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Annie Hughes talking about Teaching Reading in English to
Young Learners (videoscript)
"In this lesson, we shall look first at what is going on in our young
language learners' minds when they are reading. Then, we will
think about the characteristics of reading texts and how to help our
learners read them. We will look at what kind of reading our
students need to do in their everyday life (from reading signs and
advertisements to reading storybooks) and we will consider ways
to encourage meaningful reading in our language classroom. We
will also consider the skills our young language learners need to
read in English and how we can support the development of these
skills, especially for our very young language learners. Finally, we
will look at a wide range of reading activities for the able reader."

What is Happening in Our Young Language Learners' Minds When They are Reading?
Reading, like listening, is a receptive skill that can be introduced into the language classroom
step by step and in different ways, depending on the age and level of the language learners.
We need to create meaningful reading activities for our learners. Though this takes thought and
preparation, we know that children learn best when they are interested in what they are doing. If
we create tasks that have no purpose and are not linked to the sort of reading tasks the learners
carry out naturally, then very little language will be acquired, revised and consolidated. We have
to make sure that the reading activities we plan are natural, relevant and interesting so that
learning will take place.
Let's think about what is going on in the learner's head when he or she is reading. Look at
Figure 6.1 below.

Figure 6.1 Processes involved in reading as a young language learner

Helping our learners to read

When planning reading tasks for the language class, it is valuable to think about what kind of
reading our young learners actually do in their everyday lives (in their first language) and see if
we can design similar tasks for the language class. Keep in mind that our young learners carry
out a lot of reading each day by reading things like words on doors (Push/Pull) or notices on
walls, or signs on buildings. Look at Figure 6.2 for a list of everyday reading materials for our
young learners. (Perhaps you could add to this list.)

Figure 6.2 Types of reading materials our students will likely encounter each day

By looking at this list, we can recognize that the opportunities for reading are everywhere, not
just in textbooks or on worksheets. We need to ask ourselves if we are offering this wide variety
of reading to our young learners in the language class. Often we are not. We should try our
utmost to have a wide range of reading materials in the classroom for our language learners
and to use language activities that involve this range of materials, too.

Chapter 2

Characteristics of Texts and How We Can Help Learners Read These

What are the characteristics of most of the reading samples that we listed in the last chapter? In
considering these text types, we can say that reading is often:
presented in short chunks (involving just words or phrases);
connected with an activity;
used for a clear purpose;
linked with a picture, activity or thing (such as a Push sign on a door);
used to gain or get information;
used to interact with others about something practical;
involved with something related to the world at large, beyond the classroom.
This list of characteristics is a good checklist and guide for us when we are looking for reading
texts for our language learners. We should ask ourselves if the reading we are considering for
our young language learners in the target language includes any of the above characteristics. If
it involves several of these characteristics, then the text will likely be useful for our young
language learners.
Creating a rich reading environment
Reading in everyday life is often involuntary. By this, I mean that young learners are reading
everything all around them without even realizing it, such as street signs, T-shirt slogans, and so
on. Thus, it is very important to create a rich literate environment in our language classroom
(supported by pictures, illustrations and realia) to help motivate our students to read.
This type of environment can also have a positive effect on children who are not yet fully
competent and confident in their reading, as it will help familiarize them with the target language
in written form, especially if it involves a different script than they use in their first language. As a
result of such exposure, the students will not be so fearful about using the language when they
formally start to read and write.

A lot of research over the last few years has shown that learners take notice of the
text that is around them. In their first language, even very young children start reading road and
shop signs that they see regularly if they are encouraged by their parent or caretaker. This
happens well before they formally start reading in school. Because of our understanding of how
children begin to read in their first language, it would seem especially important to introduce
plenty of English reading texts (representing material from the real world) to our young learners
in their English classroom.

Figure 6.3: Examples of authentic materials that can be displayed in the language classroom.

We can also label our students' work and display it on the walls. Students benefit and gain
knowledge from looking at and reading their classmates' work and gain confidence and take
pride in presenting their own work.

