Topic: Developing Reading Skills

General

objectives:
Students will be able to give a lesson in
developing reading skills.
Students will be able to integrate reading
with listening, speaking, and writing.

Lesson One
Giving a Lesson in Developing Reading Skills

Pre-task activities
Step One: elicit Kinds of real-life reading
Step Two: elicit characteristics of Real-life listening
Step Three: discuss the factors affecting reading.
Step Four: identifying different types of listening texts.
Step Five: suggested activities in developing reading skills.
Step Six: tips in design a reading task
While-task activities
Step Seven: trainee giving lessons in developing reading skills.
Post-task activities
Step Eight: students evaluate the lessons.

Developing Reading Skills

What

do we read?
Why do we read?
How do effective readers read?
Ways of reading
Skills of reading
How to design reading tasks?
Reading activities
Procedures of teaching reading

What do we read?
Calendars, addresses, phone books, name cards, bank
statements, credit cards, maps, anecdotes,weather forecast,
pamphlets ,
product labels, washing instructions, short stories, novels,
plays, poems, handbooks,
Clothes size labels, childrens scribbling, informal letters,
business letters, rules and regulations, electronic mails, fax
messages,
Junk mail, postcards, greeting cards, comic books,
Newspapers, diplomas, application forms, store catalogues,
magazines, radio/ TV guides,

 Advertisements

posters, travel guides,

cookbooks, repair manuals, memos, time
schedules street signs syllabi, journal
articles, song lyrics, film subtitles,
diagrams,
Flowcharts, name tags

Why do we read?
Reading

for pleasure
Reading for information

How do effective readers read?

They have a clear purpose in reading;

They read silently;
They read phrase by phrase, rather than word by word;
They concentrate on the important bits, skim the rest, and skip
the insignificant parts;
They use different speeds and strategies for different reading
tasks;
They perceive the information in the target language rather
than mentally translate;
They guess the meaning of new words from the context, or
ignore them;
They have and use background information to help understand
the text.

Ways of reading
Skimming
Scanning
Extensive

reading
Intensive reading

Reading skills

Recognizing the script of a language

Deducing the meaning and use of unfamiliar lexical items
Understanding explicitly stated information
Understanding information when mot explicitly stated
Understanding conceptual meaning
Understanding the communicative value of sentences and
utterances
Understanding relations within the sentence
Understanding relations between the parts of a text through
lexical cohesion devices
Understanding cohesion between parts of a text through
grammatical cohesion devices

Interpreting text by going outside it

Recognizing indicators in discourse
Identifying the main point or important information in a
piece of discourse
Distinguishing the main idea from supporting details
Extracting salient points to summarize(the text, an idea etc.)
Selective extraction of relevant points from a text
Basic reference skills
Skimming
Scanning to locate specifically required information
Transcoding information to diagrammatic display

How to design tasks?

Accessible to students
Pre-set purpose
Top-down and bottom-up
At discourse level
Authentic texts
Linking different skills
Flexible an varied
Developing reading skills rather than testing
Using strategies
Interesting
Tangible result
Immediate feedback

Reading comprehension
exercise-types
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Reading techniques
How the aim is conveyed
Understanding meaning
Assessing the text

I.

Reading techniques

1.Sensitizing
2.

Improving reading speed

3. From skimming to scanning

1. Sensitizing
1.1.

Inference: Deducing the meaning and use

of unfamiliar lexical items through contextual
clues

Deducing the meaning and use of

unfamiliar lexical items through understanding
word formation

1.2.Understanding relations within the

sentence

1.1. Inference: Deducing the meaning and use of

unfamiliar lexical items through contextual clues

Exercise1
a) In paragraph 3, find two nouns meaning more or less the same
as
killings' :
b) In paragraphs 2 and 3, find the equivalents of the following
words:
changing: .
Take place
Declare.
c) In paragraph 3
- -find an adjective which means the opposite of `for short
periods`
-- find a noun which means the opposite of `free and footloose
young
people' (para. 4).

