tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-338834914703775055.post9152791777315593291..comments2024-02-01T11:43:09.830+03:00Comments on Reflections of a Teacher and Learner: Just Read!DaveDodgsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896292275243412346noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-338834914703775055.post-61455155895934811732012-05-06T21:22:51.838+03:002012-05-06T21:22:51.838+03:00Hi Michelle,
Thanks for sharing how you do things...Hi Michelle,<br /><br />Thanks for sharing how you do things! We have tried to have a class library in my school before but the school is so large that there are not enough books to go round...<br /><br />I also like getting the students to do projects based on the stories from the small (character profiles, plot summaries) to the large (video projects, what happened next stories, etc). Anything that makles them really delve into the book for ideas!DaveDodgsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16896292275243412346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-338834914703775055.post-89507807187440870052012-05-04T00:23:18.433+03:002012-05-04T00:23:18.433+03:00Hi Dave,
While my young learners (11 to 13 year ol...Hi Dave,<br />While my young learners (11 to 13 year olds) don't have to read a class book as part of the syllabus I do have a small class library with a selection of graded readers. We use these at various times during the year, students select a book they would like to read and then read it over a number of classes. All the books have CDs, however, we never use them. <br />For me, giving our young learners the opportunity to read silently in class is very important. It allows them become absorbed in the story and then experience this without any distractions. As you mentioned, this idea is very often alien to most, probably as much in their L1 as in English. Some of the books which I have for the students are in comic form and I have found that for those who really don't like reading this is a great way to get them into it! <br />As for the huge amount of supplementary materials that come with each book, there are a lot of questions at the end of each book and certainly there is even more material available on the publishers website. Honestly, I don't think we really need all this! As the students in my classes are reading different books when they've finished I go and speak to each one individually, while the others continue reading. They tell me about the story they've read and what they liked and disliked about it, and this is a great chance to talk to students on a one-to-one basis. Then we decide on a follow-up activity, this could be to find some new vocabulary in the book and add it to their notebook, or to describe their favourite character, etc. I find that here is no need to use the materials provided with the book, the students generally come up with a suitable activity to support the reading they have just done.<br />Developing the reading habit is difficult at first, students squirm in their seats, asking do they really have to read the book and some ask to change their book various times, but I find that a silence slowly descends on the class, as each child begins to get caught up in the story. Students begin to ask when they can read the next part of their book and once they've finished a book they've enjoyed eagerly recommend it to their classmates. <br /><br />Michelle@wellmichellenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-338834914703775055.post-70663345900498994622012-05-03T23:10:14.630+03:002012-05-03T23:10:14.630+03:00Hi Louise,
Thanks as ever for an insightful comme...Hi Louise,<br /><br />Thanks as ever for an insightful comment and a different perspective. :)<br /><br />Of course, being read to is an important part of early childhood literacy. I have witnessed this with my own son who started to figure out some words in the stories I read to him at 2 and can now read extended chunks of text despite no formal schooling in reading in either language he knows.<br /><br />However, much like training wheels on a bike, they have to start doing it on their own eventually. Many of my students (aged 11), revert to early childhood mode when the CD is on and don't even look at the book. As I said in the post, a stated aim of the skills programme I work on is to improve reading skills and fluency. All their other teachers have done/will do the 'read and listen' approach so I'm trying to foster some different habits. :)<br /><br />Thanks for the links!DaveDodgsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16896292275243412346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-338834914703775055.post-88868701820169170192012-05-02T13:52:30.665+03:002012-05-02T13:52:30.665+03:00I'm a huge fan of audio books (except for the ...I'm a huge fan of audio books (except for the time when I listened to "Love Story" on a drive north and arrived with panda eyes!) - many (most?) of us were read to as children and learnt to listen for the general story line and not focus on specific words by simply listening to our parents' fluent reading. Audio books also help with pronunciation, intonation and rhythm (especially important if you have a syllable-timed language and are learning a stress-timed language) and, I believe, can help a reader become more fluent in reading by not allowing them to stop and focus on what they don't know. That said, I also think it's important to allow children to read on their own at their own speed...as with everything, "too" (often/much) in front of anything is a bad thing! Variety is the spice of life, they say.<br />Incidentally - here's a link to a project carried out in Dutch primary schools on reading and audio books (scroll down to film clip "lezen met cd"). As you'll see: the audio books were nonetheless read individually, not classically!<br />http://tule.slo.nl/Engels/F-L13-Gr78-Doorkijkje.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com