Chapter 3
Helping our Young Learners Develop Reading Skills
Young learners in an ESL/EFL class need practice to develop the same type of reading skills
they are acquiring in their first language. The following skills are part of a basic reading
programme. (Adjust activities to the age and level of the learners.)
Reading skill
Skimming

Description

Getting the general idea of what the text is about and

looking for important information in accompanying
images (such as pictures or charts)
Scanning
Looking for specific information within the text (such as
names, places or dates)
Intensive
Word by word reading, as one might find when reading a
reading
story
Extensive
Reading wide-ranging texts, skimming, scanning and
reading
guessing words, filling in missing words and reading
fluently (rather than reading accurately or intensively)
Computer / Web Reading key words and learning how to look for specific
skills
information
Identifying parts Recognizing information that comes from different parts
of text
of text, such as headlines, picture captions, speech
bubbles and punctuation
Varied reading Knowing how to read different types of text (such as
experience
cartoons, picture dictionaries, stories, Web pages) using
a combination of skills noted above

Considering typical reading tasks

Approaches we take to reading depend on our purpose for reading as well as the type of text we
are reading. Think about what reading skills are needed to accomplish various everyday tasks
and consider what type of reading is involved.
Consider such tasks as:

checking a TV schedule for a certain TV show;

referring to instructions when making a snack;

looking up a word in a dictionary;

looking at an invitation to a birthday party to find out the time and place;

checking what's written to see if you are taking the right bus;

looking at the buttons on a CD player to try to turn it off;

studying the instructions of a game you want to play;

reading a story to find out what will happen next.

Often the reasons for reading in our everyday life are very clear and are focused on small
pieces of information. We should include this range of purposeful reading in our language
classroom. As noted in Chapter 1, we need to build a real reason for reading into the tasks we
give our young language learners so that reading in the target language mirrors the reading they
are doing in their everyday lives.
Supporting reading in the language classroom
In the language classroom, we need to model and provide a range of reading experiences. As
the teacher, read to your students from books, and also from posters on the wall, from headlines
in magazines, and from captions in comics.
Use the following techniques with your young learners to encourage the development of their
reading skills:
Provide learners with achievable and motivating reading goals.
As everyday reading, give them short sentences to read and small chunks of information to find
through their reading. (Make these tasks suitable for their age and English level.)

Build their confidence in reading step by step.

Start with familiar things that are easy to read, such as words and phrases that sound the same
(or similar) in their native language. These could include global words, such as football,
hamburger, computer, as well as logos or advertisements from famous international companies,
names of well-known actors or sports stars, or words and acronyms that may sound similar.
Provide visual and contextual support for reading.
Use lots of visual support through pictures, flashcards or gestures. Also, support
your students' understanding of the text by using everyday objects like newspapers, comics,
magazines, posters and brochures. However, remember to only use a small section of these
materials as too large a sample could overwhelm students.
Support the physical aspect of reading.
Help learners recognize visual and technical cues when reading by using
these approaches:

Get students used to seeing English writing all around them by

using clear lettering (in lower case print) to label items in the
classroom (such as door, window, cupboard, drawer, board, desk,
chair). This is especially important if the English script is new to the students. They will
notice and think about these words on a regular basis, especially if they are linked to
real things or pictures, and will start to recognize the shapes of letters and words.

As noted earlier, create a rich literate environment in your class by displaying lots of text
in your classroom through a variety of materials such as posters, books, comics, and so
on. Have students refer to weather charts, timetables and calendars as part of their
regular routine.

Teach specific strategies for effective reading.

Consider the many ways you can get your students to develop their reading skills, especially as
they begin to read more complex text.

Pre-teach key words and phrases before asking students to read a text.

Encourage students to guess new meaning from the context and accompanying
pictures by asking questions that help the learners focus specifically on certain aspects
of the text.

Paraphrase difficult ideas or expressions to help them understand the text. For
example, in Chicken Licken (introduced in the lesson, Using Stories When Teaching
English to Young Learners), part of the text says, Chicken Licken was walking in the
woods when, 'Plop!' An acorn fell on his head! After reading this, we could point at the
picture in the story (or make gestures) and say, Look! That is an acorn! It's falling! Ow!
It fell on his head!

Scaffold learners' reading by asking questions that help them understand the main
points of the story. (What happened when.?) As well, help prepare them for reading by
making predictions. (What will she do now?) Encourage them to consolidate their
understanding of the story and reflect on its meaning. (How did he feel? Why?)

Teachers can take many different approaches to teaching reading in their ESL/EFL classrooms.
We will look more closely at how to teach reading to young learners who are just beginning to
read in Chapter 4. Then, we will look at activities we can use in the classroom to help those who
are more confident readers (in their first language and in the target language) in Chapter 5.

