions and recommendations Stemming from the theoretical basis, practice, teaching purposes as well as the successes and limitations in implementing the topic, to contribute to teaching English in general, the quality of Reading teaching activities, in particular, has been improved I have the following recommendations: 2.1 For the professional team - Teachers need to invest, analyze and explore each lesson to find out the beauty and freshness in teaching methods, helping students grasp the task of the activity right from the beginning - Teachers must master the tips and methods of teaching reading skill - Teachers must always create a foreign language environment during school hours and must use English as the primary language to communicate Depending on the grade and student population, the teacher can use short, simple, easy to understand, easy to remember, and receptive English sentences - Teachers need to choose, use and coordinate flexible methods and techniques in the course of teaching hours In addition to textbook exercises, teachers need to provide appropriate exercises with highly practical communication features 2.2 For school leaders As a foreign language environment, skills must be practiced according to the characteristics of teaching methods, therefore, it is necessary to have a department room to avoid making noise in the neighboring classrooms as well as not being affected by noise from outside (can be combined with other subject rooms) 2.3 For leaders of the Department - It is necessary to direct the core specialists and teachers of the subject to plan teacher training, create conditions for teachers to exchange and learn from experience through seminars - Introduce relevant documents for teachers to refer, learn and apply PART IV REFERENCES https://www.speechandlanguagekids.com/ https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/ English 11, textbook PART V APPENDIX 5.1 Appendix TEST: Read the following text and choose the best answers FAMILY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES Family life in the United States is changing Fifty or sixty years ago, the wife was called a “housewife” She cleaned, cooked, and cared for the children The husband earned the money for the family He was usually out working all day He came home tired in the evening, so he did not much housework And he did not see the children very much, except on weekends These days, however, more and more women work outside the home They cannot stay with the children all day They, too, come home tired in the evening They not want to spend the evening cooking dinner and cleaning up They not have time to clean the house and the laundry So who is going to the housework now? Who is going to take care of the children? Many families solve the problem of housework by sharing it In these families, the husband and wife agree to different jobs around the house, or they take turns doing each job For example, the husband always cooks dinner and the wife always does the laundry Or the wife cooks dinner on some nights and the husband cooks dinner on other nights Then there is the question of the children In the past, many families got help with child care from grandparents Now families usually not live near their relatives The grandparents are often too far away to help in a regular way More often, parents have to pay for child care help The help may be a babysitter or a day-care center The problem with this kind of help is the high cost It is possible only for couples with jobs that pay well Parents may get another kind of help from the companies they work for Many companies now let people with children work part-time That way, parents can spend more time with their children Some husbands may even stop working for a while to stay with the children For these men there is a new word: they are called “househusbands” In the USA more and more men are becoming househusbands every year These changes in the home mean changes in the family Fathers can learn to understand their children better, and the children can get to know their fathers better Husbands and wives may also find changes in their marriage They, too, may have a better understanding of each other Question Sixty years ago, most women A went out to work B had no children C did not much housework D were housewives Question Nowadays, there are A more women going out to work than before B more and more women staying with the children all day C more work outside the home than before D more housewives than before Question The word “laundry” in paragraph is closest in meaning to A tidying up B cooking and washing up C washing and ironing D shopping Question It can be inferred from paragraph that A couples with low-paid jobs can’t afford the cost of a babysitter or a day-care center B grandparents can help care the children in a regular way C all couples with jobs can pay for help from a babysitter or a day-care center D in the past, grandparents did not help the couples with child care Question The word “they” in paragraph refers to _ A husbands who stop working to stay with the children B fathers who spend more time with their children C parents who work part-time D children who spend more time with fathers than mothers Question The changes in the American home mentioned in this passage may A help families B not happen C cause problems for a marriage D not change the children at all Question This article is about A American men as househusbands B housewives in America C how more American women are working D how family life in America is changing 5.2 Appendix TEST: Read the following text and choose the best answers Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy He was the illegitimate son of Ser Piero, a Florentine notary and landlord, but lived on the estate and was treated as an illegitimate son In 1483, Leonardo da Vinci drew the first model of helicopter It did not look very much like our modern day “copter,” but the idea of what it could was about the same Leonardo was an artist and sculptor He was very interested in motion and movement and tried to show it in his art In order to show movement, he found it helpful to study the way things moved One subject he liked to study was birds and how they flew He spent many hours watching the birds and examining the structure of their wings He noticed how they cupped air with their wings and how the feathers helped hold the air Through these studies, Leonardo began to understand how birds were able to fly Like many other men, Leonardo began to dream of the day when people would be able to fly He designed a machine that used all the things he had learned about flight, and thus became the first model of a helicopter Poor Leonardo had only one problem, however He had no way to give the necessary speed to his invention You see, motors had not yet been invented and speed was an important part of the flying process It would be another four hundred years before the engine was invented and another fifty years before it was put to the test in an airplane Leonardo’s dream of a helicopter finally came to pass in 1936 the Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist, Leonardo died on May 2, 1519, and was buried in the cloister of San Fiorentino in Amboise Question What is the author’s main point? A The invention of the helicopter B Birds cup air with their wings and use feathers to help hold the air C An overview of one of Leonardo da Vinci’s many skills D Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 and died in 1519 Question The word problem in paragraph five could best be replace by the word: A dilemma B mistake C danger D pain Question The word it in paragraph two refers to: A Leonardo da Vinci B The first model helicopter C 1483 D motion and movement Question Which paragraph explains why Leonardo’s helicopter was not successful in his lifetime: A paragraph B paragraph C paragraph D paragraph Question The word “illegitimate” in paragraph one is closet in meaning to: A against the law or illegal B not in correct usage C incorrectly deduced; illogical D born out of wedlock Question The following sentence would best complete which paragraph? “Since then people have been living out Leonardo’s dream of flying.” A paragraph B paragraph C paragraph D paragraph Question What was the main problem with Leonardo’s invention? A motors were not yet invented B the birds lost their feathers C he was illegitimate D he couldn’t draw XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Thanh Hóa, ngày 18 tháng năm 2021 Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác Dương Thi Linh ... given due attention by the education sector The education sector always encourages teachers to make new innovations in teaching methods and to have interesting innovative topics, practically apply... definitions of reading in many different ways They say that reading is the process of understanding, to grasp the content of the reading They also added that reading is a process to understand what a written... relate the reading text to what they have learned Skills to help introduce a reading: The teacher begins the reading with an introduction to help the students realize what they are going to read,