Boost! A platform for Integrated Skills & Initial iBT Preparation

1. Boost!A platform for Integrated Skills & Initial iBT Preparation Jason Renshaw

2. Presentation Overview • Presentation Outline • PART 1: What’s next? Boost! •  Filling the gap for advancing young learners •  The Boost! Approach • PART 2: BOOST! Your Reading Skills •  Boost! Reading Skills Overview •  Correlation to iBT TOEFL Reading Skills •  Activities: Discovering your Reading Skills •  Activity: Platform for iBT TOEFL Integration • PART 3: BOOST! Your Writing Skills •  Boost! Writing Skills Overview •  Activities: Discovering your Writing Skills •  Activity: Platform for iBT TOEFL Integration •  Boost! Writing platform for iBT TOEIC • PART 4: Using Boost! in Your Curriculum

3. What’s next? BOOST! Next  • Filling the Gap for Advancing Young Learners

4. Part 1: What’s next? BOOST! Next  • The Boost! Approach • At a broad level, the Boost! Approach involves: • Focus on skills and strategies in particular components (Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Grammar) while maintaining extensions through integration to maintain a holistic learning experience in each and every component • Motivating students through a rich variety of cross-curricular topics that are age- and context-appropriate • An even balance between what could be termed “real world” versus “academic” language skills • Careful but gentle exposure and preparation for next generation testing demands (for example: iBT TOEFL) • Provision of options for school curriculums

5. Part 1: What’s next? BOOST! Next  • The Boost! Approach • At a unit by unit level, the Boost! Approach involves: • Schema activation to get students talking and involved with topics and themes • Simple skill terms and explanations to reduce problems with complicated ‘metalanguage’ • Innovative discovery activities that assist learners to work out what the skills are, how they are to be applied, and why • Regular practice activities and (in production oriented components like speaking and writing) guided productive activities • Integration pages to draw on and combine other macro-skills • Thorough review activities following every two units

6. BOOST! your Reading Skills Next  BOOST! your Reading Skills!

7. Content-based/Academic Reading Text Real-World/Active Reading Text Content-based/Academic Reading Text Real-World/Active Reading Text Content-based/Academic Reading Text Real-World/Active Reading Text Content-based/Academic Reading Text Real-World/Active Reading Text Content-based/Academic Reading Text Real-World/Active Reading Text Next  Reading Themes and Text Types Content-based/Academic Reading Text Real-World/Active Reading Text • 6 cross-curricular themes in each book • Each theme supports 2 reading units – one content-based, the other a real-world/active text • Real-world/active texts include: • Print-media • Web-based media • Brochures • Tour guides • Travel websites • Advertising notices • Person-wanted ads • Movie guides • Web forums • Blogs • Web chats • Emails • Stories • Interviews • Menus and signs • Application forms

8. Finding the main idea Main ideas and details Finding stated main idea Finding unstated main idea Understanding vocab in context Skimming and scanning Identifying moods Cause-&-Effect chains Difficult vocabulary Cross-scanning for details Comparing & contrasting Finding details Identifying purpose Finding info from tables Finding details Identifying plot Identifying T or F Organizing Information Understanding settings Solving word problems Identifying writer’s opinion Understanding directions Understanding brochures Identifying writer’s opinion Making inferences Understanding summaries Classifying information Taking notes Diagrams and labels Understanding fables Identifying character Understanding advertisements Comparing information Using previous knowledge Paragraph development Critical thinking Making inferences Understanding guides Understanding signs Point of view Sequencing Events Understanding cause & effect Information from graphs Making generalizations Formal & Informal Understanding online forum Understanding menus Understanding forms Next  Reading Skills