 Exercise

2
In the text Programming People, one of the
recurring ideas is the loss of ones independence
and personality. Read the text again to find all the
words related to that idea and fill in the following
table.

nouns
adjectives
dependence
e.g. slaves
independence

verbs

 Exercise
Read

the following paragraph and try to

guess the meaning of the word zip.

Deducing the meaning and use of unfamiliar

lexical items through understanding word formation
Exercise

4
a)
Two words with the suffix -ible appear in
the text. What are they?
What effect does the suffix have on the meaning of
the word?
B) Underline the suffixes in the following words
-hypnotist
-predictable
-beautiful
-apparently
-observation

1.2.Understanding relations
within the sentence
Exercise

1
Read the following sentences and underline the subject
and the main verb of each of them..

Exercise

2
In the following text, a number of link-words have
been italicized. Replace them by other link-words, or
rewrite the sentences, making sure the meaning
remains the same

 Exercise

3
Look at the text and classify the italicized linkwords according to their function:
Cause:
Consequence
Time sequence:.
Concession ;
Opposition:

 Exercise

4
Read the following text and select the mos6
appropriate link-words from the list given
below.
a) because
b) although
c) for example
d) since

2. Improving reading speed

Exercise

1
a)Underline the word which is the same as
the first one given.

told bold
told
hold
bolt

 a)

Find the word which means the same

thing as the first word mentioned.
grab
hold

snatch

leave

give

3. From skimming to scanning

3.1

Predicting
3.2 Previewing
3.3 Anticipation
3.4 Skimming
3.5 Scanning

3.1 Predicting
Exercise

After reading each of the sentences in column 1, link at

column2 and choose the sentence which you think isl most
likely to follow. Go on in the same way until you reach the end
of the text.
Ss 1
Ss 2 a).
b)
c).
d)
ss 3
Ss4 a).
b)
c).
d)

ss5

Ss5 a )

3.2 Previewing
Exercise

1
You have been given a page from a book to read.
It is entitled The New Famines, What do you
think the passage is about?
Think of at least three possibilities.
The title of the book is The End of Affluence and
here is the beginning of the table of contents. Does
this lead you to reconsider your former opinion
and make a more accurate guess at the contents of
the passage?

3.3 Anticipation
Exercise

1
Before studying a text about robots:
1 What is a robot?
2 Is there any difference between a robot
and an automaton?
3 What can robots be used for?
4 Do you think they can ever completely
replace human beings for some jobs?
Which ones?

3.4 Skimming
Exercise

1
Here is the beginning of a short story by
Roald Dahl. Skim through it and underline
the sentence or the words that best sym up
the main idea of each paragraph.

Exercise 2
Read the following articles as quickly as you can and decide which
title is best suited to each of them.

A lucky meeting
..
Violence in Detroit
..
A clever policeman
..
A good detective
.

3.5 Scanning

Exercise 1
Youre thinking of buying a cottage in the Cotswolds
This is what you want:
-three bedrooms or more
-an old house you could modernize yourself
in a small village
- price unde$40000
Look at the following page and circle the
advertisement corresponding to what you are looking for
- Try to do this as quickly as you can

II.

How the aim is conveyed

1. Aim

and function of the text

2.Organization of the text: different
thematic patterns

1.

Aim and function of the text

1.1 Function of the text

Exercise1

Match the following passages and their function:

Persuasion
Warning
Giving information
Giving direction
Invitation
Request

1.2 Functions within the text

Exercise1
Read the following dialogue and match what the characters say and
the functions listed underneath.
A B
C .D
E ..F ..
G H
I
J
1
Demand for evidence
1
Agreement
2
Farewell
3
Asking for information
4
Greeting
5
Evidence(explanation)
6
Giving information

2.Organization of the text: different thematic patterns

2.1 Main idea and supporting details

Read the opening paragraphs of the suggested texts and

decide which category they fall into

summary of the
main point

question to
hold the
readers
attention

example

2.2 Chronological sequence

Exercise

1
After reading the text complete the
sentences with one of the following words ;
before, after, when, since, while, during, as
soon as

