Improving students’ reading skill by planning plentiful activities in reading lessons

INDEX
Page 
PART 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................2
I. Reasons for choosing the research2
II. Aims of the research2
III. Scope, objects and researching methods....2
PART 2: CONTENT....3	 3
I. The theoretical basis of the study .....3
1. The roles of teaching reading skill ..3
2. What affects students’ reading skill?..................................................3
II. The states of teaching and learning English at secondary schools..3
III. The solutions for effective lessons.....4
1. Tips to develop reading skill4
2. Teaching reading skill..4
3. Using some other methods to improve students’ reading skill.10 
IV. Example lessons12
V. The result of the study..17
PART 3. CONCLUSION..18
References ...19
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
I. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE RESEARCH 
 	English is known as the worldwide spoken language nowadays and almost all of the people need to know this language so as to communicate and integrate. Therefore, English is a compulsory subject applied across the whole higher educational system in Vietnam. 
While learning English students have lots of difficulties and have no patience in pronunciation, learning vocabulary, grammar and so on. In four skills: listening skill, speaking skill, reading skill and writing skill, reading skill often makes students lose their patience most , especially for students in grade 8 and grade 9. As a teacher of English I recognize that teaching reading skill, a receptive skill is particularly important because a reading text can be a model for writing. Therefore, we are need to be good at making questions with different levels of understanding and our responsibility is to teach students how to ask questions before , during and after they read the text. Reading is a receptive skill. When we read we are able to understand written language in books, letters, etc. However, to teach a reading lesson effectively and successfully, it’s important for the teacher to give clear instructions. As a result I decided to focus this thesis on teaching reading skill. The topic is “improving students’ reading skill by planning plentiful activities in reading lessons”.
II. AIMS OF THE RESEARCH
With the reasons above in my mind, the specific aim of the research accordingly are:
To help the students improve their reading skills.
To encourage the students to use the language they’ve learnt to solve the communicative tasks.
To encourage the students to be interested in learning English
III. SCOPE, OBJECT AND RESEARCHING METHOD
1. Scop: Researching in the process of teaching English at my school.
2. Object: This subject is concerned with ways of using different questions in reading.
3. Researching method: Reading reference books , discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences.
PART 2: CONTENTS
I. THEORITICAL BASIS OF THE STUDY:
1. The roles of teaching reading skill
	Before I give some practical suggestions on how to develop the reading skills of our students, I would like to emphasize the importance of having well developed reading skills and why they should be constantly developed. Reading skill is one of the most important and necessary skill in teaching and learning a language at secondary school. In an English lesson, students read to get information and check the data to find out the correct answers, if they can’t find the answers that means they find it difficult to get knowledge and remember the information long. 
	Students also save lots of information by being taught writing or in books, newspapers and so on. Therefore, reading can be improved anywhere and at any time. Thus, teachers must create different questions to have effective lesson, as well as encourage students to study English better.
	Teaching students to read an English test skillfully is difficult for many students, especially for students who are in different levels. Being a teacher I think we should give lots of activities in reading lessons in order to consolidate the previous activities such as listening and writing.
In a communicative lesson, teaching reading is more necessary with plentiful types of contents connecting to students’ daily life so students will be interested in these activities and they will be encouraged to learn better.
2. What affects students’ reading skill? 
During the reading lessons as well as an English lesson, there are some factors affect students’ reading skill.
Students find it difficult in generalize the knowledge so they need to be taught carefully to improve their reading skill.
Students often react inactively to the text with lots of new words and new structures.
Students tend to try to understand a new language rather than read an old text.
Teachers can guess the difficulties students may have when they read an unfamiliar passage.
Students’ experience often changes when they are at different ages.
Students’ ability in reasoning, speaking, the knowledge of phrases, sentences, sound as well as other definitions affect actively students’ success.