Chapter 4
Supporting Reading for Very Young and Young Language Learners
Very young language learners are often still learning to read in their first language. While we
should not interfere or confuse the learners in this task by trying to encourage them to read too
soon in English, we can prepare them for reading in English in the long term.
Approaches to reading in the EFL classroom
When considering how to teach reading in the young learner classroom, we can briefly look at
various approaches. Combinations of these approaches are often used in teaching reading to
students learning English as their first language as well as to those learning English as a
second or foreign language.
Overall reading in the young learner classroom
Children learn to read words and sentences because the context is meaningful. For example,
they can start to understand and 'read' by following along as teachers tell a story or point out the
lyrics of a song while physically running their finger under the words as they read. Through such
guided activities, they can begin to make the connections between written and spoken words.
In the ESL/EFL classroom, where the students' vocabulary in the target language is limited,
meaning is critical. Therefore, teachers need to ensure students recognize and understand the
meaning of a spoken word (by linking it with a visual image or a gesture) before expecting
students to try to 'read' it.

One of most important ways to encourage very young and young language
learners to start reading in the target language is to use storybooks with them. Large 'big book'
versions of storybooks are particularly ideal for whole
class reading.
As you read the story aloud, students listen to the story,
look at the accompanying pictures, and begin to make
the connection between the words you say and the
words you are pointing to as you read. Even if the
children are not yet reading, pointing to the words as you
say them will help them make that link. It can also help
them recognize how text is read in English (from left to right, starting at the top of the page).
Modeling reading is incredibly important for these very young and young language learners. See
the lesson, Using Stories When Teaching English to Young Learners, for further examples of
what can be done with storybooks. Remember that it is important and valuable for young
learners, new to reading in English, to be able to pick up and read books in the English
classroom. If you have a large enough number of books, it is wonderful if your young language
learners can borrow books from your English Library to read at home, too.

Whole word approach

As noted, very young learners are often not yet reading in their first language. In the ESL/EFL
classroom (where they are just starting to learn the meaning of words in English), their
preparation for reading often involves the direct linking of pictures with captions. Very young
learners will not be asked to directly focus on the words but instead will be reading by looking at
the pictures that appear alongside the words. Eventually, after some weeks of linking the
pictures with the words that go with them, the children will recognise the words and read them.

This whole word or look and say approach to reading gets the learner used to
seeing the shape of the whole word and recognising the word, initially with a picture, and then
later, without a picture. As noted in Chapter 3, teachers can help their students become familiar
with written English (letters and words) by clearly labelling items in the classroom and displaying
lots of posters and charts with English text, remembering to use
lower case letters on the labels.
Phonics approach
Another approach to teaching reading involves the
phonics approach. Children are taught the sounds of the letters
and begin to link the letters and sounds so that they can 'sound out'
words and begin to read for themselves. For example, after
learning the sounds of individual letters, they can look at the word
dog and recognize three separate letter sounds, /d/ /o/ /g/. Children can be encouraged to put
these three sounds together to say the word 'dog'.
Through the phonics approach, children go beyond learning
individual consonant and short vowel sounds to learning sounds
that are made from combinations of letters (such as /th/ and /ch/
and /ee/, /ea/ and /ey/). In the early stages of reading actual text,
they also learn to recognize certain sight words (common words
with irregular spelling, such as who, what and where).
It can be helpful for teachers to recognize and understand the
different approaches that can be taken to teaching reading in the
ESL/EFL classroom. As we know there are different types of learners in our classroom, using a
combination of these approaches can help us try to meet their varying needs.
<>
In our ESL/EFL classrooms, where very young learners may not yet be reading in their first
language, it is very important to use a lot of pre-reading activities in English that will help them
develop the necessary skills as they are learning the language.
Begin with pre-reading activities
Follow patterns

Recognize similar
shapes

Start to make

Have students do drawing activities, such as

connecting the dots or following mazes. Such
activities help them follow a particular line
without stopping (an important pre-reading skill).
Encourage students to recognize similar shapes.
For example, a worksheet may include a square
(on the left side of the page) and then a circle,
triangle and square on the right side of the page.
Students need to circle the similar shape (the
square).
Add labels to objects to allow students to begin

connections between
spoken and written
words
Start to observe text

to make the connection between the visual

image of an item and the written word.
Help students observe how written words fit
together to form phrases and sentences by
having them watch as the teacher points out the
written words when reading stories and singing
songs with them.

