Using useful experiences and reading exercises to improve reading skill for grade 10 students

 TABLE OF CONTENTS	
 Contents
Pages
Part A. Introduction.
1.1.Rationale
2
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study
3
1.3. Methods of the study
3
1.4. The scope of the study
3
1.5. Design of the study
3-4
Part B. Development.
Chapter 1. Theoretical background
4-9
1.1.The ways to read English texts
4
1.2. Reading sub-skills
4
1.3. Principles of teaching reading
5
1.4. Steps for presenting a reading text
5
1.5. The two kinds of reading text
5-7
1.6. Techniques of teaching reading
8-9
Chapter 2. Some main kinds of reading exercises
9-16
Chapter 3. Application to teach a reading text
17-21
3.1 Games
17
3.2 A model lesson plan
18-21
Part C. Conclusion
21
References
 PART A. INTRODUCTION
1.1.Rationale:
Since 2006 the new set of English textbooks has been used on the national scale. The aim of the teaching and learning of English in secondary schools in Vietnam is to enable students to use English as a means of communication at basic level in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 
Teachers always try to find the best methods to teach their students. I do, too. I have many experiences during my life of teaching, such as experiences in teaching Listening, experiences in teaching speaking, experiences in teaching reading and experiences in writing. 
 	Being a teacher of English at a secondary school I am aware that teaching and learning how to read is of great importance and bears a numerous challenges to both teachers and learners
 	In this material, I will tell you my experiences in teaching reading, I myself think the following are the best experiences of my own. But each person has different points of view. Anyway, I hope my experiences will be supported and all of you are certain to help me make my experiences better and better after reading my experiences.	
 	Reading skill is one of the most important skills to language learners. The purposes of learning English are to learn how to listen, read and write well. English is an international language. It is a means to communicate with other people in the world. Moreover, many books are written in English. So how to help the readers understand information written in English in books, newspapers and magazines, etc is more important. If students have a good reading skill, they can easily understand the information written in English well.
 	To English teachers, helping students drill their reading skill is more important because it is one of the four skills in teaching English. Besides this, teachers have to teach students reading skill so that they can understand the knowledge in English books and in English tests.
 	To students, about 30 percent or even more than 30 percent of the exercises in their English tests are to test their reading skill. Especially they are difficult for the students. So if students have a good reading skill, they can easily complete their English tests well.
 	Moreover, people said that “A good reader makes a good writer.” If students are good at reading, of course, they are good at writing, speaking and listening.
 	In conclusion, how to teach students to be good at reading skill in English is very important. And my ideas are the reasons why I have spent most of my time studying this topic: “Using useful experiences and reading exercises to improve reading skill for grade 10 students”
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study
* Students get acquainted with many kinds of reading exercises, and they do reading exercises well.
* Students have a lot of skills and methods in doing reading texts and their reading skill is becoming better and better.
*Students read English texts more fluently and they can easily understand the contents of the English texts.
*students can do many reading exercises in the reference books by themselves at home.
*students enjoy reading periods.
*When my students take part in examinations, they all get good results at reading.
* Students have a lot of abilities in doing reading exercises and they do reading texts carefully.
*Students’ English pronunciation is better.
1.3. Method of the study.
First of all, I use the knowledge of methods I have learnt at University.
Secondly, I read many methodological books to get the knowledge of methods to teach reading.
 	 Moreover, I have learnt many experiences from my colleagues.
With all the knowledge I have collected, I use them in teaching my students reading skills. After that, I choose the methods which are the most suitable for my students, this means that I choose the methods which make my students good at reading skill.
 I use these methods many times and then they become my own experiences, now I are writing my own experiences in teaching reading in this material.
1.4 The scope of the study.
 	In the study, because of our limited time and knowledge, I only focus on the following contents (The ways to read texts, Sub-skills in teaching reading, principles of teaching reading, steps for presenting a reading text, some purposes of reading texts and techniques of teaching in reading)
 	I also mention to some kinds of exercises in reading and games often used in teaching reading.
1.5. Design of the study
 	The study consists of three parts
Part A. Introduction
Information about the rationale, aims and objectives, scope, methods and design of the study are provided.