II. THE STATES OF TEACHING AND LEARING ENGLISH AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL.
1. For teachers:
	As we know, the amount of the knowledge in English books is too big, especially in the reading lesson. The topics are diversified and plentiful that is the reason why many teachers have difficulties in planning and organizing the lessons effectively. Because:
- the number of students in a class is too big
- the different levels among students
- The supplying and practicing new structures and vocabulary are not easy with students, especially bad students.
- there is not enough time to use warm- up questions. That is the reason why teachers aren’t able to know students’ real ability.
2. For students:
Changing the teaching methods means students are the central of the lessons and the effect of the lessons depends on students’ ability, their activeness and initiative. During the reading lesson, students may have some limitations. Such as:
Students read the text and try to translate word by word into Vietnamese.
Students pay attention too much to minor points and lose important ones
Students’ vocabulary is not enough so they can’t get the main ideas.
Most students don’t understand the importance of learning English these days. Therefore, they are not willing in their studying. Moreover, their awareness of self- education is low.
Students’ knowledge about the surroundings is limited.
Reading lessons are not usually as interesting as other ones.
These are the main reasons that I decide to find the solutions to improve students’ reading skill. 
III. THE SOLUTIONS FOR EFFECTIVE RERADING LESSONS
1. Tips to develop the reading skill
I will try to simplify and outline certain tips that students can be reminded of: 
 Every reading activity must have a clearly stated aim. You should know why you are reading, and what’s the purpose. 
In order to understand the aim of the reading more easily, the purpose or the aim should be embodied in a follow up activity provided by the instructor. 
Students must be aware of the reading techniques and know which one they should use in order to complete the task depending on the type of text and the aim/follow-up activity. 
In order to help students to develop their reading skill effectively, we first distinguish simple reading skills used in teaching foreign language.
2. Teaching reading skills
2.1. Types of reading:
- Skimming is a reading technique that provides understanding of the whole text without reading it from word to word. It involves discovering the main ideas of a text by reading first and last paragraphs and topic sentences, and paying attention to other details on the page like titles, bold type or italics, photograph captions, etc
- Scanning is a type of reading that students uses to find specific information without reading the whole text. It involves looking down and around a page quickly and efficiently searching for important words, facts or phrases to find specific information. When scanning a text, students should use peripheral vision and shouldn’t focus only on the logical flow of the text.
- Reading to study 
Its aim is to understand the material in depth. The method involves five simple steps; Survey, Question, Read, Recall and Review. 
+ Survey: skim through to gain an overview and not key points. 
+ Question: devise questions you hope the text will answer. 
+ Read: slowly and carefully. 
+ Recall: from memory, write down the main points made by the chapter. 
+ Review: revisit your questions - compare these to your recall and establish how well the text has answered them; fill in any gaps by further reading and note-taking. 
2.2. Activities in a reading lesson:
Each reading activity should be preceded by a warm-up activity relevant to the type of text and the follow-up activity or the aim of the reading. 
We can introduce the topic, ask opinion, check background knowledge on the topic; 
We can ask a question connected to the main idea, elicit possible answers from students; 
they can predict the content of the text (from the title, photo, key word(s) provided by the instructor); 
the reading can also be based on the previous lecture, and used as revision, so the students will be familiar with the content. 
Provide clear instructions. Assign time for completion of the task.
Monitor. At the end of the task, leave enough time for checking the answers, feedback, comments, questions.
Putting paragraphs in order: Cut the text in meaningful paragraphs (one A4 page cut into no more than five paragraphs and not less than 3). Distribute the same paragraphs to all groups of students or if the text is bigger, We can give different parts of the text to each group, and then ask them to connect the whole text between groups
2.2.1. Pre- reading activities:
In this activity teachers should introduce the general ideas of the text. Using the knowledge in the real life to ask students to guess the content of the text by asking warming up questions. If the reading is a dialogue , we can ask students some questions about the place, the number of people in the dialogue. If it is a passage, we can give student some information to lead students to the main points of the text.
