I.

AIMS IN TERMS OF SKILLS:

1. To stimulate conversation by having Ss add a sentence to an imaginative serial story;
2. To provide Ss with listening practice for the general idea by listening to a conversation;
3. To read for specific information;
4. To activate Ss imagination by predicting the content of the reading text;
5. To provide written practice through the use of
imaginative telegrams;
imaginative play(role?)
6. To provide written practice through the creative use of hypothetical situations.
7. To provide Ss with oral practice about a topic;
8. To provide Ss with an opportunity to follow explicit directions and commands using a physical
action activity (game);
9. To stimulate discussion through the use of problem solving techniques related
to an imaginative crime (scene)
to the paragraph/text
10. To provide oral practice and encourage free conversation based on an assigned topic.

Usually, a lesson can focus on one skill, with complementary activities on other skills.
e.g.: if the main focus of a lesson is listening:
-the pre-listening stage can practise speaking to discuss the topic
-the listening stage itself can have a writing component (e.g., filling in tables, note-taking,
etc), and the follow up to the listening could be another writing activity as homework.
-important issue - the students different rhythm in doing a task. Some students may finish
earlier than others, so the teacher should be prepared with extra-activities for the quick
students and help the slower ones.

3. Tips for lesson planning

be flexible (do not necessarily stick to the plan);

keep your plans for the following school year (be ready to adapt them);
think of extra activities (for quicker students or in case you have spare time);
think of activities you can sacrifice (in case you have planned to much);
after the lesson, write your comments on the plan (for further reference);
dont forget FUN.

6. 2. Modes of reading texts

-skimming = we read texts just to get a general idea of what the text is about;
-scanning = we read texts to find out specific information that we are interested in, for example,
names, dates, locations, etc.);
-detailed/intensive reading = we read texts in detail (e.g. for study) in order to comprehend the
whole text.
6. 3. Reading sub-skills
The reader uses specific sub-skills whenever he/she deals with a text. Such sub-skills may be:
Decoding the written text:
-dealing with handwriting/typefaces
-word recognition - relating the spelling of a word to its spoken form
Using layout

-recognising text type from layout

-understanding how the structure of texts is
emphasised by layout (paragraphs,

subtitles, etc.)

1. 4. Teaching reading: strategies for dealing with a text: Stages involved in teaching
reading
Introducing the topic is the stage at which the teacher could try to personalise the topic so that
the students might be more involved and motivated.
e.g.:
-the teaching of a text dealing with entertainment could start with discussions about the
students personal experience;
-another possibility of introducing the topic is to ask the students to predict the context and
possible content of the text by looking at the layout, visuals or title of the text. These
introductory techniques aim at creating a need to read the text.
Facilitating the task: is the stage at which the teacher pre-teaches the vocabulary items by
focusing upon key words only;
Getting the gist: can help students practise the sub-skill of skimming by the use of such
techniques as T/F and multiple choice exercises.

Do not forget that the questions should be given to the students

before starting to read the text. At this stage it is important to set a
relatively short time limit in order to be sure that students just skim the
text and do not read every word!
Intensive reading: refers to students re-reading of the whole text and aims at checking if they
understood the message of the text. It involves a detailed reading.
-techniques for the checking of text comprehension:
-T/F
-Yes/No questions

-Wh- questions
-multiple choice questions
-drawing of maps
-filling in charts
-ordering scrambled pieces of texts (or pictures), etc.
Important point to consider: though reading is an individual activity, the teacher can
encourage students to co-operate in the exchange of information by working in pairs or
groups when checking and exchanging information, comparing notes, problem solving, etc.
Pre-reading
-Predicting: by looking over the text and pictures, headlines e.g.:
Look over the text quickly. Does it come from:
a. a novel
b. a magazine
c. a newspaper
Read the headline/Look at the pictures. Do you expect the passage to be:
a. serious
b humorous
While-reading
-Skimming for gist: The teacher may ask students to read quickly and:
-identify pictures
-find key words
-give or select a title
-answer gist questions e.g.:
Which is the best description of the passage. Is it about:
-Scanning for specific information: The teacher may ask the students to:
-answer T/F questions

-answer open ended questions

-complete tables, grids, etc.
-order information in the text e.g.
-Reading for detail: The teacher may ask the students to:
-answer open ended questions
-answer T/F questions
-complete notes or summary e.g.:
Read the text carefully to answer the following questions.
Tick the two most important pieces of information in this passage:
-Deducing meaning from context: The teacher may ask students to:
-label a diagram (star diagram)
-match words with definitions
-match words with paraphrases e.g.
NOTE: A good lesson is one which balances the skills practised. Therefore reading should
not take up a whole lesson.
TEN TIPS FOR TEACHING READING
1. In the absence of interesting texts, very little is possible.
2. The primary activity of a reading lesson should be learners reading texts.
3. Growth in language ability is an essential part in the development of reading ability.
4. Classroom procedure should reflect the purposeful, task-based, interactive nature of
real reading.
5. Teachers must learn to be quiet: all too often, teachers interfere with and so retard their
learners reading development by being too dominant and by talking too much.
6. Exercise types should, as far as possible, approximate cognitive reality.

