1. Cynthia Wiseman

2. Reading
Motivation
Framework & activities
Reading groups
Materials & Technology
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Resources
Vocabulary development
Q&A

3. “…We must work fiercely as a society to preserve the
development of particular aspects of reading….” – Wolfson,
Proust and the Squid (23)
 The reading brain is a complex network of synaptic circuitry
that is developed through the process of reading.
 The brain circuitry developed in the reading brain must be
wired to activate schema and sustain that schema over a long
period of time.
ABE Instructional challenge: to help adults develop that
circuitry by engaging with the text of longer works through
structured activities in a social environment.

4. Why is reading an important skill to develop? List 3
reasons.
 Has reading enriched your life? Describe what reading
means to you.
What’s your reading speed? At what speed do you think
your students read? What would be a goal?
What reading materials do you use with your class now?
List some. Put them in order of difficulty.
What is a reading strategy that you use? How would you
demonstrate this strategy to your students?
What rewards do you give students for improving their
reading proficiency?
What are the criteria for improving reading fluency?

6. Identify why reading is
an important skill to
develop
Discuss your personal
passion for reading and
how you have benefited
personally from being an
avid reader.
Use prereading activities like
Shadow Reading to prepare
students for meaningful
engagement with a text
Directly relate the reading
material to the previous
knowledge of the readers to
show them that what they
are reading ties to things
they have read and learned
previously, e.g.,
activate the schema
Decreasing Expected
Effort

7. Listening & dictation tool.
Create your own
dictation.
Ready-made dictation
exercises in a number of
languages.
Track students progress
Create homework tasks.
Competitions: keep a
class scoreboard to show
which students are doing
best.
http://www.listen-and-w
/

9. Shadow Reading: record the selection on
Listen and Write, distribute the reading to Ss,
let them listen and shadow read at home

10.  Audio or video tape or online websites, e.g., Listen and Write (video is better
as the students can see the lip movements & there are the paralinguistics - the
body language)
 Choose a short part of the text, eg. 8-10 lines of the dialogue, & give the script
out for the students to read & listen at the same time.
 At this stage Ss could analyze the script & mark the sense groups - words
which are said together between pauses.
 Play the recording again but this time the students talk along with it in exactly
the same way as the speakers, taking on their accents. If it is a dialogue, you
could have each speaker being imitated by different halves of the class. Play
the tape a few times & as the students become more confident & accurate,
slowly turn the volume down so that you can't hear the original, only the
students. So in effect they are dubbing the text.
 Tape the students' version & use it for a comparison with the original & an
analysis of different phonological aspects.
 Ss try hard to sound as natural as the speakers on the tape
 SS gain confidence as they realize how good they sound
 Follow up with discussions re reading and re the process

11. Do animals have Language? What’s the difference
between human language and animal
communication?
Please read the paragraph.
What difficulties did you have in reading this
paragraph? Please discuss with a partner.
What else could I have done to activate the schema of
participants before asking then to read the passage?
video

12.  Abstract
 Syntactic rules allow a speaker to combine signals with existing meanings
to create an infinite number of new meanings. Even though combinatory
rules have also been found in some animal communication systems, they
have never been clearly linked to concurrent changes in meaning. The
present field experiment indicates that wild Diana monkeys,
Cercopithecus diana, may comprehend the semantic changes caused by a
combinatory rule present in the natural communication of another
primate, the Campbell's monkey, C. campbelli. Campbell's males give
acoustically distinct alarm calls to leopards, Panthera pardus, and
crowned-hawk eagles, Stephanoaetus coronatus, and Diana monkeys
respond to these calls with their own corresponding alarm calls. However,
in less dangerous situations, Campbell's males emit a pair of low,
resounding ‘boom’ calls before their alarm calls. Playbacks of boom-
introduced Campbell's alarm calls no longer elicited alarm calls in Diana
monkeys, indicating that the booms have affected the semantic specificity
of the subsequent alarm calls. When the booms preceded the alarm calls
of Diana monkeys, however, they were no longer effective as semantic
modifiers, indicating that they are meaningful only in conjunction with
Campbell's alarm calls. I discuss the implications of these findings for the
evolution of syntactic abilities.

13. Invite former students who
are successful readers to visit
your class and share how
their improvement of reading
skills has helped them reach
their personal and academic
goals
Create class reading goals for
words-per-minute (wpm)
and comprehension, e.g.,
Timed Readings. Post the
goals in the classroom
Engage the readers in
specific reading rate
improvement exercises so
that they see that they can
improve their reading
fluency
Use all of your knowledge
about the specific group of
students you are currently
teaching to maintain
achievable goals
Decreasing expected
effort

14. Please read this passage as quickly as you can.
Look up at me when you have finished and I will write
your time on the board.
Calculate your reading speed: divide 706 words by
your time in minutes, e.g., 1.5 or 2
P. 230 Real Reading, Pearson