Developing early reading skills

To encourage children to become more familiar with the written words, we can use the following
activities, adjusting the complexity according to the level of the students. At the same time,
these activities will review the language structures and vocabulary being introduced to the
students.
Start off with reading activities involving single words or phrases
Introduce words

Present words (orally) and ensure students

understand meaning through visual
representations. Then let students see (and
'read') the written words.
Match words and pictures Have sets of flashcards with pictures and
corresponding words. Have students find
matching pairs. Students can also complete
worksheets that have them draw lines to
connect pictures with words.
Sort words into sets
Have students read words and put them into
various categories. For example, when
reviewing animal words, students can
categorize animals in the following ways:
* Animals I like / don't like;
* Animals with two legs / four legs / neither, and
so on. Also they can put a wide variety of words
they have studied into various lexical sets, such
as furniture, fruit, transportation, and so on.
Build up to activities that involve words, phrases and sentences
Match sentences and
pictures

Match questions with

answers

Match jumbled half

sentences

Match simple cartoon

stories with captions

Have students show they recognize and

understand written words. For example, when
reviewing animals and actions, have them
match sentences with corresponding pictures.
(The lion is sleeping.)
Give students questions and answers on slips
of paper and have them work in pairs to match
them. For example, when reviewing animals,
the questions and answers might include:
A: Where does it live? B: It lives in the jungle.
Divide sentences in half (using strips of paper)
and have students try to put them together. For
example, if studying animals and food, the
jumbled sentence might read: Monkeys like / to
eat bananas.
After listening to a story, students can put the
pictures in order and then match each picture
with the correct caption. For example, after

reading The Enormous Snowball (from the

lesson, Teaching Listening in English to Young
Learners), students can match captions and
pictures (depicting the characters who helped
make the huge snowball).
Extending reading practice through meaningful activities
Encourage student involvement in meaningful and interactive classroom activities that have
them reading and using the language. Brainstorming ideas together and writing ideas on the
blackboard can help students review vocabulary items and prepare them for the following types
of reading activities.
* Singing songs and chants. Have students read the lyrics and take notice of how songs and
rhymes are written (looking at rhyming words, descriptive words, and so on). Encourage them to
write their own songs and chants on posters. Read and sing (or chant) their songs (or rhymes)
together. See the lesson, Using Songs, Rhymes, Chants and Poems in the Classroom for ideas.
* Reading stories. Stories like The Enormous Snowball (see the lesson, Teaching Listening in
English to Young Learners) and Chicken Licken (see the lesson, Using Stories When Teaching
English to Young Learners) have meaningful repetition. Students can say lines from these
stories together and then be motivated to read them.
* Playing games. Many games such as English Snap, Pelmanism and Language Bingo have
students actively involved in reading. (See explanations for these games in the lesson,
Teaching Listening in English to Young Learners.)
There are many more types of reading activities that can be used in the ESL/EFL class with
young learners. Check the variety of activities listed in the lessons, Teaching (Listening /
Speaking / Writing) in English to Young Learners. Adapt these activities (as needed) to
emphasize a reading focus.

Chapter 5
English Reading Activities for the Able Reader
We have looked at how to start reading in English with very young and young learners and we
are now going to look at a wide variety of reading activities we can use for those who are able
and confident readers in English.
5.1 Detective
Prepare a worksheet with four head and shoulder pictures of people. Create a description at the
top of the worksheet of one of these people with the title: Description of the criminal. Make sure
the four people all have a lot of similarities so that students have to read the description
carefully to note the differences in the pictures. For example, the characters could all have
glasses, short hair, be wearing jumpers or earrings, and so on.
In pairs, have children read the description and then try to be the first to identify the true
criminal.
5.2 Identify true or false statements
Create a worksheet with statements written on it (some true and some false) about the topic you
are studying in class. For example, if you are studying about items in the house, include the
following statement:
Tables always have three legs and food is put underneath them for meals.
___ True ___ False

Children tick () true or false for each statement. If false, they should be prepared to correct the
statement.
5.3 Reading emails, letters and postcards
Create an opportunity for students to use email to send English messages to
children in another school, either locally or in an English speaking country.
Likewise, you can have them send postcards or letters. Make arrangements with another
teacher so that your students' letters go to students who will answer them. (As well, make sure
your students also respond.)
5.4 Buddy Reading (Shared Reading)
Two students sit together to read a book in a number of different
ways, such as:

reading alternate pages;

reading until one stops or hesitates and then the other

helps by taking over;

reading dialogues in a story and taking on different roles.

