The basics of needs assessment

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Designing Effective Reading Activities
Jennifer Bixby Joe McVeigh
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Selecting appropriate reading materials
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Intensive and extensive reading
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Vocabulary Development

• Using a dictionary
• Recognizing word forms
• Identifying affixes and roots
• Understanding collocations
• Guessing meaning from context

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Checking on the vocabulary level

• Use a vocabulary profiler such as this one at the
  English Centre at the University of Hong Kong
• http//ec.hku.hk/vocabulary/profile.htm

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Vocabulary Profiler Results

• Frequency Percentage
• 1 - 1000 words 703 92.1
• 1001 - 2000 words 42 5.5
• AWL words 5 0.6
• Off-list words 13 1.7

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Vocabulary Profiler Results

• 1 - 1000 a about accept addition after agree
  agreement allow also always an and are as at bad
  be because bills both broke brothers build
  business businesses but buy by car cared carried
  change child children college color could couldn
  counting course day describe didn difficult
  dollars done each easy enjoy enjoyed enough
  escape even every everything expected fact
  families family. . .
• 1001 - 2000 afford arguments baby clothes
  customer customers ducks during dusting exactly
  fun hated holidays hungry ice lesson lessons lot
  lots lucky nice parents proud rabbits restaurant
  salary shelves shop sweeping worried
• AWL adult appreciate communicate eventually jobs
  
• Off-list budget chutney dusty feeding london
  menu pakistan shy talents teenager untrained
  woodworking yelling

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General guidelines and principles for activities
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Teaching vs. testing
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Teaching vs. testing
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Bottom up processing

• Starting from sounds and letters to make meaning
• Identifying words and structures
• Focus on vocabulary, grammar, organization

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Top down processing

• Comprehension resides in the reader
• Reader uses background knowledge and makes
  predictions
• Teacher focus is on meaning-generating activities
  (Anderson 2008)

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Top down or bottom up?

• Schema building to activate background knowledge
• Pre-teaching new vocabulary words
• Help students comprehend discourse structures

1. Underline a grammar structure or verb tense
2. Skip over vocabulary words you dont know
3. Write the number of a paragraph where you find
   the answer

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Comprehension vs. strategy development
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Strategies

• Skim for ideas scan for specific info
• Find the main idea
• Locate topic sentences
• Adjust reading rate relative to purpose
• Read and interpret tables, charts, maps
• Make inferences about content
• Differentiate between fact and opinion

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Whats on the menu?
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Activity and Response Types

• Completing a table
• Sorting or grouping
• Finding information in a reading
• Answering questions
• Writing a reflection

• Multiple choice
• Fill in the blank
• True-False
• Matching
• Sequencing
• Completing a graphic organizer

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What makes an effective activity?
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• Motivating and engaging sack race

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Pump slide
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Pre-reading activities

• Schema building
• Previewing
• Predicting
• Skimming
• Identifying genre
• Learning key vocabulary

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Schema building

• This reading is about the invention of the
  telephone. What do you know about the topic?
  List anything you know about the invention of the
  telephone. What do you want to know about the
  invention of the telephone? Write questions.
  After you read, you will fill in the chart with
  what you learned.
• What I know
• My questions
• I learned

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Previewing

• Preview the reading. Answer these questions.
• How many paragraphs are in the reading? How long
  will it take you to read?
• How many sections are there? What are the titles?
• Look at the photographs and read the captions.
  What new word is explained?

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Predicting

• The author of the next reading has a negative
  opinion about reality TV shows. What issues do
  you think the author will discuss in the reading?

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Identifying genre

• Look at the magazine article. How is the format
  different from the newspaper article on page 17?
  What other kinds of differences are there?

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Learning key vocabulary

• Read the sentence. Choose the best definition for
  the bold word.
• 1. Company signs come in a variety of colors.
• a. different kinds
• b. small choice
• c. unusual order

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Activities while reading

• Keeping questions in mind
• Taking notes
• Filling in a graphic organizer
• Monitoring comprehension
• Developing fluency

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Keeping questions in mind

• As you read, keep these questions in mind.
• What were three steps in the design process?
• What was the most difficult problem for the
  architects?

