57 Вопрос Additional Prereading Strategies:

Overviews: Discussing information about the selection or assignment prior to reading must take place. This may take the form of class discussions, printed previews, photographs, outlines, or films.  Spend enough time before the students begin the assignment to ensure understanding of it.

Vocabulary Previews: Unfamiliar key words need to be taught to students before reading so that new words, background information, and comprehension can improve together.

List all words in the assignment that may be important for students to understand. Arrange words to show the relationships to the learning task. Add words students probably already understand to connect relationships between what is known and the unknown. Share information with students.  Verbally quiz them on the information before assigned reading begins.

Structural Organizers:  Before reading an assignment, basic frameworks which are included in the text should be pointed out such as cause-effect or problem-solution.  It can be beneficial to call attention to specific plans of paragraph or text organization such as signal words, main idea sentences, highlighted phrases, headings and subtitles.  A review of skimming techniques might also be appropriate as these various areas are covered.

A Purpose for Reading: When students have a purpose for reading a selection, they find that purpose not only directs their reading towards a goal, but helps to focus their attention.  Purposes may come from teacher directed questions, questions from class discussions or brainstorming, or from the individual student.  Along with the question, it is a good idea to pose predictions of the outcome and problems which need to be solved.  These may be generated by the student or the teacher, but the teacher should use these to guide students in the needed direction for the assigned selection.

Author Consideration: Depending upon the content area, a discussion of the author of the particular work can be helpful to the understanding of it.  What is the author trying to say?  What is his point of view and his reason for writing the particular work?

KWL:  This strategy consists of three steps for students to use with expository text:

What do I Know? What do I Want to learn? What did I Learn?

A good strategy for group discussions.  Develop a three column poster with each question in a column and list out responses. See also:  K - W - L (Saskatoon Public Schools)

58 Вопрос

Help the students gather ideas from reading, listening and talking to one another. Point out those aspects of written texts that can be used as models for their own writing: the layout of letters, for example. The analysis of a text in a reading skills lesson can lead on to students writing a text along the same lines, and often students' writing can arise naturally as a response to a listening or reading text. (See Section 1: Integrated skills.)

1 Introduction

Stimulate interest: through a listening or reading text, a speaking activity such as a roleplay, visuals, etc. Create a situation where a piece of writing is required. Discuss the text type - is it a letter, a poster, a story, etc? Think about the reader(s). Who are they? What will interest them? What do they need to know?

2 Working with ideas

• Get ideas from the students - through brain storm ing, using word pools, mind maps, etc.

• Note down ideas.

• Develop the ideas.

• Choose those ideas to keep and those to be rejected,

• Order the ideas.

This can be done as a class on the board or OHP, in pairs or individually.

3 Planning

Remind students of the typical features and structure of the text type they are writing; a model is very useful here.

Examples

Letter of complaint

- layout of the letter

- introducing the subject and giving any background

- making the complaint

- stating what you want done

Chapter 5 Developing skills and strategies

Argument essay

- introduction to the topic

- arguments for

- arguments against

- writer's conclusion

Help the students to use this knowledge to make a plan, dividing their ideas into paragraphs.

4 Drafting

The students write a first draft, perhaps in pairs, from their notes/plan. They may need to refer to dictionaries, grammar reference books and model texts for some conventions: for example, the salutations and standard phrases used in formal letters.

5 Reviewing/editing

The students correct and improve their first draft - looking at content, language accuracy, organization, style, etc. At this stage you can take the work in and make comments.

6 Re-writing

The students write out the final version and then, if possible, give it to the intended reader(s). The intended reader may be the teacher (especially if it is a practice examination). You then have to decide what form feedback is going to take and to what extent and how you arc going to correct the text. You may want to respond in writing - by writing a letter in reply to a letter, for example. (See Chapter 7 Section 1: Owing positive feedback, especially p 164.)