2. The stages of a reading
lesson for primary learners:
1. Warm-up
2. Lead-in
3. Pre-listening
4. While listening (1)
5. While listening (2)
6. Post-reading
3. WARM-UP
A warm-up is a quick activity used at the beginning of the
lesson to get learners settled and in the mood for the lesson.
This usually a game or fun activity.
Careful:
A warm-up should not take longer than 5 minutes.
4. LEAD-IN
A lead-in is another quick activity used to set the context of
the lesson. This stage usually consists in:
● discussion questions;
● exploring pictures;
● using music clips or video snippets;
● working with realia;
● a quiz;
● an anecdote;
● etc.
Careful:
A lead-in should not take longer than 5 minutes.
A lead-in should not focus on language, but in the topic of
the lesson.
5. PRE-LISTENING
This is an activity that prepares students to listen to the passage more
confidently. This stage helps students deal with vocabulary they may
not know or think about the topic before they listen to it. Here, for
instance, we can:
● pre-teach vocabulary students might have difficulty with while-listening;
● explore the pictures and have students predict information they will find in the text.
Careful:
The pre-listening should not take longer than 10 minutes.
6. WHILE LISTENING (1)
This is the first time students will listen to the passage in
fact.
The while listening (1) activity needs to be very simple and
focus on the general idea of the passage.
The task needs to help students understand the passage.
There may be one or a sequence of tasks in this stage.
7. WHILE LISTENING (2)
The second time students listen to the passage, they can find
specific or detailed information. These tasks need to help
them understand the content of the passage.
This stage is used done with older learners.
8. POST-LISTENING
In this stage, learners need to react to the content of the passage. They
can:
● say what they think about the ideas they have read;
● use the ideas from the text to practice speaking or writing;
● play a game.
Careful:
The focus of this stage is on the students' reactions to the topic of the
text, not on language.
