Techniques for teaching reading comprehension

s international? What types of foods are common fast foods? How do most people make decision about food and diet? What are some examples of diets based on location, history, tradition, or religion? How are diet choices becoming more alike around global? (Interactions I: Reading, Chapter 3, page 43) 2. TRUE/FALSE PREDICTION(Description) The teacher writes 5-10 statements about the main points of a reading or listening text. Half of the statements are true and the other half are false. The students are asked to work in pairs and decide if the statements are true or false. The teacher writes students’ guesses on the board. The students are asked to read the reading text to check their answers. 2. TRUE/FALSE PREDICTION(Example) Before you read the text “Tourism: the biggest business in the world” (Tourism 1-Unit 1 page 10), discuss these statements with a partner. Write T (true) or F (false). One in fifty of all workers are employed in tourism related industries. The number of international tourism arrivals will be more than double between 2004 and 2020. Tourists often worry about international security. Tourism has only had a good influence on the modern world. 3. ORDERING PICTURES(Description) The teacher prepares some simple pictures to describe a story or a text, and sticks them on the board randomly. Students work in groups to rearrange the pictures and think of a story based on their picture order. This activity is also used for while techniques to check the ideas students have heard or read about. 3. ORDERING PICTURES(Example) Look at the pictures and arrange them in a logical order. Then, read the text “Are we alone in the universe?” and check your answer. (Lifelines/Elementary - Unit 12: Health - page 85) 4. MULTIPLE CHOICE(Description) The teacher prepares questions about the ideas in the text. For each question, there are three or four options for students to choose from. 4. MULTIPLE CHOICE(Example) Read the text “Child Prodigies” (New Interchange 2- Unit 12: It’s been a long time! page 77), then choose the best answer to each of the following questions. 1. When did Sarah begin studying at the famous Juilliard School of Music? A. 4	B. 5	C. 7	D. 8 2. How long did Michael finish his high school classes? A. 4 years	B. 3 years	C. 2 years	D. one year 3. What did Alexandra do at the age of 8? A. became interested in art	B. met Picasso C. had her first art exhibition	D. sold many paintings 5. GAP- FILL(Description) The teacher writes a short paragraph with several blanks in it. The blanks can be lexical or grammatical items or both. The more blanks the paragraph has, the more difficult it is. If the students are weak, words to fill in the blanks should be provided. Students are required to work in pairs, and then compare their answers. Students write the words they guess on the board. 5. GAP- FILL (Example) Read the text “Getting more for less” (New interchange 2, Unit 5: Going places - page 33) and choose appropriate words in the text complete the blanks in the following summary. There are some ways to travel for less. First, buy cheap airplane ticket. You can buy ………..plan tickets two or three months in advance. The cheapest way is flying as …………,which costs as little 25% of the normal fare. Another way is buying………….if you are going to do a lot of traveling. Buying a single train pass gives you…….. travel for a period of time. Train passes are useful in India, ……… and European countries. Moreover, staying in hostels when traveling may help you to save money. Not only do hostels provide cheap…………., but nowadays they are also a great way to meet new people. 6. ORDERING(Description) This technique is used for pre-reading or pre-listening. The teacher writes about 6 or 8 statements on the main points of a reading text, but the statements are jumbled. The students are asked to work in groups or pairs to predict the order of the statements. This technique is also used for while-techniques to check the ideas students have heard or read about. The teacher writes students’ guess on the board. 6. ORDERING(Example) Read the text about “Joan Chen” (New Interchange 2-Unit 1: A time to remember- page 7) and arrange the following events into the correct order according to the text. She went to college in the United States and majored in film. She won the Golden Rooster, China’s top film award. She has become famous since she starred in The Last Emperor. She was born and grew up in Shanghai in 1961. She looked for work in Hollywood agents. She was chosen to study at a film studio. 7. ANSWER GIVEN(Description) The teacher writes several answers on the board. Students are asked to read a text and make questions based on the answers given. 