1. Secondary Form5
1
Reading – some dos and don’ts
DOs DON’Ts
A.
Planning
DO decide beforehand what is
important for pupils to do with the
reading, and set SMART learning
objectives: “By the end of this
lesson, you will be able to...“
DO share the learning objective(s)
for the lesson with pupils and
ensure the objective(s) link to the
Learning Standard being addressed
or the Reading skills and strategies
being developed.
DO use pupil-friendly language
when sharing these.
DON’T prepare your lesson only in
terms of a page number or
exercise: “We’re going to do
Exercise 3 on page 97.”
DON’T forget to make pupils aware
of the learning objective(s) for the
lesson.
Pre-lesson
activity
DO carry out a short warm-up task
linked to the topic of the text, to
focus pupils on the input. For
example, you could use a visual
(photo, video clip, cartoon or
diagram) to introduce the topic, or
invite pupils to think about what
they already know about the topic.
DON’T launch into a new topic
‘cold’ or without any introduction.
Pupils need to re-focus, settle and
tune in to the English lesson.
B.
Using
general
ideas: the
first
contact
with the
text
DO provide a task or one or two
general questions for pupils to
answer when they read for the very
first time. In this way, you guide
them to understand the main idea
or meaning of the text and give a
reason for processing the input.
Discuss their answers before you
continue.
If you want pupils to read aloud to
practise pronunciation, DO this at a
later stage. Only ask pupils to read
already familiar material aloud. Ask
them to read aloud simultaneously
in pairs and tell them you are
practising pronunciation. Help
pupils individually with
pronunciation or as a class if you
notice common problems.
DON’T get pupils to read new
material aloud one by one. This will
not help either their Speaking or
their Reading development much.
Reading familiar texts aloud can
occasionally be useful for
pronunciation practice but – if done
with unknown texts – actually slows
down the reading speed, hinders
understanding and often
demotivates. Reading silently with a
supporting task is more effective for
taking in new information.
DON’T supply a list of ‘difficult’
words with a translation in the
pupils’ first language. This
encourages pupils to stop every
time they meet a word that is
unfamiliar. This is a poor reading
2. DO encourage pupils to ignore
words they do not know the first
time they read a text, so that they
can try to understand the main
points without getting stuck on
individual words.
strategy and gets in the way of
global understanding.
Similarly, DON’T over-teach
vocabulary before reading.
DON’T give out the texts in
advance of the tasks – you may
then struggle to get attention back.
C.
Using
details:
further
contact
with input
DO provide a specific task for
pupils to answer while they read for
a second time. Discuss their
answers to this task. If they haven’t
understood the input, ask if it is
necessary to read again. Provide
fresh tasks each time they read.
DO encourage pupils to create their
own questions around the text,
either by hypothesising before they
are exposed to the text (e.g.
predicting), or to check
understanding.
DO encourage pupils to guess the
meaning of words from context, so
that they learn that they can
succeed in comprehending input
without understanding or stopping
at every word.
DON’T forget to set a clear task
before pupils read: ‘Read and tell
me what it is about’ is not a task.
DON’T encourage pupils to stop at
every unknown word and don’t do
that yourself, either.
DON’T distract pupils by moving
around the room or speaking during
the Reading stages.
DON’T give answers to hypotheses
yourself, before pupils have had
time to think about their own
explanations.
D.
Applying
information
and
concluding
(post-
lesson
activity)
DO use the topic or the language in
the text as a stimulus for further
activities. Help pupils at this stage
to produce their own spoken or
written language. Draw attention to
specific aspects of language or the
characteristics of texts.
DO work to help pupils understand
and recycle vocabulary. Ensure that
pupils know both the meanings of
words and their usage. Create new,
active tasks to help pupils recall
and process ideas and vocabulary.
DON’T go immediately to whole
class checks – leave time for peer
feedback (in groups or with talk
partner).
DON’T expect pupils to be able to
reproduce vocabulary as soon as
they meet it; they need to come
across vocabulary in several
different contexts before they can
use it.
DON’T give a list of English words
with their first language
translations, either at the start of
the lesson or at the end, since this
won’t help vocabulary learning very
much.
