leesvaardigheid booklet

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

Welcome! Today's lesson

• strategies for new words 
• reading strategies
• reading phases  
• practice 
• ending the lesson 

Welcome everybody please take a seat and sit according to my seating plan. Put your bags on the floor and grab your pen. 

Alright let´s have a look at the planning for today´s lesson. So you already know I have been researching something about reading skills and I made you make,  those mindmaps, remember? So since then I have created a booklet for all of you and I will explain what that entails in a minute. So I'm first going to explain a couple things to you. Starting off with strategies you can use while you're reading and you come across a new or difficult word. Then some reading strategies, different types of questions, the reading phases and lastly i'll have you practice your reading comprehension skills. We have to go through quite some theory so, I ask you to listen carefully for about 15 minutes and then you can all work individually. 

Learning objectives 

- After this lesson I can implement different strategies for understanding new or difficult words. 

- After this lesson I can use different reading strategies in order to comprehend a text and answer questions about it. 

- After this lesson I can successfully answer questions about a text. 

Repeat the learning objectives on the board. 

Strategies to use for new words

What do you usually do when you come across a new word or a word you recognize but don't know the meaning of? 

Can you think of different things you can do to understand the words?

Ask the class what they do now whenever they're reading a text and come across a new or difficult word to activate their prior knowledge. Then ask them to brainstorm and come up with other strategies to check if they can think of any. 

Strategies to use for new words

1. Split the word into parts > endoscopy, endo=inside , scopy= observing something, so; observing the inside of something. 

2. Deriving the meaning from context: 

3. making connections with words you've heard > 

Show them the different strategies there are and explain them one for one: 

A lot of words actually consists of multiple parts and sometimes we already know one or more of those parts. this is an example so when we read the word endoscopy we can see that it consists of two separate parts. You would just have to know what they mean though so endo means inside and scopy means to observe something. Think of telescope and microscope. 

The next strategy is a more common one so to derive the meaning of a word from the context. A lot of the times we can guess what a word means when we read it with more context. Then we have making connections with words we've heard. Has any of you heard of lumos in the movie harry potter? lumos is i believe a spell and that makes harrys wand produce light. So the word luminary also has something to do with light. 

You can also make connections with your own life so if you already know a word such as intonation right we have the intonation of our voice but if its used in the context of instruments ''the intonation of the guitar'' then we can assume that it is about the tuning of the guitar. If none of the above worked then you can simply take a guess or if you feel like the meaning of the word is necessary in order to understand the text, you can look it up in the dictionary but i dont recommend you do that all the time as it takes a lot of time.

Strategies to use for new words

4. Making connections with your own life > intonation of voice, intonation of a guitar. 

5. Taking a guess.

6. Search it up in the dictionary. 

Show them the different strategies there are and explain them one for one: 

A lot of words actually consists of multiple parts and sometimes we already know one or more of those parts. this is an example so when we read the word endoscopy we can see that it consists of two separate parts. You would just have to know what they mean though so endo means inside and scopy means to observe something. Think of telescope and microscope. 

The next strategy is a more common one so to derive the meaning of a word from the context. A lot of the times we can guess what a word means when we read it with more context. Then we have making connections with words we've heard. Has any of you heard of lumos in the movie harry potter? lumos is i believe a spell and that makes harrys wand produce light. So the word luminary also has something to do with light. 

You can also make connections with your own life so if you already know a word such as intonation right we have the intonation of our voice but if its used in the context of instruments ''the intonation of the guitar'' then we can assume that it is about the tuning of the guitar. If none of the above worked then you can simply take a guess or if you feel like the meaning of the word is necessary in order to understand the text, you can look it up in the dictionary but i dont recommend you do that all the time as it takes a lot of time.

Reading strategies 

1.  Skimming: reading quickly, focusing on the main idea, key topics and overal message. You can use the titles, subheadings, introduction and conclusion of the text to get an overview of the content. 

2. Scanning: reading quickly to search for specific information such as a name, number or date while ignoring the rest of the text. 

3. Global reading: quickly going through the text to get a general understanding of what the text is about without reading every detail. 

4. Intensive reading: focusing closely on the details of a text, analyzing and comprehending each word, sentence and paragraph thoroughly. 

5. Reflective reading: thinking carefully about what you read and how it relates to your own thoughts and experiences.  

Now let's move on to some strategies we can use while reading.

The first one is called skimming. This is usually done before we read the whole text and it basically means you quickly read the title, subheadings, introduction and conclusion of a text to get the main idea and overal message of it while ignoring the rest of the text. 

Then we have scanning and this is a strategy you will use a lot in order to answer the questions because you have to look for specific information in the text such as a name, number or date

Then we have global reading and this means that you go through the text to get a general understanding of what the text is about wihtout reading everything in detail.

Intensive reading is when you read the entire text and focus on the details and comprehending everything. 

Lastly we have reflective reading which is when you read and reflect on how the text relates to your own thoughts and experiences. 

Types of questions 

• Multiple choice 
  
• Fill in the blank
• Open question 
• True or false 
• Question on a specific paragraph 

Now i'm going to explain to you how you can tackle different types of questions. So I wrote down which types of questions you can expect to get during most reading exams. so we have multiple choice, fill in the blank, open question, true or false and questions on a speicifc paragraph. 

Multiple choice 

Strategy: scanning + intensive reading

1. highlight 

2. read

3. get rid of nonsense options 

4. compare

5. choose

6. check 

multiple choice questions seem easy sometimes since you could also just guess the answer but theres still strategies you can use in order to have a higher chance of succeeding. So for this type of question it's common to use scanning in order to find the specific information you're asked about and then you want to read that paragraph intensively in order to find the right answer. Then there's usually two nonsense options which you can get rid of and lastly you'll have to make a choice between the remaining two options. 

