Reading Skills Improvement Strategies for Home - Parents can Improve Reading

Skills at Home
Does your child struggle with reading skills? As parents, we naturally want to help our children
learn. Sometimes though, it is difficult to know just how to do that because teaching methods
change as research on basic reading and reading comprehension identifies better strategies to
develop specially designed instruction for reading disorders such as dyslexia. Despite this, there
are some strategies you can use with your child at home that do not involve direct instruction and
are unlikely to conflict with strategies your child's teachers use at school. Providing this
additional help will, over time, dramatically improve your child's reading skills.

Reading Skills Improvement Strategies - Easy Reading Strategies for Parents to

Use at Home
1. Participate in Library Reading Programs: Most libraries offer organized reading
programs during school breaks for students based on their school levels. Many of these
programs are themed and showcase some of the best works for children and young adults.
The library staff may host activities based on books and have special events and field
trips designed to help students explore the literature on a deeper level. Librarians are
usually happy to help your child and can help find ways to involve all levels of readers
within an age group.
2. Explore Different Forms of Reading Material: Check out works in both their book
forms and books on tape, CD, or digital recording forms. Many of the highest rated
literature for children and young adults is available on tape and in book form. By having
your student read along in the book while listening to the same book on tape, you are
providing excellent reading benefits. The student sees and hears words and phrases
together, a good way to reinforce sight-word recognition. Your child may also benefit
from assistive technology such as text readers. These methods provide the student
exposure to works he might not otherwise choose to read because of the difficulty. He
can gain knowledge of the content and increase vocabulary without having to struggle
through the book and perhaps be discouraged.
3. Compare Books to Film: Have your student read a book and then check out the video
version of a book. Talk about the similarities and differences in the two mediums. What
did she like about each form? What didn't she like? Did she prefer the book or the movie,
and why?
4. Study Reading Vocabulary: As your student reads books, have her make a list of words
that were difficult or unfamiliar in the book. Make flashcards of these words, spend some
time together talking about the meanings and looking them up in the dictionary. Take
turns showing the cards and guessing the words and meanings. As the student masters
each word, remove it from the deck and put it in a place of honor. When the whole deck
is mastered, celebrate with a special reward.
5. Strengthen Spelling Skills: Use the same deck created in number 3 above. Have your
child learn the spelling of each word. Practice the spelling. When your child feels ready,
have him write the words on paper. Give him a reward for each mistake he finds and
 corrects. This is a great strategy to use throughout the year. It teaches students to self-
correct and also reduces their fear of trying to tackle difficult words. Young students may
enjoy using multisensory techniques for these activities.
6. Read the old fashioned way. Take turns reading passages, or allow your child to follow
along as you read.
7. Compare Authors' Books: Have your child read two books by the same author. It is a
good idea for you to read them too so you can discuss them. Compare how they are
similar and how they are different. Which did you and your child like best? Why?
Most important, remember to keep your reading activities at home stress free. Use
mistakes as teachable moments. If your child gets tired of reading, take turns, or take a
break. For most elementary aged students with learning disabilities, about fifteen to
twenty minutes of reading at least three days a week is a good place to begin. If your
child wants more time, then allow that to happen. If your child becomes frustrated, and
has difficulty focusing for that amount of time, shorten the time, and consider a shorter
text or a lower reading level. Establish a cozy and nurturing environment when reading.
A bed time snuggle or a mid-afternoon read on the porch swing are some ideas. Involve
your child in planning your reading sessions, and enjoy your time together as you get
ready for school and get ready to read.
Activities like these are important for children with learning disabilities because they
involve reading in a low-stress, enjoyable situation. Using these strategies regularly with
your child will build skills and encourage them to see reading as a rewarding activity.

Brainstorming Before Speaking Tasks

Brian Cullen
brian [at] celtic-otter.com
Brainstorming is an activity used to generate ideas in small groups. The purpose is to generate as
many ideas as possible within a specified time-period. These ideas are not evaluated until the end
and a wide range of ideas is often produced. Each idea produced does not need to be usable.
Instead, initial ideas can be be viewed as a starting point for more workable ideas. The principle
of brainstorming is that you need lots of ideas to get good ideas.
Brainstorming has a wide range of applications. Since 1930, it has been used successfully in
business for invention and innovation (VanGundy, 1981). In the language classroom,
brainstorming is often used in teaching writing. Activities such as free-association and word-
mapping are often included as part of the pre-writing or warm-up phase (Richards, 1990:112).
Is brainstorming useful in teaching conversation? In particular, is it a useful activity for warm-up
in conversation classes? This paper will help answer this question. Section A shows how
brainstorming can help our students to become better learners. Section B describes a research
study on brainstorming in the conversation classroom. Section C gives some simple
brainstorming techniques.
Section A : Brainstorming Encourages Better Learning
Some learners are more successful than others. In order to find out why, Rubin and Thompson
(1984:114, Rubin 1975) studied the characteristics of good learners. Four of these characteristics
are discussed below. These may explain why brainstorming is a useful tool in our classrooms.

