Chapter 10: Taken as Read: Teaching Reading Lessons 147
Another more detailed scanning activity is called multiple matching. This is
where you match a variety of paragraphs and specifications together. Say the
class is reading film reviews, the students can then match an appropriate film
with the profile of a person you’ve given them. For example:John is a horror fan but he doesn’t mind science fiction. His girlfriend
Penny likes American films but prefers unknown actors. Read the six film
reviews and decide which film they could see together.With three or four questions like this the students match information
together and test their comprehension.Predicting
Another skill worth making use of in reading lessons is prediction. If you can
make a fair stab at what’s coming next, it shows you’ve understood what’s
happened so far and builds up excitement. Any self- respecting novel does
this at the end of each chapter. So why not choose a text with a decent
storyline? Instead of having long periods of silence in the classroom, the
students can read smaller sections and then debate how the plot is going to
develop.For example, here’s the introduction to a short story with a prediction
question:Ravi was awake. He opened his eyes slowly and pushed his arms straight.
It was already too hot, at least 30 degrees, and the city streets were full of
men and children rushing along to catch the crowded buses. Ravi’s stom-
ach was rather noisy this morning, so he decided to...Prediction questions:
What did Ravi decide to do? Compare your ideas.What did your classmates predict?
Now read the next paragraph to find out what Ravi decided.Use an overhead projector so that you can uncover one paragraph at a time,
or alternatively, fold the text handout so that each fold contains one key sec-
tion for consideration.
Summarising
Summarising is a valuable skill for students. A summary explains or shows
what the whole text is about but in a brief way. You can have them do it ver-
bally, in the form of a diagram or in writing. Even children can summarise by
drawing a picture based on what they’ve read.