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Age range: 12-adult
Theme: Reading habits
Lexical area: Books and reading
Instructions for language assistants in italics
Classroom materials
Introduction
This lesson is based around the topic of reading. Whether your students love it or hate it, the topic of reading will usually get them talking and expressing their opinions one way or the other. With any luck you’ll have some keen readers in your class who will enjoy the opportunity to talk about their favourite books and you never know, they may even encourage the non-readers to pick up a book. Task 1 is a simple vocabulary brainstorm, Task 2 is a mini questionnaire about reading for students to do in pairs. Task 3 is a reading race and Task 4 is a reading activity for higher levels. Task 5 is a set of discussion statements all about reading and Task 6 is a creative group task where students design a library of the future.
If you want to take the topic of reading a step or two further and study some short stories or poems with your students there are some really excellent materials available on the British Council’s BritLit site, which is currently sharing the home of the Teaching English website. You’ll find a wealth of fantastic materials all ready to print off and use. The link is:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/download/britlit/britlit.shtml
If you like you could tie this lesson into World Book Day which is celebrated in early March each year. Your country may also have other local events to encourage reading amongst young people, so keep your eyes open for local events or festivals connected to books and reading and you could use this lesson at an appropriate time.
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1. Book vocab
Draw a book on the board. Invite students to offer words they think of when they look at the book. Try to elicit the vocabulary you’ll need for the following activities such as the different genres of science fiction, adventure, detective, biographies, romantic novels, magazines, author, library etc.
Task 1 Book vocab
Listen to your teacher and make a note of any new vocabulary.
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2. Bookworm questionnaire
Start by asking your students to guess the meaning of the word ‘bookworm’ and ask if they have a similar word in their language. Then give students a copy each of the questionnaire and put them in to pairs. If necessary, go through the questions together to check understanding and pronunciation. Then the pairs can do the questionnaires on one another. When they finish they should complete the sentence at the bottom. For example, “I think my partner isn’t a bookworm because….he doesn’t like reading and has only read one comic in the last six months!”
Task 2 Bookworm questionnaire
Bookworm Questionnaire |
- Are you reading a book at the moment?
- What type of books do you like to read? (adventure, science fiction, detective, romantic etc.)
- Do you have any favourite magazines or comics?
- How long do you spend reading every day?
- Where’s your favourite place to read?
- Do you have a favourite author?
- What is your very favourite book?
- Would you like to be a writer?
- How many books have you read in the past six months? (more or less!)
- Are you a member of a library?
Now complete the sentence:
I think my partner is / isn’t a bookworm because…. |
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3. Reading race
Choose a paragraph of text that is suitable for the level you’re teaching. It could be from their course book, but preferably take it from a real book or newspaper article. If your students are lower level take a paragraph from a graded reader that is appropriate for the age and level of your students, so they won’t find it too difficult. Make enough photocopies of the text so each pair of students will have one each and stick the texts up around the classroom walls. Put students into pairs and decide who is going to be the ‘reader’ and who is going to be the ‘writer’ (Students can change roles half way through.) Writers will need paper and a pen. When you are ready shout ‘go’ for the ‘readers’ – they should walk to the text, read the first line or two, remember it, go back to their partner and dictate it to their partner who should write it down. Depending on the length of the text the ‘readers’ will have to make several or many visits to the text.
If you prefer, each pair could have a different section of the same text which, when put together at the end the whole group can make into a whole text. Use the texts that students reproduce as an introduction to a book you like or a short story. For younger learners there are lots of stories available on the British Council’s LearnEnglish Kids website. Here’s the link. For teens you could use a text from the BRITLIT materials. Here are the links:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories.htm
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/download/britlit/britlit.shtml
Task 3 Reading race
You are going to do a reading race. Listen carefully to your teacher for instructions. Good luck!
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4. Chick Lit and Lad lit!
This is a reading task for higher levels, about the trend in the UK of ‘chick lit’ and ‘lad lit’ novels. Give students time to read the text and work through the vocabulary. Then look at the questions that follow as a starting point for class discussion.
Task 4 Chick Lit and Lad lit!
Read the text. What do you understand by these words and expressions? Write a definition by the words. Try to guess the meanings from the context first, then ask your teacher or use a dictionary to check.
1)Paper back –
2)‘Chick lit’ –
3)Plot –
4)Trials and tribulations –
5)‘Lad lit’ –
6)Shelf life -
Chick lit and Lad lit! |
Top selling books
Go into any UK bookshop and one of the first things you’ll see is piles of brightly coloured paper back books that are aiming to attract a young female readership. Many of these fall under the heading of ‘chick lit’ – the fastest growing literary trend of the last decade.