 2.3

Descriptions

Exercise 1
Read the following passages and decide which type of organization they
represent

2.3 Descriptions Exercise 1

Read the following passages and decide
which type of organization they represent

Down

up

outside

inside

detail

general
impression

Up

down

general
inside
outside

impression

detail

2.4 Analogy and contrast

Exercise 1
Can you draw a tree diagram to represent
the different types of vehicles? Think of as
many branches as you can besides the ones
mentioned in the text.

2.5 Classification Exercise 1

Read the text which describes eighteenth-century houses in
London. Then complete the diagram below showing the different
types of housing.

18th century London house

along streets

III.
1.
2.

Understanding meaning

Non-linguistic response to the text

Linguistic response to the text

1.
1.1

Non-linguistic response to the text

Ordering a sequence of pictures

1.2 Comparing texts and pictures
1.3 Matching

1.1 Ordering a sequence of pictures

Exercise

1
Here are the photos that Pat sent to Tom.
Can you put them back in the order in
which they were taken?

1.2 Comparing texts and pictures

Exercise

1
Now that you have read the short story, look
at the following drawing. Are there any
common points between the two?
In what way does the cartoon differ from
the story?

1.3 Matching
Exercise

1
Read the letter and choose the family tree
that corresponds to Gwendas family

Exercise

2
Match the following comments with the
photographs of the people who made them.

1.4 Mapping it out

Exercise 1
Read the following passage and indicate on the diagram;
a)All that Iverson can see in Groots
room
b) Groots movements(use arrows)

Iversons room

door

Groots room

1.5Jigsaw reading
Exercise1
Work

in groups of two, each group having only

one of the passages that follow.
In your group, follow these steps:
- read the passage carefully
- sum up what it is about for the other groups
- try to guess how it is situated kin the whole text
- discuss all this with the other groups until you
can reconstitute the whole story, from beginning to
end.

2.Linguistic response to the text

2.1 Reorganizing the information: Reordering events

Exercise 1

Can you put these events back in their

chronological order?
a)
b)..
c)
d)
e)....
g)

2.2 Reorganizing the information: Using tables

Exercise 1
Read this article from Times and complete the table that follows

When?

who?

Where?

What?

Why?

2.2 Comparing several texts

Exercise 1
The three texts that follow all relate to the same incident. Read them
carefully and fill in the comparison table

Features

Text No. 1

Text No. 2

Text No.3

2.3 Study skills: Summarizing

Exercise 1

Read the following article and the summaries written by

four students.
Then decide which of the summaries is the best.

..
..
..
..
.

..

..

..
.
.

Study skills: Note-taking

Exercise

1
Read the article and the notes taken by three
students below. Which of these notes is the
best, according to you?

IV. Assessing the text

1.Fact

versus opinion
2. Writers intention

1.Fact versus opinion

Exercise 1
Read the following statements and decide whether they are
facts or opinions.
1
2.
.
3.
4.
5.

2. Writers intention

Exercise 1
1 Recognizing type of texts
After reading this passage, can you tell whether it is
A letter to the editor
A passage from a novel
A passage from a science-fiction story
A passage from a textbook on sociology
A satire on modern society
A passage from a horror story

2. The authors intention

What is the authors intention in this passage?
To amuse the reader
To predic5 what the future will be like
To shock the reader
To reassure the reader about the future
To criticize society
To teach us something about life in the future

3
The authors attitude
In this passage you can feel that the authors attitude
towards the human beings he describes is one of
Indifference
Sympathy
Pity
Admiration
Anxiety
Detachment hiding concern
Criticism

Tone
Write a,b, or c in front of the following
sentences according to what you think the
tone of the sentence is
Matter of fact
Humorous
Ironic

Procedures of teaching reading

Pre-reading

activities
While-reading activities
Post-reading activities