A buddy reading program can also be effective when more able students are matched up with
younger less able buddies. More able students can practice reading aloud from beginner books
and can then share these books with their buddies. This can be a motivating experience for both
types of students (those allowed to share their knowledge and those who can have one-on-one
attention with their buddy teachers).
5.5 Read and listen
Provide students with a copy of a storybook that has been recorded on a CD or
cassette. Students can read the text as the narrator reads aloud on the recording. This is a
particularly useful activity for those students who are not yet confident readers. You could also
encourage your learners to do this type of listening at home.
5.6 Completing a table or chart
For children that feel comfortable enough to interact with the written word, around
the ages 9-12, you can have them complete a worksheet or respond to questions
from a poster on the wall. They will need to read the questions carefully so that
they can provide the correct information. (See Chapter 5 in Supplementary
Material for more details. )
5.7 Jigsaw reading
Find an interesting story about nine to 12 sentences long. Print it in three different sections,
representing the beginning, middle and end of the story. Divide the class into groups of three.
Have students take responsibility for reading and retelling one of the sections of the story to the
members of their group. . This is another activity that is more suitable for children around the
ages of 9-12 that have more experience with written English. (See Chapter 5 in Supplementary
Material for more details.)
5.8 Cloze Activity
Prepare a worksheet for each student (or group of students) with text written on it. (It could be a
story, song or factual description.) Leave out some words (such as prepositions, verbs,
adjectives or nouns). Provide a line for each of these missing words. This activity could be used
for students with a range of ages, depending on the lyrics and complexity of the song or story

and the complexity of language in the story. I would use a song example for children around the
ages of 7-9 and the story example for children around the ages of 10-12. (See Chapter 5 in
Supplementary Material for more details.)
5.9 Reading lyrics of new songs
Songs and chants play an important role in the young learner classroom. See the lesson, Using
Songs, Rhymes, Chants and Poems in the Language Classroom, for more details.

To introduce a new song in class, put the lyrics on worksheets or display them on
chart paper or on an overhead transparency. Ask the children to read the lyrics and sing along.
Have them take home the lyrics of the song and draw illustrations.
5.10 Creating and reading comic strips
A lovely activity has students sharing cartoons they have written. In groups,
have students make strip cartoons outlining a story or event. Have them work
together to decide how many cartoons they need and who will illustrate them.
They also need to write any speech bubbles or captions that will accompany
each illustration. Finally, they will need to present their cartoons in book or
poster form so that other groups can read them.
Summary
Create a reading culture in your English classroom by making all kinds of English materials
available to your students to read, including books (dictionaries, reference books, storybooks
and factual books) as well as authentic English material from the real world. Familiarize your
students with the language by displaying their writing on the wall alongside other posters, charts
and labelled pictures and talk about each of these with your classes. Plan interesting and
purposeful activities that encourage your students to develop their reading skills by reading from
a variety of texts and participating in meaningful tasks.
Next Steps
After you have finished this lesson, test your knowledge by taking a short, multiple-choice
quiz. To access the quiz, click quizzes at the top or bottom of any page in this classroom. Select
the quiz that corresponds to the lesson you have just completed. Then click submit. Good luck!
After the quiz, please complete the short assignment that follows. This will allow you to
practice what you have just learned. To access it, click assignments at the top or bottom of any
page. Choose the appropriate lesson and follow the directions listed there.
Also, visit the discussion area to converse with your colleagues about the topics covered in
this lesson. To access it, click discussion at the top or bottom of any page. Choose the
appropriate lesson and follow the directions. You will be able to post on the discussion board
until the 'close date' listed. After that date, you can read the discussions but not post.

Glossary
receptive skill in reading involves taking information in and processing it rather than producing
something (as in writing).
decoding is the processing of information as we read, from recognizing individual letters, words
and phrases to understanding concepts and ideas being shared by the writer.
script is the way words are written or the font that is used in a computer. For young language
learners, it is always advisable to use lower case letters in printed script rather than cursive
script or capital letters.
authentic materials are materials created for a real audience in a real situation in the target

language, such as a menu from an ice-cream shop designed for customers to read and order
from.
skimming is getting the general idea of what the text is about and looking for important
information in accompanying images (such as pictures or charts).
scanning is looking for specific information within the text (such as names, places or dates).
(reading) fluently is reading the whole document (including pictures and charts) to get the gist
of what is being written, though not focusing on every individual word.
(reading) accurately is reading the document in great detail and focusing on each and every
individual word.
whole word approach is where students are introduced to the English writing of a word as a
whole thing, initially linked to illustration, where possible. For example, this includes a flashcard
picture of a book with the word book written underneath it.
phonics approach is where students are introduced to the English letter sounds and how they
can achieve certain beginning, middle and end-of-word sounds.
cloze activity is when occasional words are omitted from a writing passage. Students fill these
words in during an activity.

