Creator Jessica Inthavong

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Lesson Plan for IELTS Reading

Lesson Name: Article Reading Practice

Class/Level: IELTS Test Preparation Course, Level 2 (Intermediate),
Tuesday/Thursday 7:00 9:00 P.M.

Materials: Match Headings with the Title worksheet, Hiker who cut off arm: My future
son saved me article, Vocabulary Words worksheet, Reading Comprehension
Questions worksheet, Fill-in-the-blanks worksheet, Trapped climber cuts off
arm with penknife newspaper article with missing headings (NOTE: Can
view items in References and Appendix)

Textbook: None

Goals/SWBATs (Students Will Be Able To):
SWBAT- preview articles and make predictions.
SWBAT- practice their reading skills.
SWBAT- make inferences about unknown vocabulary words.
SWBAT- summarize what they have read in a newspaper article.
SWBAT- find specific information.
SWBAT- answer questions about an article.
SWBAT- recognize if statements are true or false based on information
provided in an article.
SWBAT- identify, match and write headings for paragraphs in articles.
SWBAT- use headings to make predictions of what the proceeding paragraph(s)
will be about.
SWBAT- complete sentences and a summary by using words and information
from an article.


Questions and Answers: (Listed throughout the lesson plan)

Rationale for lesson: This lesson plan is useful in preparing students for the reading
section of the IELTS examination. It utilizes authentic texts just like the IELTS and the
chosen articles have a variance of English (one of the articles is American English and
the homework one is British English). Also, it allows students to practice deciphering
vocabulary words, labeling paragraph headings, and utilizing important reading strategies
such as previewing, predicting, skimming and identifying the main idea. In addition, the
questions on the worksheets are similar to the ones found on the IELTS examination.





Creator Jessica Inthavong

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Lesson Procedure:
1. Pre-Reading
a. Review headings- Teacher (T) asks students (Ss) what is a title, heading
and main idea, which they learned about in the prior lesson. (Title- The
name of a book, newspaper article or written work. Heading- A line of text
above a paragraph or paragraphs indicating what the paragraph(s) is/are
about. Main Idea- What the sentences are about/the authors most
important point about the topic.) T asks Ss to explain how to find the main
idea of a paragraph. (Identify the topic and then discover what the author
wants the reader to know about the topic.)
b. T hands out the Match Headings with the Title worksheet and goes over
the directions. Whole class- Ss read the headings aloud and try to figure
out what title would best correspond to the related paragraph headings. Ss
have 7 titles to choose from (1 is excluded since its the answer to the
example question). Ss complete the worksheet and then the T goes over
the answers.
c. T writes Hiker who cut off arm: My future son saved me on the board
and tells the Ss that its the name of the article that theyll be reading.
Making Predictions: T asks Ss what they think the article will be about. T
writes the Ss answers on the board as a list underneath the article title.
(T activates Ss prior schemata by asking them what they know about this
topic or if they have any hiking experience.)
d. T asks Ss, What are some words you might expect to see in the article?
T writes Ss answers on the board.
e. T hands out the Hiker who cut off arm: My future son saved me article
and has Ss find the headings and circle or highlight them. T calls on an
individual student (S) to read the first heading aloud (Agonizing choice).
T asks the class, What might this section be about? and waits for Ss to
give their answers. T calls on a different S to read the next heading aloud
(Life of adventure). T asks the class, What will the Life of adventure
section be about? T calls on another S to read the last heading aloud
(Wholl play him?). T asks the class what this section will be about.
f. T teaches Ss about skimming and scanning and writes the definitions on
the board (skimming- reading quickly for the main idea, scanning- reading
quickly to find specific information). T gives further explanation and asks
Ss questions to ensure that they understand what skimming and scanning
is. T has Ss skim the two beginning paragraphs to see if they can
understand and explain what the first 2 paragraphs are about and to see if
the Ss prior guesses about what the article would be about are correct. T
asks Ss what the first and second paragraph are about. T points to the list
on the board under Hiker who cut off arm: My future son saved me and
asks if any of their guesses are true so far. If any of them are correct, the T
circles them. T tells Ss that they are going to put their Hiker who cut off
arm: My future son saved me article aside for a while and read it later. T
explains how they will now focus on finding the meaning of some of the
vocabulary words from the article. The words may be familiar to some of
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the Ss or unknown. Ss will uncover word meanings by using context clues
and in turn, knowledge of these words will aid in reading comprehension.
g. Unknown Vocabulary Words Exploration- T tells the class that before
they start reading the Hiker who cut off arm: My future son saved me
article, they are going to look at some vocabulary words that might be
unfamiliar to them and try to identify the meaning of the words. T hands
out the Vocabulary Word worksheet and goes over the directions,
reminding them to use context clues and not their dictionaries to find the
meaning. T says each vocabulary word and has the Ss repeat after her so
that she can check for proper pronunciation. T divides Ss into pair groups.
i. Ss work in pair groups to complete the worksheet. (While Ss are
working, T circulates around the classroom to assist if necessary.)
ii. T goes over the worksheet with the whole class. T calls on
individual Ss to answer. T answers any questions, if needed.
iii. T shows pictures of [some of the] vocabulary words for better
understanding.
h. T hands out the Reading Comprehension Questions worksheet and goes
over the questions. Ss underline key words that will help them to know
what they are looking for in the article.