7. ANSWER GIVEN(Example) Read the text “Hip-Hop Fashions” (New Interchange 1- Unit 9- page 59), then write the questions for the answers. a type of urban music with heavy beat African American kids in Detroit and Chicago blouses and skirts with cartoon characters on them $ 100 8. PRE-QUESTIONS(Description) This technique is used for pre-reading. The teacher writes a few questions on the board. These questions should focus on the main ideas of the reading text. The teacher gives students a few minutes to think about the questions. Students are asked to read and answer the questions. It doesn’t master if students can’t guess correctly. 8. PRE-QUESTIONS(Example) Before you read the text “National Parks” (Tieng Anh 10- Unit 11- page 112-113), work with a partner to answer the following questions: Have you ever been to a national park? Can you name some of the national parks in Vietnam and in the world? What trees and animals can you see in a national park? 9. GRIDS(Description) The teacher draws a grid on the board. The grid will contain the main information of the reading text. Students are asked to read the text and fill in the gaps with information taken from the text. Then they are asked to write the information in the grid on the board. 9. GRID(S) (Example)Read the reading passage “the story of my village” (Tieng Anh 10- Unit 8- page 82-83) and complete the following table. 10. MATCHING (Description) The teacher writes the main ideas of paragraphs from the reading text on the board. Students read the text and match these main ideas with the number of the paragraph. OR: The teacher writes the main/essential ideas from the reading text and several details related to the main ideas. Students read the text and connect the main ideas with the details. 10. MATCHING (Example) Read the text “Education: A Reflection of Society” (Interactions II / Reading- chapter 1/part I - page 7-9). Match the paragraphs with topics below. Write the letters of the paragraphs on the lines. __________ Conclusion: Education as a reflection of society __________ A country that places a lot of importance on education and makes students take difficult exam. __________ A country that offers education to everyone but also has problems in its school. _________ A country where equality and national unity are important __________ A country where social class is very important __________ Introduction: Education as a mirror of a culture 11. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS(Description) These questions are related to the main ideas of a reading text to check students’ comprehension. Students work individually or in pairs to answer questions from the teacher or from the textbook. Students are encouraged to check and compare the answer before the teacher gives feedback. 11. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS(Example) Read the text “People’s background” (Tieng Anh 10- Unit 3- page 32-33) and answer the questions below. When and where was Marie Curie born? What kind of student was she? Why did she work as a private tutor? For what service was she awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry? Was the prize her real joy? why/ why not? 12. NETWORK (Description) This can be used for students to brainstorm in the pre-reading stage. The teacher writes the network on the board. Students are required to work individually to find ideas related to the topic of the network and then compare their answers in pairs or groups, and then the teacher collects the ideas from the students. 12. NETWORK (Example) Think of the words you know related to the topic “music” (Tieng Anh 10 Unit 12- page 124-125) and write them on the network. E.g. kinds of music important roles of music in daily life famous music composers famous singers in Vietnam/ in the world Post-Reading Techniques Discussion Role -play Write – it - up Discussion (Example 1) Work in groups to discuss other uses of the computer in our daily life. (Tieng Anh 10, Unit 5: Technology and you, page 54-55) Discussion (Example 2) Talk about these questions 1. The article lists several signs of being in love. Can you think of other signs? 2. Do you agree that staying in love is even better than falling in love? Is it more difficult? (New Interchange 2, Unit 9: Back to the future, page 59) Role-play (Example 1) Work in pairs to ask each other about a favorite holiday in Vietnam, using the following points to make questions and answers the name of the holiday the time to celebrate the meaning of the holiday activities on that day (what to eat/ drink, what to do) your feeling when that holiday comes (New Interchange 2, Unit 8” Let’s celebrate, page 51) Role-play (Example 2) Work in pairs to make a conversation between a New Yorker and a Vietnamese tourist, using the following points to questions and answers. located population the Dutch Fort Amsterdam renamed New Yorkers (Tieng Anh 10, Unit 15: Cities, page 157) Write-it-up (Example 1) Choose a member of your family or friend. Write a magazine article about his/ her job. Think about these things (who? what? where? morning/afternoon/ evening/ like the job? why/why not? (Lifelines/Elementary, Unit 6: Daily life, page 42-43) Write-it-up (Example 2) Write a description of your ideal home. (Lifelines/ Elementary, Unit 7: Places, Reading: Home sweet home, page 51)