16. You will need:
 Stopwatch or clock
 Pencil
 Clipboard (so students will not see what you are writing)
 1-minute reading selection
Start the stopwatch when the student begins the first word of the passageT
Assure the student you will say an unknown word after a couple of seconds .
After one minute, say "Stop," stop the stopwatch, and circle the last word read.
During the reading, don’t correct mistakes. Mistakes and self-correction will be counted in the score.
If the student has extreme difficulty, stop the test.
 Reassure the student that she or he will redo the assessment after further reading practice.
 Select a lower level passage for the next assessment.
Follow as the S reads..
Make a slash ( / ) through any words missed or unable toread without help.
 Mark a dash above words skipped.
Errors include:
 Skipped words
 Mispronounced words
 Word substitutions, including incorrect forms of the word
 Words in the wrong order; both or all words are counted as wrong
 Struggling that lasts for 3 to 5 seconds, or more
 The following are not considered misses:
 Added words
 Varying pronunciation due to accent, dialect, or speech impediment
 Repetitions in which the wording is correct
 Self-correcting a mistake; the word is scored as correct.

17.  Count the total words read in one minute using the words-per-line totals
listed in the margin (WPM reading rate)
 Mark this on a chart, along with the date of the reading.
 Count the number of errors (slashes). Record the number in the "errors" box
 Subtract the number of errors from the total number of words read to find the
number of correct words read.
 Divide the number of correct words by the total words read and multiply this
result by 100. This is the student's accuracy percentage.
 Record this number in the box.
 After about four to six readings, students should reach the target words-per-
minute standard for their grade level with an accuracy rate of 90 to 95
percent.
 Example:Total words read: 60Number of errors: 6
 Number of correct words:60 – 6 = 54
 Accuracy percentage:54/60 = .9
 .9 x 100 = 90%

18. Select a variety of reading
passages at slightly different
levels of difficulty so that
students can see the progress
they are making yet the
challenges that are still ahead
to become better readers.
Resource:, e.g,
Fry Readability Generator
Model for your students the
strategies that you use while
reading in your second
language
Allow readers to select
some of their own
reading materials for
extensive reading
outside of the classroom.
Allow readers to work
with their peers during
comprehension checks.
Decreasing Expected
Effort

19. Used to calculate grade reading level (or reading difficulty
level)
 Average number of sentences (y-axis) and syllables (x-axis)
per hundred words are plotted onto a specific graph;
To calculate a grade level score:
Randomly select three separate 100 word passages. (Count
every word including proper nouns, initializations, and
numerals.)
Count the number of sentences in each 100 word sample
(estimate to nearest tenth).
Count the number of syllables in each 100 word sample.
(Each numeral is a syllable. For example, 2007 counts as 1
word with 4 syllables.)
Plot the average sentence length and the average number of
syllables on the graph.
The area in which it falls is the approximate grade

20. http://www.readabilityformulas.com/free-readability-form
The Dale-Chall Formula calculates the US grade level
of a text sample based on sentence length and the
number of ‘hard’ words.
http://www.readabilityformulas.com/new-dale-chall-
readability-formula.php

21.  Provide genuine praise for the
improvements that Ss are making in
increasing their reading fluency
 Establish the criteria for successful
completion of reading tasks prior to
engaging in the reading, e.g., increase
wpm by__, find pp. x-x in novel,
learn x-number of new words/week,
be able to decode an unknown word
based on context/parts of
words/understand an article from
NYTimes, be able to paraphrase the
idea in a sentence/ be able to
summarize the author’s main idea in
a paragraph/article/essay, be able to
write a letter to editor re issue.
Engage readers in
comprehension checks
that do not require them
to take a written test
Teach readers how to self-
assess their performance
based on predetermined
criteria for successful
completion of reading
tasks
Decreasing expected
effort

22. Controlled-vocabulary basal reading series, 50s/60s
Skills mastery curriculum models and materials (1960s/70s)
Literature-based instruction
Process approaches to writing
Integrated language arts, 80s/90s
Schema theory: reading is a constructive process in which
reader is creating meaning from a text
Transactional theory of reading: reading is activity that
combines the energies of the writer and reader, with meaning
the product of the unique collaboration of text and reader in
any act of reading – “live circuit”: when reader meets text it
allows a reader to infuse meaning with the text as the text
guides and contains that meaning.

