Creating Reading Activities

The following reading sequence engages students in reading activities that not only help with their foreign language skills, but also contribute to their overall reading and writing ability.

Regarding reading activities, it is important to keep the following in mind:

• Reading comprehension is not a memory task.
• Follow-up activities should engage the reading during and after the reading process (with access to text as needed)
• Learner comprehension of a text is often more advanced than their read-aloud level.

It is best to engage students through Reading Station Activities. Here are a couple of guidelines to help guide the process:

• Begin with a short text with enough details to challenge the learner.
• Include new vocabulary.
• Include lots of familiar vocabulary.
• Readings should get progressively more detailed (vocabulary and structure) as students are exposed to new language elements.

Once the students have read the text either as a class, independently, or in groups, they will move on to station activities. Remember, the purpose of the station activities is to help the student understand the text, so don’t spend too much time making sure that the students all understand the text before moving on to the station work.

In terms of room set-up and student flow, try the following:

• 5-8 stations works well.
• Depending on the number of students, they may work alone or in groups.
• Each station should engage the comprehension of the text in a different manner.
• Students choose 3-4 stations (2 if they choose a challenging one)