Good Learners Organize Information About Language

Good learners try to organize their knowledge. As teachers, we can try to facilitate this
organization by using suitable warm-up activities. A warm-up activity can remind our students of
existing knowledge. At the same time, it can direct their minds towards ideas that they will meet
in the main activity. In this way, it provides a link between new and existing knowledge.
However, each learner has a different store of existing knowledge organized in a unique way. A
textbook or teacher presentation can never use this knowledge to its best potential. In many
warm-up activities, the teacher and students can be frustrated because the organization of
language in the warm-up activity is different from the organization in the learners' minds. This
mismatch is a block to good learning. Brainstorming invites the learners to organize existing
knowledge in their own minds. Many learners have a large passive vocabulary which does not
translate directly into productive capabilities in the classroom. Brainstorming can help to activate
this. It works to mobilize the resources of the student by creating a series of connecting ideas.
This leads to an organization of language. The links which appear on paper created in word
mapping are visible evidence of this organization. At this point the learners will be better
oriented to the topic and better motivated to fill the gaps in their knowledge.
Good Learners Find Their Own Way and Take Charge of Their Own Learning
Students who do not take charge of their own learning are unable to take full advantage of
learning opportunities. This is a problem that faces many Asian students who are generally more
reserved than western students (Tsui , 1996). Many teachers find that lack of self-initiative is
usually more of a problem than lack of ability in conversation classes.
Brainstorming can help learners to take charge. Learners begin examining their existing
resources and identifying gaps in their knowledge. The free association nature allows learners to
become involved in the selection of language used in the speaking task.
Good Learners Make Intelligent Guesses
The good learner makes intelligent guesses, but the language classroom often works against this.
Because of nervousness in a foreign language or fear of teacher correction, many students are
afraid of using language unless they are sure that it is totally correct (Lucus 1984). This stops
them making intelligent guesses and slows down learning.
Brainstorming can help students to learn to take risks. McCoy (1976) makes a strong argument in
favour of learning problem-solving skills in order to reduce anxiety. There are no 'right' or
'wrong' answers in brainstorming and no danger of teacher correction. By carrying out a simple
brainstorming warm-up, students can obtain a sense of competence and feel more confident in
making intelligent guesses.
Good Learners Use Contextual Cues to Help Them in Comprehension
The good learner uses the context of language to help in comprehension but the foreign language
classroom can often seem artificial. Brainstorming allows the students to create a context for the
subsequent speaking task. Relevant existing knowledge (content schema) can be called up from
memory and can provide a context which supports comprehension and production in the
subsequent speaking task.
As discussed in this section, brainstorming can help our students to become better learners, but
equally importantly, students will benefit just by working in groups. They will learn language
from each other and by interacting together they will become better communicators.

Section B : A Research Study on the Use of Brainstorming

A research study on the use of brainstorming was carried out in Oral Communication classes at a
Japanese senior high school. The students had studied English since junior high school, but it
was their first introduction to spoken English. Many students carried out the speaking tasks very
slowly which resulted in very little speaking time. Many learners seemed to have a low level of
the characteristics of the "good learner" which were previously discussed. Brainstorming was
introduced as a short warm-up activity that could direct the minds of the students towards the
speaking task and maximize their speaking time.
The study was carried out in six classes of 40 students. Each class was split into two groups by
student numbers. Both groups were assumed to be at the same level of ability. Odd-numbered
students did only the speaking task and acted as a control group. Even-numbered students did a
brainstorming warm-up followed by the speaking task.
The type of brainstorming used was word-mapping. In word-mapping, students write one word
in the center of the page and link other related words to it. Students did several examples in small
groups and groups competed with each other to get the highest number of words. For each
brainstorming session, the students were given only two minutes to encourage quick thinking and
to reduce the time for worrying about mistakes.
The speaking task was a simple information gap involving the exchange of personal information.
The students were given a time-limit of five minutes. Each piece of information exchanged was
noted in a box on a worksheet. At the end of the task, the scores were counted. If a box was
filled, a student got a point. There was no penalty for incorrect answers.
Since the goal of the task was to maximize student speaking time, a larger amount of information
exchanged was assumed to mean a better performance. The score was assumed to be a suitable
measure of this performance. Other variables were not considered. Changes in score were
assumed to be due to the effect of the brainstorming session. The scores for the test groups and
control groups are shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Evaluation of the Study
All of the test groups performed better than the corresponding control groups and the average
speaking time was about 15% longer. The increases in speaking time for the individual groups
ranged from 3.8% to as much as 25.3%.
Brainstorming had a strong positive effect on the atmosphere of the classroom and behaviour of
the students. The students in the study got involved in the brainstorming immediately. In the
warm-up, groups competed and got increasingly higher scores in each consecutive
brainstorming. The average number of words written during the brainstorming rose from under
10 words in the first example to over 50 words in the last example. This seemed to indicate an
activation of self-initiative.
In the test groups, the game-like activity of the brainstorming carried over into the speaking task.
In addition, students had already worked with a partner before the main speaking task which
helped to overcome shyness or anxiety. This probably helped the making of intelligent guesses.
The students were familiar with the vocabulary in the speaking task because of the organization
of knowledge and introduction of contextual cues in the warm-up activity. The whole pace of the
task was much faster in the test groups and the students seemed to enjoy it more. Japanese was
used very little by the test groups in the course of the task.
In contrast, in the control groups, there was a general fear of making mistakes in the speaking
task and many of the students were nervous. In addition, they were not as familiar with the
vocabulary and had to be constantly reminded not to use Japanese.
The test-group students seemed to move towards the characteristics of the good learner through
the warm-up and speaking task. The brainstorming activity achieved the goal of increasing the
student speaking time.
Although, the study covers a narrow area, it shows that an increase in speaking time and a more
positive atmosphere are two benefits that brainstorming can bring to speaking tasks. This can be
seen as a result of guiding the students towards the characteristics of the good learner.