9. Unit Unit Unit Level 1 Level 1 Level 1 Level 2 Level 2 Level 2 Level 3 Level 3 Level 3 Level 4 Level 4 Level 4 1 1 1 Finding the main idea Finding the main idea Finding the main idea Main ideas and details Main ideas and details Main ideas and details Finding stated main idea Finding stated main idea Finding stated main idea Finding unstated main idea Finding unstated main idea Finding unstated main idea Finding the main idea Main ideas and details Finding stated main idea Finding unstated main idea Understanding vocab in context Understanding vocab in context Understanding vocab in context Skimming and scanning Skimming and scanning Skimming and scanning Identifying moods Identifying moods Identifying moods Cause-&-Effect chains Cause-&-Effect chains Cause-&-Effect chains Understanding vocab in context Skimming and scanning Identifying moods Cause-&-Effect chains 2 2 2 Difficult vocabulary Difficult vocabulary Difficult vocabulary Cross-scanning for details Cross-scanning for details Cross-scanning for details Comparing & contrasting Comparing & contrasting Comparing & contrasting Difficult vocabulary Cross-scanning for details Comparing & contrasting 3 3 3 Finding details Finding details Finding details Finding details Identifying purpose Identifying purpose Identifying purpose Finding info from tables Finding info from tables Finding info from tables 4 4 4 Identifying purpose Finding info from tables Finding details Finding details Finding details Identifying plot Identifying plot Identifying plot Finding details Identifying plot 5 5 5 Identifying T or F Identifying T or F Identifying T or F Organizing Information Organizing Information Organizing Information Understanding settings Understanding settings Understanding settings Solving word problems Solving word problems Solving word problems Identifying T or F Organizing Information Understanding settings Solving word problems Identifying writer’s opinion Identifying writer’s opinion Identifying writer’s opinion Understanding directions Understanding directions Understanding directions Understanding brochures Understanding brochures Understanding brochures Identifying writer’s opinion Identifying writer’s opinion Identifying writer’s opinion Identifying writer’s opinion Understanding directions Understanding brochures Identifying writer’s opinion 6 6 6 Making inferences Making inferences Making inferences Understanding summaries Understanding summaries Understanding summaries Classifying information Classifying information Classifying information Making inferences Understanding summaries Classifying information 7 7 7 Taking notes Taking notes Taking notes Taking notes Diagrams and labels Diagrams and labels Diagrams and labels Understanding fables Understanding fables Understanding fables Identifying character Identifying character Identifying character Understanding advertisements Understanding advertisements Understanding advertisements Diagrams and labels Understanding fables Identifying character Understanding advertisements 8 8 8 Comparing information Comparing information Comparing information Using previous knowledge Using previous knowledge Using previous knowledge Paragraph development Paragraph development Paragraph development 9 9 9 Comparing information Using previous knowledge Paragraph development Critical thinking Critical thinking Critical thinking Critical thinking 10 10 10 Making inferences Making inferences Making inferences Understanding guides Understanding guides Understanding guides Understanding signs Understanding signs Understanding signs Making inferences Understanding guides Understanding signs Point of view Point of view Point of view Point of view 11 11 11 Sequencing Events Sequencing Events Sequencing Events Understanding cause & effect Understanding cause & effect Understanding cause & effect Information from graphs Information from graphs Information from graphs Making generalizations Making generalizations Making generalizations Sequencing Events Understanding cause & effect Information from graphs Making generalizations Formal & Informal Formal & Informal Formal & Informal Understanding online forum Understanding online forum Understanding online forum Understanding menus Understanding menus Understanding menus Understanding forms Understanding forms Understanding forms Formal & Informal Understanding online forum Understanding menus Understanding forms 12 12 12 Next  Correlation to iBT Reading Skills • Basic Comprehension • Understanding main ideas and details • Drawing inferences • Language Use • Inferring words meanings from context • Locating a referent • Defining a key term • Understanding rhetorical function • Paraphrasing • Understanding coherence • Reading to Learn • Inferring author’s opinion or attitude • Understanding details in relation to main ideas (categorizing) • Summarizing most important points

10. Discovering your Reading Skills! Next  Boost! Reading Level 1: Unit 6

11. Discovering your Reading Skills! Next  Boost! Reading Level 2: Unit 2

12. Discovering your Reading Skills! Next  Boost! Reading Level 2: Unit 2 • Skim whole passage to get the main idea! • Scan for these words: • Dralion • mom • fun • games Listen!

13. Discovering your Reading Skills! Next  Boost! Reading Level 3: Unit 9 3 2 4 1

14. BOOST! Integrated Skills Next  • Integration pages feature the following sorts of activities: • Read a new passage related to the main theme  Discuss questions with classmates (speak)  Take notes (listen and write)  Report your findings to the class (speak/listen) • Read a new passage related to the main theme  Use the reading model to plan and write your own response  Present your composition to the class (speak/listen) • Read a new passage related to the main theme  Listen to a passage that connects to the reading passage  Compare and contrast the two sets of information (speak/write)

15. iBT TOEFL: Integrated Tasks • Basic Layout for the iBT TOEFL Test: • READING • Reading Passages 1-3 • LISTENING • Listening Passages 1-6 • SPEAKING • Independent Task 1 • Independent Task 2 • Integrated Task 3 • Integrated Task 4 • Integrated Task 5 • Integrated Task 6 • WRITING • Integrated Task 1 • Independent 2 Next  • Read a passage containing academic content – take notes about the most important points • Listen to a related passage and take notes about the most important points • Explain how the information in the listening adds to or contrasts with the information in the reading passage

16. BOOST! Integrated Skills: iBT Preparation Next  Boost! Reading Level 2: Unit 1 R L acts show lion popular America

17. acts show lion popular America BOOST! Integrated Skills: iBT Preparation Next  Boost! Reading Level 2: Unit 1

18. Boost!A platform for Integrated Skills & Initial iBT Preparation Jason Renshaw