Page 18 - ELG2205 May Issue 480

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TRENDING IN READING

om graded r
eaders
Getting the most fr
Getting the most from graded readers
Sue Leather explains the four essentials needed to set up your

extensive reading programme

o one disputes the benefits of a) How much do you expect to enjoy this
extensive reading (ER) for English reader?
students. There is a substantial body b) How much new vocabulary would you PHOTO BY PIXABAY
Nof evidence supporting using graded like to learn?
readers as an effective way for students to be c) What do you expect to learn about the
exposed to comprehensible input, through which world, or about a specific place or person?
they can acquire vocabulary and fluent reading d) Are you expecting any difficulties in
skills, as well as grammar and oral fluency. reading it?
We know from the research that ER at the e) How do you expect to feel about your
student’s language level is not a replacement English when you’ve finished it?
for narrow reading of authentic material, f) Write down your three reading goals.
but an addition to it: one teaches top-down
reading strategies, the other adds in bottom- (See section D for a follow-up to this activity.) 1. Ask students to take out the handout
up decoding and you need both to read in L2. they filled in before: What do I think I’ll
The accumulation of evidence amounts to B. Generate initial reading motivation; Don’t learn? (see section A).
what Waring has called ‘the inescapable case give too much away! 2. Individually, students check their notes
for extensive reading´ (2009:93). The fact is, Key idea: Students motivate other students to and write about what they learned in
though, that ER is still noticeably missing from read. (Each student has read a different book.) the handout below. Encourage them to
many English language classrooms. 1. Before students discuss the books they’ve compare their before and after ideas.
So, what can teachers do to incorporate just read, ask them to write some notes 3. Put students into groups of three to share
ER into teaching programmes? In our book, about the following: their findings.
Extensive Reading: The Role of Motivation, • Genre. 4. Take selective feedback and discuss. Did
Jez Uden and I propose that motivation is • Brief description of the main characters. they achieve their goals?
the missing link between the research and • Where the story is set.
teachers. We suggest a motivational reading • How the story begins. Handout:
cycle based on beliefs, values and goals, and • An interesting/exciting scene in the a) How much did you enjoy this reader?
consisting of four phases, necessary to make book (not the final scene!). b) How much new vocabulary did you
ER successful in your classroom: • A personal connection you had with learn?
A. Create the right reading environment. the story. c) What did you learn about the world, or
B. Generate initial reading motivation. • Any deeper meaningful issues that the about a specific place or person?
C. Maintain and protect reading motivation. book deals with. d) Did you experience any difficulties in
D. Encourage positive retrospective evaluation. 2. Put the students into pairs or small reading it?
groups and ask them to discuss their e) How do you feel about your English now
There are almost 60 activities in our book, books with each other. you’ve finished it?
but here are four, one from each of these 3. Take feedback on which books students
categories, that you might try out. would like to read next. The case for ER really is inescapable.
Let’s really make full use of its power in our
A. Create the right reading environment: C. Maintain and protect reading motivation: classrooms!
What do I think I’ll learn? The six-book challenge
Key idea: Get students interested in what Key idea: Challenge students to read. Include REFERENCES
they’re going to read. competition. n Leather, S, Uden, J (2021), Extensive Reading:
1. Review types of reading goals, eg, being 1. Present the class with a selection of The role of motivation. Routledge
able to read quickly, understand well, books, ensuring they are easy enough for n Waring, R (2009) in A Cirocki (Ed.), Extensive
enjoyment, etc. all students to read. Reading in English Language Teaching, .93.
2. Ask students to look at the front cover, 2. Ask the class to look through the
title and blurb of their new graded reader. selection and decide on six books they Sue Leather is a writer and
Individually, they complete the handout want to include in the reading challenge. educator based in Vancouver.
below. Elicit examples first. Monitor and 3. Put the students into small teams. She is an expert on extensive
assist as necessary. 4. Once the students have begun reading reading, having written over
3. Put students into groups of three to share their individual books, they should 30 original graded readers
what they’ve written. discuss what they have read within their
4. Take feedback from the groups and teams each week in class. Teachers should for a number of publishers.
discuss. monitor the discussions to ensure the She won the Learner Literature Award twice,
5. Finish by telling students to keep their students are actually reading the books. for Dead Cold (Cambridge University Press)
worksheet and their goals safe. When 5. The winning team is the first group and Ask a Friend (StandFor Readers) and
they’ve finished their book, they will review whose members have all read each of the was nominated a further two times, for The
it and check how they did compared to six books. Big Picture (Cambridge University Press)
their predictions and their goals. and The Way Home (Cambridge University
D. Encourage positive retrospective evaluation: Press). Extensive Reading: The Role of
Handout: What I learned Motivation came out in 2021. You can find
Look at your new graded reader and complete Key idea: Students reflect on what they’ve all her books on her Amazon Author Page.
this handout. learned by reading. Contact her at sue@sueleatherassociates.com
18 May 2022