Magic words

Activity title:

Magic words, Reading and Writing, part 4

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Skill(s):

Reading and Writing

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Level(s):

A1-A2

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Exam part:

Reading and Writing, part 4

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Aim(s):

To develop reading and writing skills, to analyze the information in order to understand the usage of different words and word patterns. This activity is also aimed to enlarge the experience in using some simple grammar rules in context

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Materials needed:

- Flyers book Authentic Examination papers 2, Student's book, Cambridge University Press, page 16-17
- Handouts or slides to show on the screen - if you have online format of teaching

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Preparation:

A teacher needs to prepare the following materials:

1. Pre-reading task 1

It can be a handout or a slide with a picture of a swan and 3 items to finish the sentence about a swan:

A swan:

1. can fly but it can't swim

2. is a big beautiful bird

3. is a bird that lives in hot countries

2. Pre-reading task 2 - a handout or a slide

Read the sentences and answer the questions:

1. There are different kinds of birds in the world. What kinds of birds do you know?

2. Some people can be unkind to birds. And how can we help / protect birds?

3. What colour can swans be?

4. They have very strong wings and they can hurt people with their wings. How big are the wings: 1 or 2 meters long?

3. While-reading task

Read the text quickly and underline adjectives describing swans with one line and actions the birds can do - with two lines

4. After-reading task

Draw / fill in the spidergram about swans

5. Reading task - read the task in your student's book and choose the correct item.

6. After-reading task

Let's read and correct the task.

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Procedure:

According to the level of students in a particular group of students teacher uses this set of exercises:

Step 1. Pre-reading tasks - students should do them before reading Part 4.

Task 1 - lead in activity. It makes them ready to get the information and activate the knowledge about birds. The bright images and imagination are good to stimulate children's mental work, so there is a picture in this exercise.

Task 2 - activate the vocabulary and knowledge about swans. In this task students read the sentences where they can see the usage of the words and word patterns. It's a kind of the example for children to use these vocabulary in speaking or writing. Moreover there is some additional information they can discuss.

Step 2. - While-reading task: reading should be productive so while reading they underline adjectives with one line and verbs with two lines. While reading they concentrate their attention and focus on specific information: adjectives and verbs. And they do it at once, in parallel to reading. Thus they get used to spread their attention to the contest of the text which is important for filling in the gaps.

Step 3. After-reading - the children create their own spider gram or fill in the spidergram on the handout or on the slide. Thus they develop reading and writing skills, moreover they activate their attention. They can use their creativity as well.

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Variation(s)

The number of tasks can be different - it depends on the language level of students.
It is also possible to make printable handouts and online slides - it will be great if you have on-line students or even both online and offline ones.

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Reflections

Working fully on this task helps the children to develop productive and effective reading skills. They get used to reading attentively and thoroughly. This stimulates reading and understanding a factual text and paying attention to the usage of words and simple grammar.