Part B. Development
 	This part includes 3 chapters.
Chapter1: Theoretical background.
I mention the ways to read texts, sub-skills in teaching reading, principles of teaching reading, steps for presenting reading texts, some purposes of reading texts and techniques of teaching in reading.
Chapter2. I would like to give some kinds of exercises in reading, which help students to read the texts effectively.
Chapter3. This chapter is presented with “Games often used in teaching reading and a model lesson plan”
Part C. Conclusion.
 	I conclude what I have mentioned in my study paper.
 PART B. DEVELOPMENT
 Chapter1. Theoretical background
 In this chapter, I mention the solution to solve the contents in this topic
1.1. The ways to read English texts:
There are many ways to read English texts.
1.1.1 Reading aloud
 The purpose of reading aloud is to communicate someone’s information written to other people such as reading newspapers, news, letters, passages, messages, etc. 
In teaching foreign languages, reading aloud has fewer effects to the development of students’ reading skill, but It mainly helps students practice pronunciation, intonation, stress or reading skill, but It mainly helps students practice pronunciation, intonation, stress or reading for announcing something.
1.1.2. Silent reading 
When we want to read in order to understand something or to get information, we often read silently. It means that we only look at the words and understand them in our mind.
1.1.3. Intensive reading. Including two kinds of reading.
* Reading for details or research.
* Reading for analysis. ( in order to learn the language)
1.1.4. Extensive reading. Including three kinds
* Reading for pleasure 
* Scanning
* Skimming.
1.2. Reading sub-skill.
There are some main reading sub-skills that I often drill my students.
1.2.1. Reading for recognizing words and their meanings in the text.
1.2.2. Reading for understand sentences or paragraphs in the text.
1.2.3. Scanning.
1.2.4. Skimming.
1.2.5. Predicting the content of the sentences or texts.
1.2.6. Guessing the meanings of the new words from contexts.
1.2.7. Using dictionaries for reading.
1.2.8. Inferring meaning.
1.2.9. Reading for total comprehension.
1.2.10. Critical reading.
1.2.11. Outlining.
1.2.12. Paraphrasing.
1.2.13. Summarizing.
1.2.14. Timed reading.
1.2.15. Strip stories.
1.2.16. Closing.
1.3. Principles of teaching reading
1.3.1. When teaching a reading text, It is beneficial to state a purpose for reading a given text. Tell the students why they are reading the text. It is to skim for the main ideas? It is to scan for specific information? It is for critical reading? The purpose of reading task should be stated to the students to read by introducing the topic of the passage.
1.3.2. Prepare the students to read by introducing the topic of passage.
1.3.3. Before the students read the text, have them read questions about it before handing to help the focus on the meaning.
1.3.4. Do not pre-teach vocabulary unless necessary.
1.3.5 Have the students read silently without whispering the words or moving their lips. This will help them read more quickly and focus on the more important words.
1.3.6. Discuss difficult vocabulary after reading the text. If they do not understand certain words by guessing from context, help them by explaining the meaning, by definition or example.
1.3.7. When discussing the answer to comprehension questions, be sure to refer back to the text often.
1.3.8. Finally, remember to focus on developing the skill of the readers. The purpose of teaching reading is not only to help the students understand the context for that day, but also to help them to read effectively for themselves. To do this, they must develop many sub-skills of reading like skimming, scanning, predicting, guessing from context and reading for total comprehension.
1.4: Steps for presenting a reading text
1.4.1. Give a brief introduction to get students thinking about the topic of the text.
1.4.2. Ask students to say more words they know about the topic.
1.4.3. Teach more key words.
1.4.4. State a purpose for reading the text (skim, scan, read for total information, etc)
1.4.5. Write one or two guiding questions on the board to focus their attention.
1.4.6. Tell the students how much time they have to read. Do not allow them much time, especially in skimming and scanning exercises.
1.4.7. Have the students answer the given questions about the text.
1.4.8. Present a follow-up activity. In this, the students can share their own opinions or discuss what else they know about the topic of the text.
