Reading Skills: Holidays
by ______________
[Teacher tip: Some ready-made ESL/EFL lessons for Halloween,
Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine's
Day, St. Patrick's Day, Passover, Easter, and Memorial Day are
available at Suzan Moody's Holidays Web site at the University of
Kansas:
http://www.aec.ukans.edu/leo/holidays
The key to successful use of instructional technology, of course, is
its integration into the curriculum. A reading by itself is not
nearly as useful as one where the teacher introduces unfamiliar
vocabulary, sets a task, and does follow-up activities in class.]
[Pre-task activities]
Vocabulary (intermediate)
[Add pictures and related vocabulary]
Vocabulary Discussion
Add a couple of questions related to the vocabulary, such as:
Have you ever seen a _____ ?
What do you do on [holiday]?
[Teacher tip: Computer-preparation: remind students to wait until
the files are completely loaded before clicking anywhere. On
Netscape, the stars at the top right corner will stop moving. On
Internet Explorer, the globe will stop moving.]
On-computer tasks
[Teacher tip: make sure you give enough detail with each task so
that students can do it without your help every step of the way. A
whole-class demonstration is usually helpful as a start.]
- Go to (a specific website) and find ______ . (Have beginners
find the vocabulary you gave them. Have intermediate-level
students find a synonym for the vocabulary. Have intermediate and
advanced students find the main idea and supporting details. Have
advanced students find something surprising or something they
disagree with.)
- Copy and paste a picture into the word-processor. You'll use
it for your story later.
Post-computer tasks
- Describe something from your experience related to the
reading. [Teacher tip: make these tasks as concrete as possible,
especially for beginning and intermediate-level students.]
- Write a related story and illustrate it.
- Discuss an issue related to the reading.
- (advanced students) Summarize a reading for the class.
Last updated ______ by __________