Section C : Practical Aspects of Brainstorming

Brainstorming is an ideal warm-up activity because it takes little time. Also, it can be explained
easily and be used with any chosen topic. There was only one type of brainstorming used in this
study. However, some others are listed below with brief examples and many other types can be
imagined.

Simple Word Lists

1. List words to describe people's appearance.
2. List all the items you need for a party.
3. Make a list of house furniture.

Lists Based on a Principle

 1. Write down a food that begins with each letter of the alphabet.
2. Make a list of animals starting with the smallest animal and getting bigger.

Finding Alternatives for a Blank in a Sentence.

1. The man got off his ____________ and walked away. (answers could include :
horse/bicycle/letter/backside)
2. Peter lived in a ____________ (answers could include : caravan/house/fantasy
world/apartment)
3. I don't like her because she is ______________ (answers could include : too talkative/the
teacher's pet/boring)

Brainstorming on a Picture
Pictures are a rich source of inspiration for brainstorming. Strange events evoke the biggest
variety of responses. Most students will let their imagination roam if the pictures are strange
enough. Use pictures from the textbook, magazines or other sources.
1. What are these people doing?
2. List the objects in the picture.
3. What is this man thinking about?
4. Write four words to describe this person.

Brainstorming Using a Song

Songs are wonderful for reducing nervousness. They seem to be particularly effective in whole-
class brainstorming when the teacher is writing the ideas on the board. Play a song for the class
and ask questions like the following.
1. How does the singer feel?
2. What do you think the singer looks like?
3. Suggest titles for this song.
4. When do you think that this song was written?

Word-mapping or Phrase-mapping Around a Central Theme.

Write a word or phrase in the center of a page. All the other words or phrases should link off this
in a logical manner. Word-mapping can be useful for establishing groups of similar things, for
example animals or food. Phrase-mapping can be useful for developing topics or functions.
Changing One Word in a Sentence Each Time
Each word must be changed, but each sentence must have a meaning. This can be useful to show
the students the role of each word in a sentence prior to a substitution drill or other activities. It
can be a fun activity to do on the blackboard.
Example :
1. Peter played flute in the orchestra.
2. Peter played flute in the park.
3. John played flute in the park.
4. John played soccer in the park.
5. John watched soccer in the park.
6. John watched soccer near the park.
7. John watched soccer near a park.
Variations: add one word, take away one word.

Listing Different Ways of Expressing a Particular Language Function.

Example : Ask Someone to Move his Car.
1. Please move your car.
2. I'd appreciate if you could move your car.
3. Get your car out of my way.

Prediction
Guess what the speaker will say next. This can be used in conjunction with dialogues in
textbooks. It is a powerful technique to encourage students to take a risk. If the dialogue is
recorded, stop the tape and ask the students to predict what the speaker will say.

Free Association
This is best done orally and can be a lot of fun. One student gives a word in your chosen topic
and asks another student to say the first word that she thinks of. The second student continues to
make associations. The first student simply repeats the word in each case. After making about 10
associations, the first student should try to work backwards from the last association to the
original word.
Example :
1. A : apple
2. B : red
3. A : red
4. B : rose
5. and so on.
Variation : Free association in pairs or in groups. Students make the associations from the
previous student's word.
Group Storytelling
Students work in groups and take turns adding to a story, either spoken or written. It is usually
better to give the first line of the story.
Example :
John was late for school because
1. Student A : he missed the train
2. Student B : and there wasn't another for 20 minutes
3. Student C : so he went to a game center
4. Student D : but he lost his wallet
If the students are writing, it is interesting to write several stories at the same time.

