Reading in a lesson or for homework
In the previous step, Lindsay and Marie Therese talked about how the text and task can help to determine whether learners read a text in a lesson or for homework. Now, you’re going to review some reading lesson outlines and decide whether the learner should read the text in the lesson or for homework.
Task
Below are six outlines of different reading lessons. Click on the link to view the text.
For each plan, decide whether or not it’s better for the learner(s) to read the text in the lesson or for homework, and why. Think about:
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the age of the learner
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whether or not the learner will need support
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how much reading needs to be done
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how lesson time is best spent.
Reading lesson 1: Reading sub-skill focus: Understanding cohesion in a text.
| Learner | Text | Task |
| A class of six B2-level adult learners preparing for their B2 First exam. | A paragraph from a longer article about ballet. View the document | Identify examples of referencing words in the paragraph and what they refer to. Identify examples of substitution in the paragraph and what is being substituted. |
Reading lesson 2: Reading sub-skill focus: Understanding detailed information in a text.
| Learner | Text | Task |
| One B1-level teenage learner aged 15. | An article about a summer camp. View the document | Answer a set of short-answer questions and then select the best summary of the article. |
Reading lesson 3: Reading sub-skill focus: Understanding simple sentences and the grammar/vocabulary within them.
| Learner | Text | Task |
| One pre-A1-level young learner aged 7. | A set of true/false statements about a picture. View the document | Decide if sentences are true or false. |
Reading lesson 4: Reading sub-skill focus: Understanding different types of questions and their appropriate responses.
| Learner | Text | Task |
| A class of young learners aged 9. | A set of questions and answers. View the document | Match each question with its answer. |
Reading lesson 5: Reading sub-skill focus: Identifying a writer’s opinions.
| Learner | Text | Task |
| A class of four B2+ level adult learners. | Two different reviews of a film that has just been released. [View Review A] [View Review B] | A jigsaw reading task, i.e. each student reads one article and identifies what the writer sees as the film’s strengths and weaknesses. Each student then works with a student who has read the other article and they share their information, comparing answers. |
Reading lesson 6: Reading sub-skill focus: Recognising adverbs of attitude to understand a writer’s viewpoint.
| Learner | Text | Task |
| One B1-level adult Business English learner. | A short text about the mobile phone industry. View the document | Identify two adverbs of attitude (i.e. admittedly/undoubtedly) and work out their meaning. |
Now, check your answers. Of course, motivation also plays a part in deciding whether to ask a learner to read in or out of the lesson. If a learner is unmotivated to read outside the lesson, then it’s likely that you’ll need to ask them to read in the lesson, even if the text is fairly long.
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