Intensive Reading
Although reading for fun at home is beneficial for students, intensive reading is invaluable. Students need dedicated time in class guided by the teacher to decipher difficult passages. Every intensive reading activity should be divided into three parts—a before-reading activity, a during-reading activity, and an after-reading activity.
Before-Reading
This portion of the lesson helps prepare students for the passage they will read and the task that follows. If you skip this step and simply hand out a passage and tell the students to read, they are guaranteed to flounder. Before-reading activities set students up for success.
Here are some possible before-reading activities:
Discuss the content and format of the passage:
What do students know about the topic? Do they have personal experiences with the topic? What are their feelings about the topic?
Who is the author? When were they born? What events in their life may help your students interpret the passage?
What genre is the passage? What format can students expect? What is the purpose of the article? To argue? To teach? To persuade? To entertain?
Survey the passage: Have students scan the text. You may refer students to the title, abstract, introduction, thesis statement, pictures, graphs, the conclusion… any parts of a text that may prepare them to read.
Make predictions: Have students make predictions about the content, argument, or format of the reading based on the topic or a brief survey of the text.
Define Key Vocab: Discuss as a class or provide a gloss for difficult or niche vocab students may encounter in the reading.
During-Reading
After preparing your students for a text, it is time for your students to read! Before releasing them to read, give them a why behind their reading. Are students going to look for unfamiliar vocabulary? Are they going to identify the author’s purpose? What do you want students to notice or look for as they read?
Consider breaking this portion of the lesson into two sections: the first reading and the close reading.
First Reading: This is a quick read through to get a basic understanding of the text and to confirm predictions. Give a short amount of time for students to complete this reading so they don’t get bogged down in the details. You may also consider reading the passage aloud to the students, using stress and intonation to help students understand the text, or have students read the text aloud in partners.
Close Reading: This is a second, deeper dive into the text. It is in this stage that break-down is most likely to occur. Students need ample support and monitoring from the teacher while they attempt to engage with a text. Look for signs of confusion or disengagement as cues for your assistance. Consider providing worksheets with questions or graphic organizers to guide their reading. You may also suggest highlighting or underlining key details as they read.
After-Reading
Although this post is on reading, in the classroom, reading should always lead to language production. After-reading activities are usually speaking or writing activities where students can summarize, synthesize, evaluate, and analyze what they read in the passage. Possible activities include writing a letter to the author of the article, holding a class debate on the topic of the reading, rewriting the article from a different perspective, or simply summarizing the reading to a partner. Help your students engage with their thoughts provoked by the reading.
Text Selection
When selecting passages for intensive reading activities, here are a few things to consider:
Vocabulary: In order for students to understand a text, they need to know 95-98% of its vocabulary. Although you may select passages slightly above level, recognize that you will need to provide some extra resources to help your students decipher the text,
Authenticity: Is this text something you would encounter in the real-world? Does it serve an authentic communicative purpose? If it is not a real-world text, does it sound contrived or natural?
Relevance: Is the genre relevant to course curriculum? Will it help students meet course goals and objectives?
Engagement: Will students resonate with and respond to this text?
