Reading A2 Lesson 1

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 2

Why are you doing this?

During the following three lessons, you will do exercises that help you teach/practice reading strategies to improve your reading skill!

Everyday Life

All these strategies are applied in every day life. You come across so many texts that it would be impossible to read all of them intensively. Instead you filter the texts for the information that you need.

Goals

1. You are able to determine a text's topic.
2. You can mention everything you know about that topic.
3. You are able to understand a short text and match a headline
4. You are able to look up specific information through the use of skimming and scanning.
5. You are able to recognise a structure of a text and explain why.
6. You are able to answer specific questions .

Ex. 1 After watching this video, what do you think will be the topic of the text?

Name everything you know about soccer

Ex. 2. Matching headlines

For the following exercise, you will read 6 short pieces of news and have to choose the correct headline for each text.

The texts are numbered from 1 to 6.

1. The opening ceremony for the new Golden
Ball Football Stadium was held yesterday.
Football fans can now visit the building, which
cost €100 million. The first match will be at the
beginning of October

1. GREAT OPENING FOR GOLDEN BALL
2. INTERNATIONAL FUN AT HOME
3. RAIN DELAYS MATCH
4. FANTASTIC MATCH IN THE RAIN

2. Fans could see an excellent match in bad
weather yesterday between Leeds City SC and
the Liverpool Giants. The team of Leeds could
not play well in the rain so the Giants defeated
them 3-1.

1. STAR PLAYERS PLAY IN NEW STADIUM
2. INTERNATIONAL FUN AT HOME
3. HOLIDAY AROUND THE WORLD
4. FANTASTIC MATCH IN THE RAIN

3. Free online football games are available at
www.sportsforall.com. Build your team, train
your players and play matches in your room
with friends all around the world. Join the fun
today and win the game!

1. SUMMER FOOTBALL FUN
2. INTERNATIONAL FUN AT HOME
3. GREAT OPENING FOR GOLDEN BALL
4. SUMMER FOOTBALL FUN

4. Parents can now send their children to the
Golden Ball football camp of the famous new
stadium. The international camps are going to
be two weeks in July and August, in the school
summer holidays.

1. FANTASTIC MATCH IN THE RAIN
2. HOLIDAY AROUND THE WORLD
3. SUMMER FOOTBALL FUN
4. STAR PLAYERS PLAY IN NEW STADIUM

5. The Champions have decided to cancel
tomorrow’s match due to the heavy rainfalls
this week. The team manager said that the
new date for the match will appear sometime
next week.

1. RAIN DELAYS MATCH
2. FANTASTIC MATCH IN THE RAIN
3. HOLIDAY AROUND THE WORLD
4. INTERNATIONAL FUN AT HOME

6. Famous footballer, Jimmy Carson got married
in Hawaii. The party was held in a 5-star hotel.
Carson is going to spend his summer holiday
travelling around the world with his wife.

1. INTERNATIONAL FUN AT HOME
2. HOLIDAY AROUND THE WORLD
3. FANTASTIC MATCH IN THE RAIN
4. SUMMER FOOTBALL FUN

What do you already know about skimming and scanning?

Skimming and scanning.

Skimming and scanning means looking at everything that stands out. Here are some points to have a look at:

1. Title
   
2. Subtitles
   
3. Headlines
   
4. Picture(s)
   
5. Words in italic
   
6. Words in bold
   
7. Numbers.

Ex. 3. Schematic

At the beginning of the lesson, you were given a handout. In it you'll find exercise 3.

• Answer the question
  
• Fill in your answer(s) in the schematic.

Fish and chips

In the following exercise you will practice the strategy skimming and scanning. 

Scanning and skimming

You go fast and fluently through the text to look for the answer of the question by paying attention to everything that stands out. Such as titles, headlines, numbers, pictures, etc.

Ex.4. Three texts

You will find three short pieces of text in the following slides. 

Read the text and decide if the information that you have to find is in text A,B, or C.

Example:

Fish and chips is easy to make.

The correct answer is: B.

Text A.

Fish and chips is a hot English meal, consisting of fish, usually cod or haddock from the Atlantic

Ocean, and deep-fried chips as a side dish. It was first served in England in the 16th century.

The dish became popular in the 19th century. The first chip-shop stood in Tommyfield Market in

London. It is a popular take-away food in the UK and its cheap take-away price is usually between

four and eight pounds. Many restaurants and bars in the UK serve fish and chips.

Text B.

You can easily make the perfect fish and chips at home. You can use any type of fish you like, but

make sure you use fresh fish and fresh oil. For the chips, you can use fresh or frozen potatoes. As

a side dish, some people choose peas and not potatoes. Mix together flour, milk, salt and pepper.

Cover the fish with the mixture and fry them in a frying pan until the fish is golden brown. When

you finish frying your tasty fish and chips, serve them on a hot plate and put some salt and lemon

on top.

Text C.

In Britain the most famous fish and chip shops are those belonging to the chain called Harry

Ramsden’s. Ramsden set up his first fish and chip shop in 1928, wanting to provide high quality

fish and chips. Today, there are over forty shops around Britain, and many customers visit his

restaurants for their main Saturday or Sunday lunchtime meal. Even today Ramsden’s secret of

how he prepares his fish and chips is not known outside the business. Harry Ramsden’s is Britain’s

longest established restaurant chain.

1. Fish and chips has been popular for more than a century.

2. Fish and chips is best when you make it from fresh fish.

3. Fish and chips first appeared in a shop in London.

4. Fish and chips is a main eat-out weekend meal.

5. Fish and chips is sold in Britain’s oldest restaurant chain.

6. Fish and chips is sometimes served without chips.

7. Fish and chips usually costs more than three pounds.

Ex. 5. E-Mail

For the next assignment, you are going to read intensively to answer the question. Read through the entire text, then zoom in to look for details and find the answers.

How do you recognise an e-mail?

Ex. 6. Reading

• Read through the text.
• Try to understand as much as you can.
• Look at the question.
• Look the information up.
• Formulate a suitable answer in English.

1. What did Rachel do yesterday?

2. Rachel says the story's about...

3. Where is the father's farm?

4. Who doesn't leave the country? The....

5. Who arranged the visit to France? The...

6. Rachel thinks....

7. Overall this article is....

Exercise 7, Symbols.

• At the handout you were given at the beginning of the very first lesson, you'll find exercise 7. 
• Read the instructions carefully.
• This exercise is only meant for the A1 group!!!!!

Evaluate this lesson on it's difficulty.
Was it too hard or easy and why?