Furthermore, we can use the pictures in the textbook to help students know the main ideas. Some activities include: 
- warm up
- set the scene
- explain the new words
- suggest and lead students to the main ideas of the text.
- Ask students to predict the content of the text
Teachers give some suggesting questions which usually show the new structures through the text. 
Scanning skill is usually used in this activity.
Example 1 : Unit 1-READ (page 9, 10) English 9
The teacher asks students before they read the text:
Is Malaysia in Asia?
How many parts (regions) are there?
The Vietnamese unit of currency is “dong”. What is Malaysia unit of currency?
What is the capital of Malaysia?
How many religions are there?
How many languages are spoken in Malaysia?
	With these questions students can know what they are going to learn about. Moreover, we can match the knowledge of geography in teaching a reading lesson to make it more interesting and can develop free- talking of students who are not good at English. As a result, we can help students understand the questions they are going to answer.
Example 2: Unit 2-READ (page 17) English 9.
In the English book in grade 9, we can use some pictures to warm up students before they read the text. For example, In unit 2- part Read we can use the picture at page 17 and ask students some questions: 
What do they do?
What are they wearing? 
Are they nice? handsome?
Are jeans fashionable?
Do you like jeans?
After students answer these questions we can ask some more open- questions to help students understand the text
Do you know where and when jeans come from?
What are they made of?
We can create true-false exercises
Example 3: Unit 3-READ (page 25) English 9.
	T/F statements:
Van is from the USA.
He is living with the Parkers.
Mr Parker is a farmer.
They have three children.
Van helps Mr Parker on the farm after school.
This is the most common method many teachers use in reading lessons. However students may not develop other skills such as speaking skill and they do not need the social knowledge .
2.2.2. While-reading activities:
In this part activities are organized to help student to practice reading skills. Some skills are applied in each exercise. Students usually read with the full knowledge about the text and can answer all the questions related to the text. Moreover, students can get the important ideas of the text through reading. They feel more confident to do the exercises. However, we shouldn’t require students in grade 8 or 9 read the text because the text may be long and have o lot of difficult words. In this activity we should change the tasks more often. We can divide the class into some groups and each group has one task that depends on students’ level.
While teaching teachers ask some questions to guide students to understand the text, and we can know how each student can make progress. We should encourage students to answer the questions whether the answer is correct or not. Furthermore, we should organize work group for students to discuss the questions together. By this way, all the students in the class have to attend the activity and they can help each other. The form of the answer can be spoken one or written one. Due to the text, teachers should make short questions so that students can understand the text clearly.
Some activities include: 
- do the exercise while reading
- teachers change the way to analyze the contents of the text that depends on the level of the text.
- Students correct their exercises themselves.
- Questions: Answer the Q, T/F statements, Multiple choice, Complete, Gap fill, Mach, Choosing, Tick..etc.
Example 1 : English 8 – Unit 13: Festivals
 Lesson: Reading.
Christmas is an important festival in many countries around the world.
There are four things which are special in Christmas eve. Use the information in the reading to complete the table.
Christmas Specials
Place of origin
Date
Riga
Mid – 19 th century
Christmas carols
USA
We can ask students in groups more about Christmas after they do the exercise about; Therefore, the lesson is more exciting and students have a change to discuss the text in English.
Moreover, teachers can ask students to work in groups to tell some festivals in Thanh Hoa such as Lam Kinh festival, Ba Trieu festival.
Example 2: Unit 5-READ (page 43, 44) English 9
	We divide the class into 3 groups, each group read each passage about the internet and answer the questions
	Group 1: Response # 1 Re.
Read and answer these questions
What does Sandra use the Internet for?
Is the Internet convenient for her to get information?
Can she communicate with her relatives by the Internet?
	Group 2: Response # 2 Re.
	With these questions
Does Hong Hoa live in the city?
Is the Internet available in the countryside?
Why is it difficult for Hong Hoa to get access to the Internet?
	Group 3: Response # 3 Re.
With these questions
What do people use the Internet for?
Are there bad programs and viruses on the Internet?