23. Features of the Good Reading Task
Nunan (1999)
Makes use of authentic and challenging texts
Frequently involves an oral reading of the text by the teacher or a
student followed by silent reading and rereading of the text
Provides students with a rhetorical or topical framework for processing
and analyzing the text
Involves the student interacting with the text and with each other
Involves students in direct analysis of the text instead of indirect
question answering
Frequently involves the transfer of information from text to a visual or
diagrammatic representation

24. Active, constructive, social experience
Fosters independent readers
Uninterrupted sustained silent reading – technique
designed to engage students in free reading of self-
selected materials
People learn and remember more when conditions
require them to understand the material.
Activities: collaborative group work/comprehension
questions/vocabulary lists/crossword
puzzles/timelines/class discussions/wikis/PowerPoint
presentations/critical analysis/book review – multiple
drafts

25.  Comprehension questions: micro & micro; include questions that require attention to
language for meaning
 Prediction, summarizing, paraphrasing: Wordle
 vocabulary exercises/crosswords
 Information gap
 Jigsaw
 Role play & dialogues– characters
 Journal writing: write on the same topic first from the point of view of 1 character and
then from that of another character
 Book reviews/critiques
 Websites, e.g., www.wikipedia.com
Student-generated wikis/blogs
 Student Samples
 Wiki pages/blogs for each book
 PPTs for each book
 Elements of fiction
 Book review
 http://esl094bmcc.wikispaces.com/Books

26. •Create colorful graphic
representations of texts based
on word occurrence from any
given text.
•Feed in the text either by
copy and paste or by
specifying a URL
•Analyze text and creates a
colorful representation with
more frequently occurring
words appearing much larger
than less frequent words.
•Adjust colors and designs to
suit your taste.
http://www.wordle.
net/

28. Review/Summarize/Retell text
Prediction
Dialogue reconstruction
Short poems / Haiku
Text comparison
Topic research tasks

29. Features of the Good Reading Task
Nunan (1999)
The Role of Wikis in Reading Tasks
Makes use of authentic and challenging
texts
Repository of authentic reading passages and
materials, e.g., links to relevant websites and e-
books
Frequently involves an oral reading of the
text by the teacher or a student followed by
silent reading and rereading of the text
Collaborative writing/reading projects require
reading and rereading of texts, individually and
independently and collectively and collaboratively
Provides students with a rhetorical or
topical framework for processing and
analyzing the text
Wiki format has certain rhetorical characteristics
that require that the learner process and analyze
the text,
Involves the student interacting with the
text and with each other
Wiki projects require student-to-student
collaboration and student-to-text engagement and
analysis
Involves students in direct analysis of the
text instead of indirect question answering
Wiki content requires analytical and higher order
critical thinking tasks, such as monitoring posts,
fact-checking information, and editing
Frequently involves the transfer of
information from text to a visual or
diagrammatic representation
The presentation of content in the wiki medium
involves the transfer of information from text to a
visual or diagrammatic representation.

33. Materials to Support Novels/Books
Resource/support for reading, writing, grammar
Comprehension Questions & discussion
Student –created Wikis about assigned readings, e.g., novels
Student Power Points about Novels
Vocabulary Resource
Vocabulary Development
Suffixes
Interactive w/ readings
Student contributions

34.  Denotative meaning: dictionary definition, e.g., look at/over: detect
errors
 Connotative meaning: the meaning of the word in the context of the
language/culture
 Creating ‘concept pods’ – Merton, Test-L listserve
Classification/categorization of words in semantic fields
Labeling pictures
Grids/charts w/ categories
Semantic mapping or clustering
 Repeated processing
Vivian Cook (1991)
10-12 encounters with word: active vocabulary
The deeper the processing, the more likely acquisition
Grammar & Reading
 Learning roots and prefixes
 Learning major suffixes that change a word from one grammatical
category to another.

35. Fill in the blanks with the following words:
 Check
 Examine
 Inspect
 Scan
 Scrutinize
1. The immigration official _____ his luggage at Customs.
2. The computer spell checker ____ the document for errors.
3. The researcher _____ the results of the analysis for any
oversights.
4. The student ____ his homework before handing it in.
5. The doctor ____ the patient at his annual check-up.
How are each of these words used? Context?

39. Blogging …
Promotes more effective
communication skills
Encourages critical thinking

40. Promotes development of reading/writing ability
Integrates reading and writing
Requires response to reading
Heuristic:
What did the writer say?
How do I feel about that?
What do I think about that?

41. Writers & readers become active participants in
communication
Develop critical thinking skills
Develop a perspective about what they’ve read
Develop confidence as a reader and writer

42. English Vocabulary Games with Pictures
http://www.manythings.org/lulu/
Just Read Now: Provides different instructional approaches, such as concept mapping,
Frayer model, and contextual redefinition
http://www.justreadnow.com/strategies/vocabulary.htm
“A Little Latin…and a Lot of English” -- This article, written by Newton and Newton,
offers guidelines and resources for teaching the “classic vocabulary” approach woven
through a happy school memory of “Roots Day.
http://ohiorc.org/adlit/InPerspective/Issue/2005-06/Article/Feature.aspx
“A Focus on Vocabulary” -- From Pacific Resources for Education and Learning and
written by Lehr, Osborn, and Hiebert, this is research overview has in-depth information in
a reader-friendly format. The 44-page booket could be used for professional development
or even shared with parents.
http://www.prel.org/products/re_/ES0419.htm
.

43. Use theme-based approach
Supplemental materials related to topics
Online resources
Websites/programs
Wikis
Blogs
Promotes engagement w/ text and w/ peers
Develops critical thinking skills
Increased input and fosters language acquisition
Increases motivation