We did reading activities in all classes today, and I tried a different strategy with each level.

Teacher Draw and Student Retell

This was not much different from what I’ve done before.  I sometimes have students draw details of a story and then use them to retell the story.  Today, I did the drawing.  Here are the steps from today.

1.  Students read individually and focus on comprehension.  They are permitted to ask questions.

2. Students read sections aloud while the teacher draws details on the board.  The teacher can also ask questions and circle at this point.

3.  Papers are collected and students retell story to partners based on drawings on the board.

-The small adjustment of me drawing allowed me to control the pace and do a lot of questioning as we went through the reading.  This worked today because the story had a lot of clear action/movement and not much dialogue.

Students share from multiple stories

As I was planning, I was debating between a couple different stories and which to use.  Then, I had an idea.  Why not use both?  It turned into a type of information gap activity and worked VERY well.  I printed out two stories and comprehension questions for each.  However the questions for story A were on the printout of story B and the questions for B were on A.

1.   Students read individually and focus on comprehension.  They are permitted to ask questions.

2. Pairs are formed – one student with reading A and one student with reading B.

3. Students are instructed not to speak English or show the paper to their partner.  (I use a “no-English” light and subtract participation points for any English used.)

4. Student A asks the questions from his paper, which pertain to story B.  Student B answers.  Then they switch roles.

5. At the end, each student must summarize his/her story to his/her partner in 5 sentences.

6. As a class, the teacher asks questions of either story to any student.

El museo de arte 

This was done with the second version of an embedded reading but could be used with any reading.  I printed out the text and numbered certain paragraphs.

1. Teacher reads aloud to class.

2. Single students translate for the class.

3. In pairs, students are assigned a paragraph from the story and must draw every detail as big and clear as possible.

4. Teacher hangs the drawings in order around the room.

5.  In pairs, students walk from drawing to drawing and talk about what they see in the drawing.  No English is permitted.

6. For the next day, drawings are scanned and projected and can be discussed, placed in order . . . etc.

-This could be adapted for any type of image that could hang around the room.  Students could walk around and discuss images they’ve not seen before.