Responding to a text
Background
Coursebook texts have comprehension questions and ready-made discussion points following a text. Authentic texts that you find on the internet or from a print medium don’t. Of course, you can produce your own, but it’s also nice to have an alternative zero-preparation way to respond to a text that can be used for all texts, again and again. Here is one, modified from an original idea by Mark Powell that appeared in the Teacher’s Resource Book for the first edition of Business Matters.
Activity
1 Before handing out the text, write on the board:
– The three main points of the article are …
– One thing that interested me was …
– One thing that surprised me was …
– One thing I disagree with is …
– One question I want to ask is …
2 Now hand out the text and ask students to read it all through quickly once, and then again more slowly while they complete the sentences on the board in their notebooks.
3 Students can read out their completed sentences, in small groups or as a whole class, and discussion will quickly follow.
More tips & techniques
If you would like similar tips and advice, visit the ‘Using authentic material‘ section of my website PaulEmmerson.com.
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