Transcript MiXeD aBiLiTy in LARGE CLASSES

Learning to read =
reading to learn
How teaching reading
strategies work in large mixed
ability classes
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Your trainers
(Rebecca) Chen Zehang
Wendy Arnold
• MA in English Teaching (PRCBNU)
• PhD in e-learning & teacher
education (UK-Nottingham)
• lecturer in BNU & special lecturer
in University of Nottingham
• teacher trainer, material writer,
researcher
• MA in Teaching English to Young
Learners (TEYL – York)
• PCEd (HK)
• Freelance teacher, trainer, writer,
researcher
• IATEFL’s YLT SIG committee
• Specialist in reading for young
learner literacy
• 15 years experience teaching
Chinese young learners
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Overview
 Identifying reading strategies
Understanding why the right
reading level is important
Applying reading strategies
Developing learner materials to
use as reading resources
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Reading strategies
• THINK-PAIR-SHARE-SMALL GROUP
What do you know?
How do learners learn to read?
In Chinese? In English?
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Work with a partner. Take it in turns to
read Part A) and then Part B)
Part A)
• Your enquiry about the use of the entrance
area at the library for the purpose of
displaying posters and leaflets about Welfare
and Supplementary Benefit rights, gives rise to
the question of the provenance and
authoritativeness of the material to be
displayed.
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Part B)
• Posters and leaflets issued by the Central
Office of Information, the Department of
Health and Social Security and other
authoritative bodies are usually displayed in
libraries, but items of a disputatious or
polemic kind, whilst not necessarily excluded,
are considered individually.
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Think-pair-share
What do you think
this text means?
Simplify it.
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Plain English!
Thank you for your letter asking for
permission to put up posters in
the library. Before we can give
you an answer we will need to
see a copy of the posters to make
sure they won't offend anyone.
http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/
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Reflection
• Do you understand what you were reading?
• When you are reading this text, what reading
strategy are you using?
• Do you find this text interesting?
• It is likely this text will be ‘low interest’ and
‘high ability’!
• Success in learning to read necessitates ‘high
interest’ and ‘low/right’ ability texts.
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What is reading?
‘Reading is much more than the decoding of black
marks upon a page; it is a quest for meaning and
one which requires the reader to be an active
participant’ (Cox 1991)
The reader needs to:
1) Crack the code or decipher the print (decode)
2) Reading is about making sense which ‘powers
learners learning’ (making meaning)
3) Reading brings together text to be decoded and
understood and a reader has to engage actively
with both these processes (Kelly 2008)
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SUMMARY
The purpose of reading is
to make sense.
If you can’t do this, then
you are not reading
material at the right level!
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Identifying reading strategies
• Semantics（语义学） – making meaning from
text eg.
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
Once upon a time there was a fungo
who lived in a huy singo.
The huy singo was built high up in
some grantins.
READ the text. What is this about?
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Identifying reading strategies
• Semantics – making meaning from text and
visuals
The fungo’s huy singo
was very deep.
It had to climb up the high grantins
quickly so that the tinnies did not
eat it!
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Semantics
REFLECTION
How can you use this
activity with your
learners?
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Identifying reading strategies
• Syntactic（句法） – grammar
Once upon a time there was a
white fungo.
It could run fast.
THINK-PAIR-SHARE Learning point?
Adjective + noun
Verb + adverb
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THINK-PAIR-SHARE
Common errors – WHY are your learners doing
this?
Bear Father
He running fast.
I very much like chocolate.
Syntactics
REFLECTION
How can you use this
activity with your
learners?
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Identifying reading strategies
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
You have used two processes which are
necessary for reading.
1) DECODING = saying words
2) making meaning
Can you have decoding without making
meaning?CAUTION: reading out words DOES
NOT MEAN UNDERSTANDING THEM 
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Identifying reading strategies
• Graphophonic（字形与字音） =
linking letter and sound
Understanding that not every
word in English can be
‘sounded out’ but it is a good
place to start!
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Identifying decoding strategies
• Graphophonic can be divided into 3 sections
1)Synthetic phonics（综合式字母拼读） = each
letter has a sound
2)Analytic phonics （分析式字母拼读）= seeing
patterns in words
3) Whole words = high frequency words which
need to be memorised
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SYNTHETIC PHONICS
Aa
Jj
Bb
Kk
Cc
Dd
Ee
Ff
Gg
ce
ge
ci
gi
ch
gh
Ll
Mm
Nn
Oo
Pp
Hh
Ii
Qu/qu
Rr
rh
ph
Ss
Tt
sh
th
Uu
Vv
Ww
Xx
Yy
Zz
wh
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Blending sounds for reading
di
plo
do
cus
di plo do cus
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Blending
REFLECTION
How can you use this
activity with your
learners?
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Segmenting （断开） sounds for
writing
stegosaurus
How many syllables can you hear?
Clap them!