2. Reading
a. Popcorn Class Reading- The class takes their article, Hiker who cut off
arm: My future son saved me, out again and reads it as a group taking
turns reading one paragraph each. The T calls on one S to begin reading.
When he/she finishes reading a paragraph, he/she stops and Ss paraphrase
what the paragraph was about [so T can check for understanding]. Then
the S who has just read chooses a new student to read the next paragraph.
When he/she finishes reading a paragraph, he/she stops and Ss paraphrase
what the paragraph was about. Popcorn reading continues until the article
has been fully read without any S reading two times (unless the class size
is small and requires double reading). Before reading begins, T reminds Ss
to underline key details and make notes in the margin, if desired, while
reading. T also reminds them not to focus on translating every word; read
for the gist.

3. Post-Reading
a. Reading Comprehension- T tells Ss to take out the Reading
Comprehension Questions worksheet. Whole Class: The class works
together on the first 2 questions. T sees if Ss are having any difficulty and
if they have any questions. Individual Work: Ss work independently on the
rest of the worksheet. When Ss have finished, the class goes over the
answers.
b. T hands out the Fill-in-the-blanks worksheet. T explains the directions and
reminds Ss to pay attention to grammar when filling in the blanks and to
scan the article when looking for answers. The class does an example
together. T assigns pair groups. Ss work in pairs to complete the
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worksheet. T circulates around the classroom to ensure that Ss are staying
on task, practicing their English, correctly completing the assignment and
to offer help, if needed. When everyone has finished the worksheet, T
goes over the answers with the Ss.

4. Conclusion- Discussion of what was learned for the day and review of what
strategies should be used when tackling new texts. T explains the homework
assignment.

5. Evaluation- Assessment has occurred inconspicuously throughout the lesson plan.
For instance, reading comprehension activities such as paraphrasing during
popcorn reading and the Reading Comprehension Questions and Fill-in-the-
blanks worksheets have allowed the T to assess the Ss comprehension of the
article. By the students completion of the homework assignment, which must be
completed individually, the T can see if he/she was able to complete the
assignment independently and utilize the knowledge gained from todays lesson.



Homework Assignment: Trapped climber cuts off arm with penknife article that
involves the same topic as the first article. However, this article is missing the headings.
Ss complete the worksheet by reading the article and writing a headline in each of the
three blanks.


Follow-up activities/lessons: Read Reading Passage 3 on page 143 in Barrons IELTS
and do questions 27-30 (p. 143) and questions 31-40 (p. 145). In the future, practice
speed-reading and scanning for specific words/details.

















References of Articles Used
Creator Jessica Inthavong

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Inbar, M. (2009, December 8). Hiker who cut off arm: My future son saved me. The
Today Show website. Retrieved from http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34325633/
ns/today-today_people/#


Wapshott, N. (2005, June 18). Trapped climber cuts off arm with penknife. The Times.
Retrieved from http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/
books/books_group/article534005.ece

[NOTE: Blank lines have been inserted into the article
for where Ss will write headings]