Conclusion
Brainstorming is a very useful activity that can be easily introduced into language classes. The
research study previously discussed shows that it helps our students to become better learners. In
addition, it is a fun activity which students enjoy and well worth trying out in your own classes.

References
Brown, H.D, 1994 Principles of Language Learning and teaching, Prentice Hall Regents
McCoy, R.I 1976. Means to Overcome the Anxieties of Second Language Learners, Foreign
Language Annals, pages 185-9, No. 12, 1979.
Richards, J.C., 1990 The Language Teaching Matrix, Cambridge University Press.
Rubin, J 1975. What the "Good Language Learner" Can Teach Us, TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 9,
No.1, March 1975.
Tsui, A.B.M. 1996. Reticence and anxiety in second language learning, Voices From the
Language Classroom, Cambridge 1996, 145-167.
VanGundy, A. B. (1981, 2nd Ed. 1988). Techniques of Structured Problem Solving. New York:
Van Nostrand Reinhold.
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. IV, No. 7, July 1998
http://iteslj.org/

Helping EFL/ESL Students by Asking Quality Questions

I The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. IX, No. 10, October 2003
http://iteslj.org/

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Hussain-Questions.html

Questioning is the single most influential teaching act and the trend has hardly changed over the
years. This article describes two main categories of questions that are frequently used in the
classroom. It further shares why the teachers should develop the habit of asking high-level
questions and what questioning practices they should avoid.
Introduction
In the realm of teaching and learning, questions have been cited as not only the most often used,
but also the single most important strategy used by instructors (Ellis, 1993, Foster, 1983) after
lecturing. It appears that teachers have mistakenly equated quantity of questions with quality. A
study conducted in 1912 by Romiett Stevens showed that 80 percent of the school time was used
for question-and-answer recitation. Gall (1970) cited several studies in which elementary
teachers used 64 to 180 questions in one class period. Dillon 1987 (cited in Orlich et al. 1994)
reported that of observations of 27 teachers showed an average of 80 questions per class per
hour. Research over the years has proved that the practice has hardly changed. This article gives
the message that if teachers are to teach logically, they must be knowledgeable in the process of
framing questions so that they can guide the students' thought process.
Why Ask Questions?
Some possible reasons are:
• To encourage learners to talk constructively and on-task
• To signal an interst in hearing what learners feel and think
• To stimulate interest and awaken curiosity
• To encourage a problem-solving approach to thinking and learning
• To help learners externalize and verbalize knowledge learning
• To encourage thinking aloud and exploratory approaches to tasks
• To help learners to learn from each other
• To monitor learning
• To deepen learners' thinking level and increase their ability to conceptualize
Questions fall under two main categories:
• Yes/No questions
• Wh-questions
Questioning Procedure
It is generally a poor method of questioning when the instructor asks questions and allows the
entire group to answer in chorus. This method could stimulate a dull class or encourage learners
to participate; however it also has some disadvantages. Choral answers permit the learners'
attention to wander, decrease individual thought, and restrict the teachers to monitor feed from
the class.
Mental participation of the learners can be achieved through the simple five part questioning
procedure explained below. This rule is based on the psychological principle that when a
question is asked and then followed by a pause, all learners will attend to the communication.
The nonverbal message (pause) communicates that any learner in the class could be called to for
a response. Thus, the attention level of the learner remains high. The technique of framing thus
entails:
1. Ask the question.
The teachers should state the question clearly and concisely. If a question is complicated,
it may be necessary to rephrase it. It is imperative that the question is stated first before
naming the learner to respond.
2. Pause.
After asking a question, pausing is important so that everyone has time to think. Waiting
time is essential when asking high-level question.
3. Call on the learner by name.
Learners should be randomly selected to answer the questions so that they try to
formulate the answer.
4. Listen to the answer.
A good technique that teachers can use to ensure that the learners are attentive is to ask
another learner to respond to the answer given.
5. Emphasize the correct answer.
The teachers could ask probing questions to have the respondents' response clarified, to
support a point, or to extend their thinking.
Characteristics of Good Questions
The learners should be able to understand the questions asked and the meaning of the questions
should be clear to them.
• Questions asked must be according to the level of the learners.
• Questions with definite answers should be encouraged.
• Challenging questions that require learners to compare, evaluate, or draw inference
should be asked.
• A question should not have a 'trick' or 'catch' to it.
• Yes/No questions should be avoided.
Practices to be Avoided

• Repeating ones own questions

• Repeating learners' answers
• Answering ones own questions
• Questioning for chorus answering
• Not allowing learners to complete a long response
• Not attending to the responding learner
• Selecting the same learner respondents