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Underlining

• As you read, use a pencil and lightly underline
  important information. Only underline two points
  in each paragraph. Dont underline complete
  sentences.

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Filling in a graphic organizer

• As you read, fill in the T-chart.

Advantages of online classes Disadvantages of online classes
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Monitoring comprehension

• As you finish reading each section, answer the
  question.
• Section 1 Who conducts the survey for the most
  livable city?
• Section 2 Which city was the most livable city
  in 2009? Why?
• Section 3 What three factors make it a great
  city to live in?

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Reading fluency

• Timed readings
• Word recognition exercises
• Capacity building

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Post-reading activities

• Comprehension
• Critical analysis and evaluation
• Summarizing or paraphrasing
• Task-based output
• Reflection and integrated activities

Photo
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Comprehension

• Answer these questions. Re-read the story if you
  need to.
• Why was the narrator afraid of the old man?
• What indications are there that the narrator is
  mad?

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Critical analysis and evaluation

• In which lines of the reading does the author
  give factual information?
• In which lines does the author give her opinion.
• How do you know?

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Summarizing or paraphrasing

• Write a paragraph in which you summarize the
  reading.
• Write one sentence for each paragraph.
• Be sure to use your own words. Do not quote
  directly from the text.

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Task-based output

• Go back to the section describing how to make a
  paper airplane.
• Take a piece of paper and follow the
  instructions.
• Show your airplane to your classmates.
• Did everyones come out the same way?

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Reflection and integrated activities

• Do you agree with the author that technology is
  bad for human relationships?
• Write a paragraph giving your opinion. Use
  quotations from the text to help focus your
  argument.

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Putting it all together
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Putting it all together

• Directions
• Read the text at the end of the handout.
• With a partner or in a small group, select two
  activities for either the pre-, during, or post-
  reading portion of the lesson.
• What activities would you choose? How would you
  design each activity? What would the students
  need to do to complete these tasks? How long
  would each task take to complete?

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Photo Credits

• All photos from flickr used under a Creative
  Commons Attribution license
• Snowy street striatic
• Shopper in aisle Elsie esq
• Rabbit reading email Toms Baugis
• Amazed child with book Pierre Vignau
• Shelf of books Alan Levine
• Soccer girls Randy, son of Robert
• B W book and feet striatic
• Punk girl reading txd
• Vocabulary list Autumn Bliss
• Blueprints Todd Ehlers
• Test sergis blog
• Dinosaur classroom worldislandinfo.com
• Bottom up Judith Green
• Top down Marya emdot

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Photo credits

• All photos from flickr used under a Creative
  Commons Attribution license
• Disintegrating sign Peter Morgan
• Strategy Joe McVeigh
• Aisles of choices Lyza Danger
• Clear water swimmers Lali Masriera
• Pole vaulter latvian
• Sack race Ian Chalmers
• Gears Ralphbijkers
• Yellow chain Jurek Durczak
• Pump Tinyfroglet
• Framed house Stephen Brotschul
• Hand with highlighter Steph McGlenchy
• B W classroom Chuck Phillips, U. of Arizona
  CESL
• Puzzle Antoanetta
• Question mark Ethan Lofton
• Blue bear Jeff Turner
• Flower and sky Joanne Quirante-Escober

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Materials Writers Interest Section

• Come to the open meeting 5-7pm CC 602
• Visit the booth in the exhibit area
• Check your program book on p. 214 for more
  sessions
• Join the MWIS e-list through TESOL

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Come to our other presentations

• Pathways to Successful Co-authoring
• Friday, 7-745 AM CC 503
• Daphne Mackey Jennifer Bixby
• The World of Freelance ESL Editing
• Saturday, 5-545 CC 506
• Dorothy Zemach Jennifer Bixby

• Exploring College Slang
• Friday, 11-1145 CC 504
• Joe McVeigh Ann Wintergerst
• Current Trends in ESL/EFL Publishing
• Saturday, 3-445 CC 304
• Joe McVeigh, Louisa Hellegers, PietroAlongi,
  Sherrise Roehr, Laura Pearson

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Thank you
Download the PowerPoint slides www.joemcveigh.org/
resources