1.5. The two kinds of reading text.
There are many purposes of reading texts, but in this material I will mention two kinds of reading texts with two different purposes
*. The reading text in order to present the language
*. The reading text in order to teach students reading skills
How to exploit the two kinds of reading texts.
1.5.1.Eploiting the reading text in order to present the new language
 If the main aim of the reading text is to present the new language, the teacher’s work is to help students understand the text through presentation, explanation, and noticing students about the contents as well as the new language in the text. Then the follow- up tasks are in order to check the students’ understanding and the use of the new language.
Following are the basic steps to exploit the reading text in order to present the new language:
- Introducing the text by using many different techniques such as telling stories, asking questions, revising previous lessons relating to the new lesson.
-Introducing the content of the text (using picture if possible) and introducing new words and structures. If the text is long, we can divide it into small paragraphs.
- Practicing asking and answering about the text, using the new language in the text.
- Practicing the new language in the content of the text and the content of the text.
- Consolidating, summarizing, building up the text, using the following exercises
 * Rearrange the text in order.
 * Build up the text.
 * Retell the story with prompts given.
 * Retell each part orally.
 *Sum up the main ideas of the text, basing on the prompt given.
- Read the text aloud in order to practice pronunciation, intonation.
- Follow –up activities (interpret the 4 skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing.)
1.5.2. Exploiting the reading text in order to develop students’ reading skills.
 In some reading texts in order to develop students’ reading skills, teachers not only help students to understand the contents of the text, but also give out some follow- up tasks in order to help students practice their reading skills. Those skills can help students read different passages with different purposes. In this kind of reading text, teachers do not present, introduce the content of the reading text, but the students themselves have to read the text and find out the content of the reading text. The role of the students is to help, prompt, guide, give out suggestions, and check the students’ answers.
 The activities in order to develop students’ reading skills are usually carried on with 3 stages:
-Pre-reading activities.
-While-reading activities.
-Post-reading activities.
1.5.2.a. Pre-reading activities:
 The activities and the techniques at this stage are in order to reach the following purposes:
-Arouse interest (gây hứng thú)
- Set up the context (thiết lập ngữ cảnh)
- Create reason for reading.
- Pre-teach structures, new words.
- Introduce briefly the topic: content.
-Eliciting, guiding questions.
-Predict the text.
-Give expectation about the text. (nêu những điều muốn biết về bài đọc)
1.5.2. b. While- reading activities.
While-reading activities are exercises which are done while students are reading the text. Students can read the text many time and do these exercises. At this stage, students exploit the content of the text. Depending on the purpose and the content of each certain text, there will be different questions and different requirements.
The following are activities and techniques usually used at this stage:
-Find the word/sentence that says
-Check/tick the correct answer.
-True- false
-Complete the table
-Fill in the chart
-Make up charts/diagrams.
-Make a list of
-Matching
-What does..stand for? / refer to?
-What doesmean?
- Answer the questions on the text.
1.5.2. c. Post-reading activities.
 After students read and do the exercises about the text, teacher go on giving some exercises that require the understanding of students about the total content of the text, relate to real life, consolidate the structures, and the new language in the text.
Following are some kinds of exercises usually used at this stage:
-Arrange the events in order. 
-Find the sentence that summarizes the paragraph / text.
-Give the title of the reading text
-Give comments, opinions on the characters in the text
-Discussion questions.
-Reproduce the text (written or oral)
-Gap-filling.
-Rewrite the story from jumble sentences/ words/visual cues.
-Role-play basing on the text 
-Make dialogues basing on the text
-Guess the consequences/ result of the story.
-Develop another story basing on the text.
-Personalized tasks (eg: write /talk about your own school/ family/ town /story on..)
*Tell a similar event on
* What would you do/ behave/ say in that situation?
* Make your own plan/ decision
-Grammar practice and exercises, etc.
1.6. Techniques of teaching reading.
1.6.1. Pre- reading techniques.
1.6.1. a. Ordering statements.
-From a story, the teacher jumbles the sentences in the story and then asks the students to put the sentences on the correct order.
1.6.1.b.Jigsaw dictation.
Ex: Draw a stadium and give some words about the players.
-Ask the students to put the words (the names of the players) in the right places in the stadium to have a team in the field.