7. A learner will not become a proficient reader simply by attending a reading course or by
working through a reading textbook.
8. A reader contributes meaning to a text.
9. Progress in reading requires learners to use their ears, as well as their eyes.
10. Using a text does not necessarily equal teaching reading.
Ways by which teachers can help their students to listen successfully in English:

encouraging the students to exploit the redundancy of spoken English and to guess meaning
from context

encouraging the students to make use of their general knowledge while listening (e.g. by
asking students to state the type of spoken text)

introducing and talking about the topic before listening and asking them to predict what they
will hear
giving students a reason to listen (by devising simple tasks to be done while listening)
A. Listening for the general idea (GIST)
B. Listening for specific information (only the
items the listener is interested in)
C. Intensive listening (focused listening)
D. Listening for communication (in order to
respond and communicate)
7. 6 Principles in the construction of listening tasks

questions on the listening text should be short and clear because students hear the text only
once and they cannot go over it as in reading

students should not be required to write too much as they do not have time while listening
it is much better that questions should first check understanding of gist rather than specific
information

listening tasks should have a variety of question types and make them answerable by one or
two words or by ticks in squares .

 using grids for the practice of note-taking

integrating listening activities with speaking, reading and writing activities within one lesson
1. Pre-listening activities
-looking at pictures and talking about them
-looking at a list of items, thoughts, etc.
-making lists of possibilities, ideas, suggestions, etc.
-reading through questions to be answered while-listening
-labelling
-predicting
-pre-viewing language
-class discussion
2. While-listening activities
-marking/checking items in pictures
-matching pictures with what is heard
-following story line picture sets
-putting pictures (events)in order
-picture drawing
-carrying out actions
-following a route on a map
-completing grids (forms, charts)
-T/F
-multiple-choice questions
-gap-filling
-spotting mistakes
-prediction
-seeking specific items of information

3. Post-listening activities
-form (chart) completing
-extending lists
-extending notes into written responses
-summarising
-using information for problem solving activities
-identifying relationship between speakers
-establishing mood, attitude of the speaker
-role-play /simulation
-dictation

5. Criteria for setting up a speaking activity

-ways by which the teacher can help learners overcome speaking problems:
-the teacher should:
check or pre-teach useful VOCABULARY or STRUCTURES that the learners are likely to
need;
select interesting topics in order to MOTIVATE learners, generate INTEREST in the activity,
and give the activity a PURPOSE;
set appropriate CLASS LAYOUT for speaking activities. For example, group work for solving
problems, pair work for information transfer, circle for discussion, back to back for telephone
conversations, etc.
give clear INSTRUCTIONS so that students know what they have to do;
give learners TIME TO PREPARE for the speaking activity, to work out ideas, opinions, etc.
leave time for FEED-BACK
think about what, how, when to CORRECT (try not to interrupt unless the communication is
broken down).
6. Examples of communicative speaking activities
Spot the differences: learners are given slightly similar pictures and they have to find out the
differences by asking questions, describing, etc.
Matching cards, e.g., half of the class gets cards with questions and the other half cards with
answers. Learners have to find their partners.
Filling in grids about fellow students: students are asked to interview their partners and fill in
grids
Information gap
Prioritising: rating according to certain criteria
Guessing games
Problem solving
Role play

 Discussions: teacher sets a topic and the students express their opinions
1 What does writing involve?
-four elements:

the writer
the process
the product
the reader

Why am I writing this? (purpose)

Who will read it? (audience)

How will I write it? (pre-writing, drafting, revising, re-writing)

!!!cred ca ar trebui mentionate cand proiectam o activitate de genul.

3. Writing activities
Beyond primary level:
1. Guided composition (the teacher provides key words, pictures, question prompts and the
students write)
2. Letter exchanges (students write short letters to each other)
3. Other functional writing tasks:
- form-filling
- telephone messages
- formal letters
- writing to the problem page of a newspaper (a group of students think of a personal
problem and write to a newspaper asking for help from the readers; the other group of students
answer by giving advice).

4. Free composition involves creative writing on a certain topic (e.g. Describe your town, etc.).
Free writing can create problems to students because they would probably make many mistakes
and find the task frustrating thus not learning very much from it. For the teacher, it is difficult to
correct free compositions because of their variety and time constraints.

Solutions: the teacher might give a short text as a model, can do oral preparation for the writing
and can limit the number of words or lines to be written.