Transcript Books! Books! Books! - Prince of Songkla University

Books! Books! Books!
Using reading materials in the EFL classroom
Presented by:
Aj. Jennifer Lund
E-mail address: [email protected]
Cell phone: 096-087-1444 (until July 7)
English Language Fellow
American Corner-Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat
24 June 2008
Presentation Focus
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Extensive and Intensive reading
Suggestions for using graded readers
and storybooks
Creating and maintaining a library of
English reading materials
Resources for further information
What is extensive reading?
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Reading for general overall meaning
Reading for information and enjoyment
Reading easy material (less than 3
unknown words per page)
Reading is individual and silent
Learners are not given comprehension
questions about their reading
Dictionary use is discouraged
What is intensive reading?
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Teaching and learning specific reading
skills such as skimming, scanning, prereading, post-reading, guessing the
main idea, looking for rhetorical
patterns, vocabulary study, etc…
Benefits of extensive
reading in a second language
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Reading fluency is gained, a skill that may be
retained and used longer than speaking,
listening or writing skills
L2 Vocabulary increases
Writing in the L2 improves
Cultural awareness increases
Intrinsic motivation to study the L2 because
students can choose the material
Activity: I think/I don’t think
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Reading English is difficult.
I should usually look up new words in the
dictionary.
Reading out loud is a good idea.
It is easier to read about sports than science.
If I read fast, it’s hard to understand meaning.
Reading English is boring.
Choosing a graded reader
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Graded readers are “graded”, meaning that
they are written at different levels of
vocabulary knowledge (number of
headwords). Ex. Easystarts (200 words)
You need to consider level, genre, and variety
of English.
There is also a summary (blurb) outlining the
setting, characters, and storyline of the book.
Penguin Readers give all of this information
on the back cover of each book.
Introducing reading material
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Students may scan for information about
the readers in small groups.
Teacher can pass out different books to
groups of students and then give clues
about a mystery book. Students have to
guess if the mystery book is theirs.
Match blurbs with titles.
Introduce the title, author, genre of the
book, then play 5 minutes of a CD recording
of the book. Sts. can guess about the story.
Interactive Storybook Reading
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Teacher reads a story and students are each
assigned a word or character from the story.
When the students hear their word or
character, they have to give some kind of
signal.
To continue, students can act out their own
version of the story or create a new ending.
Instant Book Report
Write this on the board:
I read a book called______.
It’s a(n)________story. (genre)
It’s about_________.
The main characters are_________
In the story, there was a problem.____
I liked/didn’t like this book because_____.
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Instant Book Report continued
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Give students 2-3 minutes to think first
before speaking.
Students work in pairs and tell their
reports to their partner.
Students can change partners if they
finish early.
Partners can be required to ask at least
two questions about the story.
Suggestions for creating and maintaining
an “English Corner” at your school
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Add a bookshelf to an already existing library
Ask one teacher or librarian to be in charge of
the book collection
Create a system so that many teachers and
students can have access to the books
Start a Book Club (all members read the
same or different books and discuss together)
Do a “Reading Marathon” in your school or
class (students earn km. for reading a certain
number of words)
Building your library:
Travel grants to Bangkok available
Books for Thailand Foundation (Donated books)
Siam Commercial Bank, Saphakachat Thai
Branch, 2nd Floor
1873 Henry Dunant Road, Pathumwan
Bangkok 10330
Tel: 02-652-3301
Fax: 02-652-3302
Email:[email protected]
Contact Person: Khun (Ms.) Amorn Saiyoi
Office Hours: Mondays-Fridays, 08:00-16:30
Further resources
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Bamford, J. & Day, Richard R. (2004). Extensive
Reading Activities for Teaching Language.
Cambridge University Press.
Day, Richard R. (ed.). New Ways in Teaching
Reading. Alexandria, VA:TESOL.
www.student-weekly.com
www.extensivereading.net
www.erfoundation.org
www.squidoo.com/extensivereading
www.ipl.org (Internet Public Library)
Recommended reading
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Habibi (a novel) / by Naomi Shihab Nye
The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the
Middle East / by Naomi Shihab Nye
Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs: A Treasury of
Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents /
collected & adapted by Sarah Conover and
Freda Crane
The Best Eid Ever / by Asma Mobin-Uddin
Some Final Thoughts
“He who reads widely has a gifted pen.”
~ Unknown ~
“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents (or teachers).”
~ Emilie Buchwald ~
“Reading makes immigrants of us all.
It takes us away from home, but more important,
it finds homes for us everywhere.”
~ Hazel Rochman ~