1.6.1.c. Ordering pictures.
Ex: When students read a text about a Christmas tree, the teacher gives some pictures about ornaments, color light, gifts, etcand a Christmas tree. Students have to put the pictures in the right positions on the Christmas tree.
1.6.1. d Listen and draw.
Ex: When the students read a text about a farm The teacher reads a description about the things on the farm, students listen and draw the scenery on the farm.
1.6.1. e True- false statement prediction.
Ex: when student read a text about a famous person, the teacher give some information about that famous person such as : date of birth, place of birth, date of death, famous inventions. Students have to guess whether that information is true or false.
1.6.1. f Open –prediction.
Ex: When students read a text about the Tet holiday, the teacher gives some questions such as:
- What do Vietnamese children do at Tet?
- Do children in England visit their relative during the Tet holiday?
-What do people in Viet Nam prepare for Tet?
Students have to find out information to answer these questions.
1.6.2.While- reading an post-reading techniques.
1.6.2. a. True-false statements.
1.6.2. b. Yes- no questions
1.6.2.c. Right or wrong (v) or(x).
1.6.2.d.. Answers given: the teacher gives some answer and students have to make questions for those answers.
1.6.2.e. Wh-questions:
1.6.2.f. Multiple choice: Choose the best answer A,B, C or D
1.6.2.g. Gap- filling:
1.6.2.h. Grids and forms
1. Name:
2 Place of birth
3.Date of birth
4. Job:
5.Place of burial:
6. Date of death
7.Name of his/ her novels:
1.6.2.i. Role-play
 Interviewer 
Where were you born?
When were you born? 
 Shakespeare
->I was born in
10. Matching:
1.6.2.j. Rewrite:
1.6.2.k. Discussion:
1.6 2.l.. Songs and rhyms / songs on tapes. 
 Beside the techniques I often use above, the following are also techniques which are used in teaching reading.
DIY word order; Tapped dictation: Write the text before you read it: Draw a text: agreeing and disagreeing: Punctuating a text: First and Last Letter Dictation; Chain story; Tape Dictation; Did you read that?; Question Brainstorming; Spider Diagram; Dictated Titles; The Really New and the Merely New; Keywords; Hiding words in the text; Visualizing the text.
 Chapter 2. Some main kinds of reading exercises.
 This chapter students must get acquainted with many kinds of exercises when studying reading skills. The following are some of the most popular kinds of reading exercises.
2.1. Read a text and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
Ex: Read the passage and decide if the statements below are true(T) or false(F)
 Pollution is a major problem of our times. Air, water and land are all polluted. Poor waste disposal is to blame for many of the problem and the situation is particularly acute in heavily industrialized and over- populated regions. Pollution of the atmosphere has led to the destruction of the ozone layer and to the green house effect. Other environmental problems have been caused by too rapid a use of resources. There are far fewer fish in the sea because of over-fishing and the destruction of the rain forests is having unforeseen ecological consequences. Battery farming provides a lot of food but involves keeping animals in unnatural and unhealthy condition.
*.Decide if it is true (T) or false (F). Correct the false sentences.
1Pollution is an important problem nowadays.
2..Pollution of the atmosphere has destroyed the ozone layer.
3.There are more fish in the sea due to over-fishing.
4..Battery farming provides a lot of food and involve keeping animals in good condition.
5.Poor waste disposal causes pollution.
Answers: 1T, 2T, 5T
3F-> there are far fewer fish in the sea because of over –fishing.
4F-> Battery farming provides a lot of food but involves keeping animal in unnatural and unhealthy condition.
2.2. Read an open –text and find out the suitable words to fill in the blanks. (the words are not given, so students have to think and find out the suitable words to fill in the blanks).
Ex. Read the open text and then find the missing words to fill in the blanks.
 Everyone wants to reduce pollution. But pollution problem is (1)complicated as it is serious. It is complicated (2)..much pollution is caused by things that benefit people. For example, exhaust(3)..Automobiles causes a large percentage of all air pollution. But automobiles (4).transportation for millions of people. Factories discharge much of the material (5).Pollutes the air and water, but factories give e