Follow-up Reading
See the list of books under the lesson, Using Stories When Teaching English to Young
Learners.
Gifford, C. 1993. Racing cars. Usborne Big Machines. London: Usborne Publishing.
Gifford, C. 1993. Planes and helicopters. Usborne Big Machines. London: Usborne
Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Riglietti, S. 2006. Under the ground. London: Usborne Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Gill, S. 2006. The rainy day. London: Usborne Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Temporin, E. 2006. The snowy day. London: Usborne Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Davies, B. 2006. In the castle. London: Usborne Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Shimmen, C. 2006. The butterfly. London: Usborne Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Davies, B. 2006. On the moon. London: Usborne Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Field, M. 2006. The dinosaur. London: Usborne Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Davies, B. 2006. In the castle. London: Usborne Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Waters, E. 2006. On the seashore. London: Usborne Publishing.
Millbourne, A. & Cleyet, M. L. 2006. In the nest. London: Usborne Publishing.
Bibliography
Cameron, L. 2001. Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Ellis, G. & Brewster, J. with Girard, D. 2002. The primary English teacher's guide.
London: Pearson Education Ltd.
Holderness, J. & Hughes, A. 1997. 100+ ideas for children: Topic-based activities.
Oxford: Heinemann ELT.
Hughes, A. 1993. English across the curriculum: Theme-based learning in the primary
classroom. In New Tendencies in Curriculum Development.
Hughes, A. 2001. Effective foreign language teaching at the primary level. In Language
Teaching in Europe. Raya, Faber, Gewehr and Peck (Eds). Frankfurt am Main: Peter
Lang.
Hughes, A. 2006. The Enormous Snowball in Grundschule Englisch Edition Nr 17
Kallmeyer bei Friedrich in Velber/Erhard Frierich Verlag GmbH, Seelze, Germany.
Hughes, A. & Williams, M. 2000. Using Penguin Young Readers - A Teacher's Guide.
Penguin Longman.
Latham, D. 2002. How Children Learn to Write: Supporting and Developing Children's
Writing in School. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Moon, J. 2000. Children learning English. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann.
Whitehead, M. R. 2002. Developing Language and Literacy with Young Children.
Paul Chapman Publishing.

Supplementary Material

Chapter 5 Activities
https://api.ed2go.com/CourseBuilder/2.0/images/resources/prod/3te
-0/Chap5_Lesson6.pdf
Language Learning & Technology Journal
http://llt.msu.edu/vol11num1/ramirez/default.html
This is an interesting site of stories, many of them digitally
presented, which is fun to use. There is a good range of stories,
too.
Starfall.com
http://www.starfall.com
This site has lots of examples of letters and sounds of letters and
offers the opportunity for listeners to hear these, too.
http://noggin.com
Noggin
At this lovely site, a presenter reads the story and pages of the
books are shown to the site reader.
KinderSite
http://www.kindersite.org
There are examples of lots of interactive language activities on this
site.
Schools: Learning resources for home and school
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/
This site is a link to a huge variety of activities linked to the topicbased programmes the BBC has developed and recorded for
classroom use. There are lots of topic-related activities, though
remember this is designed for first language English speakers so
care needs to be taken when choosing activities for the English
language learner or activities may need to be adapted.
Teaching English
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/download/britlit/britlit.shtml
This site, developed by English teachers in Portugal, is for both
adult and young English learners and is really valuable. There is a
lovely mixture of old and contemporary literature that is focused on
in the site.

Assignment
Try to find out what your language learners read everyday outside the classroom and then try to
find similar types of text that you can use in English class. What could you do with these texts to
help your students develop their reading skills? Can you think of ways to adapt any of the
activities you were introduced to in earlier lessons in this course to help your students develop
their reading skills? How easy is it to adapt activities to meet the particular needs of your
students or to change the focus of the lesson? Share your ideas with your colleagues on the
Discussion Board.

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