Creative Reading & Writing Strategies

1. Creative Reading & Writing Strategies Presented by: Amanda Trostle Spanish Instructor, atrostle@nvcc.edu Mayamérica Cortez Poet, mayamerica@comcast.net

2. Why read? • Reading at the appropriate level (comprehensible input) supports oral communication, because… • listening to texts while following along helps student mimic proper pronunciation, models sentence structure and variety. • reading reinforces and introduces new vocabulary • it teaches to students to look for context clues and make educated guesses

3. Why read? • When appropriate reading strategies are used, students learn to think critically.

4. Why write? Writing also supports oral communication by… • Getting students to use what they know in order to communicate • Putting the “puzzle” of language together (syntax) • Allows visual learners to “see” the language • Plan out what they want to say and how they want to say it

5. Making Reading & Writing Fun Bump Method (All levels) • When reading in class have students “bump” another student in the room. (When a student finishes reading, he/she says, “I bump to……” • This keeps all students on their toes and introduces an element of surprise. • Allow the students to have fun with it (Disclaimer: bump wars may occur)

6. Making Reading & Writing Fun Crossword Puzzles (All levels) • Students read short clues to fill out crossword puzzle • Teacher generates puzzle around theme or grammatical structure • Reinforces vocabulary

7. Making Reading & Writing Fun Reader’s Theater (Intermediate/Advanced) • Have students write their own “mini-play” • Give them three random props (if they happen to be culturally appropriate props, even better! Think “Whose line is it anyway?”) • Ask them to create a dialogue around these props • Perform for class

8. Variations of Reader’s Theater The news program (Intermediate/Advanced) • Ask students to create a fake news segment (Think Saturday Night Live) • In groups of 3 or 4, students can present news, weather, sports, entertainment, etc. • Encourage props and creativity

9. Variation of Reader’s Theater Read a real play (Intermediate/Advanced) • Look for short plays in the target language • Use the play as an in-class text to review grammar and vocabulary in context • Make reading a daily part of the class • Encourage students to practice their “roles” for pronunciation and expression • Check for comprehension

10. Making Reading Fun Sometimes competition works! (Depends on the class) • Ask students to complete assigned comprehension questions associated with reading. (Review questions with students before reading so they know what information to look for). • Allow students to work together in pairs or small groups to answer the questions. • Divide the class into two teams. • Ask the comprehension questions to the class. Ask students to raise their hand to say the answer. (Try to call on each team evenly). The team with the most points “wins”.

11. Pre-reading Strategies Story Time • The teachers uses a book with large pages and colorful pictures to ask students critical thinking questions before reading begins: • Who do you see in this picture? • What do you think this story is about? • What do you think is going to happen?

12. Story Time • As the teacher reads, she points to vocabulary words in the picture. • She continues to ask students critical thinking questions • Students write their own stories based on the one that was read

13. Checking for Comprehension Draw Four Scenes • Students read short selection (chapter in book, article, short story) • Draw four scenes (stick figures only!) Give students a time limit to discourage elaborate art projects. • Students explain their scenes to the class. (Two sentences for each scene works well). • In lower levels, allow students to write down what they plan to say first to help them prepare, but encourage them not to read it.

14. Reading for pronunciation Player/Coach Method • Teacher models pronunciation by reading a short selection to the class • Students read a chosen selection out loud in pairs • One student is “player”, other student is “coach” • Coach listens while player reads and underlines problem words • Player repeats/practices those words • Students switch roles (Elabsy, 2013)

15. Reading for expression Poetry • Students listen to a recording of a poet reading her work • Students practice reading for expression in pairs • Students take place in “Speech Contest” • Goal is best delivery based on pronunciation, intonation, expression (Elabsy, 2013)

16. Works Cited Elabsy, T. (2013). Successful reading strategies for second language learners - Theory and Practice. Outskirts Press, Inc.