Where do the syllables fall?
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Segmenting
REFLECTION
How can you use this activity
with your learners?
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Alliteration （头韵）
Alliteration is when you make a list of words with the
same initial sound e.g. /g/ it DOES NOT need to
make sense
green grass glass gun gap goes galloping
THINK-GROUP
Think of a sound which your learners have problems
with and brainstorm as many words as you can with
this initial sound. Practice saying it!
SHARE – GROUP
Say your alliteration words to another group.
Listen to their alliteration words!
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Alliteration
Tongue twister alliteration – practising the sound /p/.
Say the tongue twister!
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
pepper
Where’s the peck of pickled pepper, Peter
Piper picked?
THINK-PAIR
Make your own tongue twister alliteration! Choose one
sound and see how many words you know with that
sound – it does NOT have to make sense
SHARE it with another PAIR
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Alliteration
REFLECTION
How can you use this
activity with your
learners?
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Analytic phonics
WORD FAMILIES OR RHYMING WORDS(change the vowel)
THINK-PAIR
Read out the words in the –at family. Now make up new words in the other
families – they DON’T have to make sense!
- at
bat
cat
dat
fat
gat
hat
jat
kat
lat
mat
nat
pat
rat
-et
-it
-ot
-ut
Reflection
How could
you use
this with
your
learners?
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Analytic phonics
Making rhymes
THINK-PAIR
If you are teaching learners to rhyme how could you
start to help them to complete this rhyme? How could
you help them understand the semantics (meaning)?
There once was a very old cat
Who liked to sit on a ................
He didn’t like fish
From a dirty ...........
But loved to drink milk
When sitting on ............
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VIDEO CLIP
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Rhymes
REFLECTION
How can you use this
activity with your
learners?
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Understanding the high frequency
words that need to be learnt
the
that
not
look
put
and
with
them
don’t
could
a
all
were
come
house
to
we
go
will
old
said
can
little
Into
too
in
are
as
back
by
he
up
no
from
day
I
had
mum
children
made
of
my
one
him
time
it
her
then
Mr.
I’m
High frequency words contd/…
was
what
do
get
if
you
there
me
just
help
they
out
down
now
Mrs.
on
this
dad
came
called
she
have
big
oh
here
is
went
when
about
off
for
be
It’s
got
asked
at
like
see
their
saw
his
some
looked
people
make
but
so
very
your
an
Masterson, J Stuart, M Dixon M Lovejoy S (2003) Children’s Printed Word
Database: Economic & Social Research Council funded project R00023406 Primary National Strategy UK
Whole words – high frequency
THINK-PAIR
Which words might cause a
problem?
Why?
What could you do to help
learners remember them?
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High frequency words – learning
them
GROUPING
by type and
initial sound
The
Then
Them
These
They
That
Than
This
Those
What
When
Where
Which
Whose
Why
By rhyme
By size
See
Me
Be
An
At
As
On
To
Go
By
By type =
pronoun
He
She
I
We
You
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Learning vocabulary
REFLECTION
How can you use this
activity activity with your
learners?
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Consider – THINK-PAIR-SHARE
read
hear
say
write
You need to .... a word before you
can .... it
You need to .... a word before you
can .... it
You need to .... a word before you
can .... it (Linse 2005)
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Developing learner materials to use as
reading resources
You need to .... a word before you
can read it
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
What learner materials can you
use to promote reading?
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Developing learner materials to use as
reading resources
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
What other materials do you see
everyday which could be used to
promote language?
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REFLECTION
How can you use this
activity with your
learners?
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Developing learner materials to use as
reading resources
You need to .... a word before you
can write it
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
What learner materials can you
use to promote reading and
writing?
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REFLECTION
How can you use this
activity with your
learners?
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Developing learner materials to use as
reading resources
THEORY:
If a learner can write language
then they can read it. By reading
the text they have written they are
making meaning and developing
their language ability.
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Conclusion
Learners need EXPLICIT instruction on:
1)Graphophonics or sounds so they can
BLEND sounds and read or DECODE words
2)Semantics so they can MAKE MEANING
or MAKE SENSE of words
3)Syntactics so they can be accurate in
speaking and writing
BUT
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Conclusion
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
They need to HEAR words before they can
.... them
They need to SAY words before they can ....
them
They need to READ words before they can
... them
A mixed ability class is an advantage
because ...
A large class is an advantage because ....
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Thank you
Wendy Arnold and Rebecca Chen
Invitation to all to join IATEFL YLT SIG discussion
group – Just send an empty message to:
[email protected]
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References
Linse, C (2005) Young Learners. New York:McGraw Hill
Masterson, J Stuart, M Dixon M Lovejoy S (2003) Children’s Printed Word
Database: Economic & Social Research Council funded project R00023406 Primary National Strategy UK
USEFUL WEBSITES
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/teaching-kids
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids.htm
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