Is it time-consuming and costly to use the Internet?
After 3 groups find the answer students can answer the questions in the text book. After that we continue to ask student to work in groups to discuss the benefits and limitations of the internet through the lesson. Furthermore, students can use their knowledge in their life to add more about the advantages and limitations of the internet. If we use these method, we can help students improve their skills such as listening skill, reading skill and speaking skill, especially with reserved students.
2.2.3. Post- reading activities:
- to check students’ knowledge, we should plan the lesson in different suitable ways
+ consolidated exercises
+ exercises connecting to the real life.
+ transform the knowledge, the information 
- Practicing: summarize, Interview, Discuss.
These days , students will attend some activities which are broadened to learn about the text and improve some other skills. These exercises are:
Gap- filling
Example 1: : English 8 Unit 5: Study habits
 Lesson: Read
After the lesson, teachers can ask some questions:
Do you often learn words in one way?
Do you have any other ways to learn words better?
In your opinion, what is the way to learn word?
Example 2: Unit 1-READ (page 9, 10)- English 9
After students answer the questions we can hang on the board the summary about what they have learnt for them to compare.
MALAYSIA
1. Area: _________________	
2. Population: ____________
3. Climate: ______________
4. Unit of currency: _______
5. Capital city: ___________
6. Official religion: _______
7. National language: _____
8. Compulsory second language: _______
Cards: 
tropical climate
Over 22 million
329.758 sq km
the ringgit
Islam
Kuala Lumpur
English
Bahasa Malaysia
Question table:
What is Malaysia’s area?
It’s 329.758 sq km
What is its population?
What is its climate?
What is its unit of currency?
What is its capital city?
What is its official religion?
What is its National language?
What is its compulsory second language?
Example 3: Unit 2-READ (page 19,20) SGK English 9
We can use multiple choice exercises to check what students have learnt
Multiple choice:
The word “Jeans” comes from ______________
A. Asia	B. Europe	C. Africa D. America
2. The 1960s fashions were ____________
A. shirts	B. shorts	C. jeans	D. skirts
3. More and more people began wearing jeans in the 1970s because they became ______________
A. cheaper	B. stronger	C. more fashionable	D. better
4. Finally jeans became high fashion clothing in the _____________
A. 1960s	B. 1970s	C. 1980s	D. 1990s
5. The sale of jeans stops growing because of ______________
A. wars	B. the worldwide economic situation
C. designers	D. styles of jeans
Using some other reading methods to improve students’ reading skill
Change the teaching aids, the instructions, the types of exercises and so on. These changes must be suitable with students at different levels. Moreover, we can divide students into different levels with different kinds of exercises. And other elements for effective interventions include:
Word level interventions Explicit instruction, with scaffolding and feedback, of approaches that help students become more active, strategic readers
Student collaboration in comprehension strategies (relies on teacher guidance)
Reciprocal Teaching
Graphic organizers to assist in understanding relationships among key concepts represented in texts
Specific instruction on text structures, organizational patterns, and linguistic conventions commonly found in expository text
Work in small groups or individually to increase intensity.
Increased amount of time and frequency working with students who are struggling.
Progress monitoring to determine if interventions are effective and to make instructional adjustments.
Most students demonstrate improved reading achievement when their teachers incorporate the following components of effective comprehension instruction before, during, and after reading 
IV. EXAMPLE LESSONS
GRADE 8: PERIOD 21- UNIT 4: OUR PAST
LESSON 3: READ 
A. Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to understand and retell the story "The lost shoe".
B. Teaching aids: 	Teacher: textbook, poster, pictures
	Students: textbook, notebook, pens, rulers
C. Procedure: 
I. Class organization: 1 minute
II. Revision: (5 minutes) WARM-UP
III. New lesson: 
1. Setting the scene: Included in the WARM-UP
2. Main activities:
Teacher’s and students’ activities
Content
1. WARM UP
- Teacher divides class into 2 teams, each team