This document provides strategies for helping English language learners with reading skills before, during, and after reading. It discusses using graphic organizers to help learners understand and organize information from texts. Various types of graphic organizers are described that can help with skills like sequencing, classifying, comparing, explaining concepts, and prioritizing information from readings. The document also suggests strategies like collaborative reading, building vocabulary skills, and having learners demonstrate comprehension through activities other than just answering questions.

1. 12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School
1

2. D. Nicoline Manja
12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 2

3. 12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 3

4. 12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 4

5. Pre-Reading
What can be
done
BEFORE
reading the
text?
Reading
What can be
done
DURING
reading the
text?
Post-Reading
What can be
done
AFTER
reading the
text?
12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 5

6. PRE-READING STRATEGIES
For individual, group, and whole-class instruction
12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 6

7. 12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
7

8. 12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
8

9. 12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
9

10. 12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 10

11. READING STRATEGIES
For individual, group, and whole-class instruction
12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 11

12. 12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
12

13. 12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
13
Understand
How a Text
is
Structured
• Cut up a text for learners to
sequence correctly.
• Blank out words (e.g.
nouns, verbs, every tenth
word, etc.) for learners to
decide what to put in.
• Ask learners to think of a
sub-heading for each
paragraph to show they
have understood its
meaning.
• Write labels or annotations
for a diagram.
• Change the text into a
picture or flow chart.

14. Choosing
&
Analyzing
Text
• Highlight key words
in a text.
• Recast information
using graphic
organisers.
• Transform text into
other formats, e.g.
letter, instructions,
diary, article, advert,
web page,
storyboard.
12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
14

15. 12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
15
Using
Modified
Texts
• Gap-filling - missing
words, phrases or
sentences
• Sequencing – words,
sentences or short
paragraphs
• Grouping segments of text
according to categories
• Completing a table, grid,
flow chart etc.
• Labelling a diagram
• Predicting – writing the
next step or an end to the
text

16. 12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
16
Using
Unmodified
Texts
• Underline or highlight
particular sections of
text (descriptive
language, nouns,
connectives, topic
sentences etc.)
• Break the text into
chunks and devise a
heading for each
chunk
• Use the information in
the text to draw a
table, diagram, flow
chart etc.
• Devise questions
about the texts – pairs
can devise questions
for each other

17. • Reading involves both
decoding and reading for
meaning.
• Younger EAL learners will
have opportunities to learn to
decode along with their
monolingual peers, but older
learners may need help with
decoding, and their teachers
may not have experience in
helping them with this.
12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
17

18. 12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
18
• Reading as a collaborative
activity is very beneficial to
EAL learners.
• This can be done in a
number of ways:
• Read aloud to learners.
• Read in pairs in class
• Paired reading with an older
learner
• Read aloud in small groups
• Read in small groups while
listening to an audiobook

19. • For reading at word level, use
flashcards and vocabulary
reference sheets with visual
support.
• For reading at phrase / sentence
level:
• read flashcards of whole sentences
• cut up flashcards of whole
sentences and ask learners
working in pairs, in groups or as a
class to reassemble them
• working in pairs or groups, put
sentence flashcards in order to
build up a paragraph
12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
19

20. • Talk about what is being read. Pinpoint specific
elements in the text through discussion. EAL
learners need practice in reading between and
behind the lines: they need to see that text
may imply more than it actually says.
• Prepare for reading: check text in advance, to
work out which vocabulary items and
structures may be challenging, not only for
EAL learners but for others. Consider pre-
teaching these.
• Be aware of familiar vocabulary used in ways
which may obscure meaning. What’s a ‘piggy
bank’? What happened when the King ‘gave
someone his daughter’s hand in marriage’?
12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
20
• For reading at paragraph or longer
text level:
• Try ‘reading in turns: learners take
turns to read up to a full stop,
• Give learners a clear idea of what to
expect from the text, and give them
plenty of time to engage with it.
Consider providing a brief summary,
in pictures or in straightforward
English.

21. 12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 21

22. POST-READING STRATEGIES
For individual, group, and whole-class instruction
12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 22

23.  It is often more effective to ask
EAL learners to demonstrate their
understanding in other ways, for
example:
– Ask learners to say whether discrete
sentences (taken from the text, or
paraphrases) are true or false
– Give learners a number of false
sentences, and ask them to reword
the sentences to make them true
– Give learners a copy of the text
which has been edited to contain
errors. Ask the learners to identify
the errors and correct them.
Answering questions is the
traditional way of checking
comprehension.
However some learners
become skilled in answering
the question without fully
understanding the text.
12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
23

24. Graphic organisers are great for EAL learners
because they provide them with an
opportunity to access curriculum content and
they support the development of academic
language.
Graphic organisers provide a way learners can
organise their thinking, before going on to
express their thoughts in English.
12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
24

25. • Types of graphic organisers
• table, chart, grid, matrix
• Ishikawa diagram (fishbone),
Venn diagram
• bar chart, pie chart, pictogram
• pyramid, ladder
• cycle, flow chart, timeline
• concept map, KWL, web
Graphic organisers enable
learners to acquire
vocabulary in context, so
they are excellent for
enabling teachers to keep
the cognitive challenge of a
task high while keeping the
language accessible.
12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
25

26. ■ Graphic organisers are useful for EAL learners to
be able to access information and then focus on
transferring it into speech or writing.
■ Also they can be used the other way round, with
learners being asked to read a text and create a
graphic organiser using the information in it.
■ It is important to think about the language
function you would like the learner to practice
and then decide which kind of graphic organizer
is the most appropriate.
12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
26

27. • Sequencing: to provide scaffolding for
learners to retell stories, recount events
or describe processes, flow charts,
timelines, cycles and action strips are
useful
• Classifying: to enable learners to
discuss the characteristics or properties
of objects / substances / animals etc.,
useful graphic organisers include tables
and matrices
• Comparing and contrasting: useful
graphic organisers include Venn
diagrams, fact files and grids
• Explaining cause and effect: to
help learners explain and answer
‘Why?’ questions useful graphic
organisers include Ishikawa
diagrams and tables
• Prioritising: to provide scaffolding
for a discussion activity where
learners are asked to rank
different ideas in priority order
useful graphic organisers would
be pyramids, ladders or diamond
shapes
12/12/2015
NorthAmerican International
School
27

28. 12/12/2015 NorthAmerican International School 28