Fill in the blank 

Strategy: scanning + intensive reading 

When a task asks which word belongs in the sentence, you do the following:

1. Read the sentences before the gap and the sentence after the gap.

2. Understand the meaning and function of the signal words given as the options.

> ''However'' indicates that there is a contrast coming from what was previously stated."

Example:

Researchers said this could explain why people believe that smell is unimportant, compared to hearing and vision. __18__ , many studies have shown that pheromones emitted from sweat glands play an important role in physical attraction.

A. Indeed   B. likewise   C. Still

For fill in the blank questions it is important you recognize and know the meanings of linking words. For this type of questions you quickly scan to find the gap in the text and then you want to intensively read the previous two or so sentences and the sentence that follows the gap. Then you want to make sure you understand all the options you're given. Once you do, you can get rid of the nonsense options and choose between the remaining ones. Make sure it makes sense in that context. 

Let's have a look at this example. So the sentence before the gap mentions how it is believed that smell is unimportant and when we read the sentence that follows the gap it says that studies have shown that the pheromones from sweat play an important role. So these two statements kind of contradict one another right. So which word should then be in the gap? *ask the students and pick someone to answer it* The answer is still. 'Stilll' is like nevertheless or however so it shows that the statement follwing that word is most likely the opposite of the statement before the sentence. 

Open question 

Strategy: reflective reading + any other strategy

1. Read the question carefully.

2. Look for and read the passage where you can find your answer. 

3. Highlight the important parts, formulate your answer and then check whether that really answers the question you're being asked. 

Then we have the open question and for this you most likely have to use reflective reading and any other strategy which really depends on the question. 

You want to read the question carefully. I noticed that a lot of the times students won't read the whole sentence or not carefully enough because their answer won't even be an answer to what they're being asked. Then you want to look for the passage where you can find your answer, highlight the important parts and formulate your aswer and then check if that is an answer to the question. 

True or false 

Strategy: global + intensive reading 

1. Mark the paragraphs in question.

2. Read the highlighted section and underline signal words.

A statement is only true if everything is correct, so:

3. Verify if each part of the statement is correct. Underline where it is stated.

Use global reading to get an overall understanding of the main ideas and then use intensive reading to check whether a statement is true or false or maybe even not given in the text. You want to mark the paragraphs and highlight exactly where you can find the information. And this is very important, but only choose true if everything in the statement was mentioned in the text and not just half of the statement. 

Question on a specific paragraph

Strategy: scanning + intensive reading 

1. Read the question carefully.

2. Read the paragraph intensively. 

3. Try to locate where in the paragraph you can find the answer. 

4. Formulate your response using the relevant information. 

Lastly we have a question on a specific paragraph. For this question you can once again use scanning to find the right paragraph and use intensive reading to read the paragraph intensively. 

you want to start off by reading the question carefully and then using the reading strategies you want to find the answer in the text and then formulate your answer by using only the relevant information. 

Reading phases

Pre-reading:

- Before reading it is important that we actively engage with the text by for example skimming the text to get a general idea of the main topics. 

While-reading:

- When you read the text fully for the first time you want to read it intensively. 

- It's also good to implement strategies for new/difficult words. 

- To better understand a text you should highlight the important parts and linking words.

- You can also take notes while you're reading. 

Post-reading:

- After you've finished reading the text you can briefly reflect on it and even discuss it with another student.

- Writing a summary of the text can help you solidify your understanding of it. 

- In order to answer the questions, you should pick a reading strategy depending on the type of question you are asked. 

Moving on to the reading phases. So before you read a text you usually have to do one or two short activities in order to activate your prior knowledge or to engage with the text. 

Then we have the while reading phase and during this phase we read the text and use different strategies for understanding the words and you can also highlight important points or linking words and even take notes. 

Then we have the post reading phase. So after you have finished reading the text intensively, you want to read the questions and start answering them. You can answer them by using the different reading strategies depending on the type of question and you can also reflect on what you've read by talking about it with another student. 

Let's practise!

- Based off your reading level results, I will hand out your booklet. 

1. Briefly skim through all the theory once more and start by doing the two exercises on page 4. 2. Once you've finished those you can choose one of the six texts to read. 

3. Start by doing the pre-reading exercises and then read the text. 

4. Really focus on the different strategies and what to do during the while-reading phase. 

5. Once you've finished reading the text, you can answer the post-reading questions. 

I will walk around to see how you're doing and answer any questions you may have. 

Work quietly so everyone can concentrate better. 

The exercises of their first text will be their homework. During the next lesson they'll have to pick another text and work on that. Once they've finished two texts I'll tell them that I willl upload an answer sheet on Magister so they can check their answers. I will also tell them that they can find pdf versions of the different level booklets if they wish to upgrade or downgrade to a different level. 

Alright i'm finally done talking so now you have time to work on your booklets. I'm going to hand out the booklets based on your level and I first want you to use that booklet for the first text and if you feel like it's too easy/hard let me know and i'll give you a different one for the next class. So what i want you to do is to first skim through the theory that i just explained and then i'd like you all to do the two exercises on page 4. Once you have finished those you can continue with one of the six texts. You'll have to read it and do the exercises. Make sure you do the pre-reading exercises before reading the text and don't forget to use the different strategies. 

How much time they have during class really depends on the introduction and how much time was spent explaining the strategies etc. It is up to the teacher whether they want to let the students work on the booklet in class or do it as their homework. I just set a timer until 5 minutes before the end of class so they have enough time to work and I have enough time to end the lesson. 

Homework

- Finish answering the questions of the reading text you've chosen. 

- Bring your booklet to the next class, so you can check your answers and work.