So-called because ‘chicks’ is another name for young, usually unmarried, women, this genre of literature is popular among young women as it touches on situations they will recognise from their own lives, and is also fairly easy to read and usually ends happily. Common plots
Chick lit books usually share elements of the same plot – a young single woman, often working in a fairly glamorous industry such as advertising, publishing or television, will be looking for love whilst living in a UK city. The book will follow her trials and tribulations with boyfriends and at work, before ending with her happily settling with the man of her dreams and often getting success at work too. This feel-good ‘romantic comedy’ type of plot has usually worked well for novelists over the years. Lad-lit
As the chick-lit genre of books sold so well, similar books aimed at young men soon followed and the ‘lad lit’ genre was born. At the top end of the ‘lad lit’ market are authors such as Nick Hornby (Author of High Fidelity) and Tony Parsons (author of About a Boy). As with chick lit, lad lit bases its plots around the love and work issues common to young men – the plot of High fidelity, for example, centres around the owner of a failing record shop whose girlfriend has just left him. Shelf life?
Chick and lad lit could be said to have been the defining literary genres of the 1990s. Now in the 21st century they still seem to be popular – the books are selling well and several have been made into films – but many in the publishing industry are watching to see if their shelf life will continue. Written by the British Council Trend UK team. |
- Are the ‘chick lit’ and ‘lad lit’ style of books popular in your country too?
- Have you ever read any ‘chick lit’ or ‘lad lit’ style books?
- Why do you think these genres are so popular?
- Do you think these type of books are easy to write?
- Would you like to be an author? Why/ why not?
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5. Reading – discussion statements
Copy one set of discussion statements for the class and cut them up into strips. If you have a very large class you may need two or three sets. Put students into groups of three or four. Give each group just one discussion statement. Tell the groups they have two minutes to discuss the statement. If necessary spend time beforehand revising language to agree or disagree and write it on the board. At two minute intervals get the groups to pass their statement to the next group so every two minutes the statements rotate and each group gets a new one.
As students discuss the statements, go around the class and monitor, feeding in new language where necessary and correcting mistakes when appropriate. If you don’t want to correct on the spot, make a note of the most common mistakes you hear and deal with them later in a correct slot. For more about error correction during free speaking practice check out this tip from the website:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistant-tips-error-correction.htm
Task 5 Reading – discussion statements
Discussion statements |
Reading is a waste of time. |
Reading opens hundreds of doors. |
Reading is relaxing. |
Libraries aren’t designed for young people. |
In the future, printed books won’t exist. |
Learning to read is one of life’s most important skills. |
You can’t judge a book by its cover. |
If a book is made into a film, it’s important to read the book before watching the film. |
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6. Libraries of the future
Ask students about the libraries they know, whether their school library or local libraries in your town/ city. What do students think of them? Do they ever go to the library? Why / why not? You could go through some of the questions in task 6 together as a whole group, or put students into small groups to discuss the questions together. When they have finished the groups should begin to design the library. Each group will need a large piece of paper. They can design the layout of the library and explain what happens in each area. Encourage students to use their imaginations and really think about what type of library they’d like to see in the future.
Task 6 Libraries of the future
- When was the last time you went to a library?
- Does your school have a good library?
- Does your neighbourhood have a good library?
- What can you do in a library apart from borrow books?
- Should libraries have computers, music collections, DVDs, magazines, televisions, study space?
- What other elements are important in a good library? Lighting? Comfortable chairs, a bar or café?
- Is a library a good place to have special events like ‘meet the author’, reading groups, art exhibitions etc.?
- Can you imagine what libraries of the future are going to be like?
Work in groups and design a library of the future. Use the questions above to help you think of some ideas for your new library.
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Internet links
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/download/britlit/britlit.shtml - BRIT LIT - some excellent materials for using literature in class.
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/campaign/index.html - The National Literacy Trust site.
http://www.cool-reads.co.uk/ - Cool Reads. This site recommends teens to books for their age groups.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4548226.stm - an article from the BBC about teenagers lacking reading stamina!
http://www.onestopenglish.com/ – Some good ideas on how to get teenagers reading in the classroom.
http://www.encompassculture.com/ - linked to the British Council. This site is a ‘worldwide reading group’.
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/talk/ - Teaching English website. One teacher asks how to make reading comprehensions interesting for teenagers. This link will show you suggestions from teachers all around the world.
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