Encouraging Reading at Home in Your ESL Class

Teaching ESL 1, many of the lessons center around teaching basically vocabulary (i.e. colors, days of the week, months, places at school, school objects, etc. ). I use a good curriculum, and I add games and activities to the lesson to create more engaging and authentic learning experiences. However, I started reflecting that it is important that students encounter the English language as a whole earlier on instead of having a large amount of time placed just on individual words. I think it is important that the students encounter whole sentences which are possible to be comprehended at their level. Moreover, it is important that they start to read content that they find interesting. My curriculum provides reading sections, but I think there is something to say for a student choosing a book that interests him/her. Furthermore, I think the challenge of independent extended reading with periodic check-ups in class, even if it is a simple book, provides large benefits.

My class is just one class in a seven period day; it’s just a little over 50 minutes. I have a lot I want to accomplish in that class period, and so thought must be put into structuring the class so that the day’s lesson can be covered, homework checked and feedback given, and periodic checks on reading can occur. Below is the basic schedule I have created. I could provide more details, but right now I am just listing the minimum so that you can get the idea. It might evolve over time.

Start of class: Check homework (record grades for doing homework and give feedback). This doesn’t take much time since I can quickly glance over a student’s page.

Next: Introduce class lesson, and model how to complete the day’s page.

Next: While student’s work, you can answer questions, provide feedback while looking at their work, and students can tell you that they are ready to read their book to you. I’ll talk more about this reading after this schedule.

Next: Once most of the students have completed the in-class assignment, I will cover it in class. I will call on students to answer the questions, and I may ask my own questions about the material. This is all to encourage speaking.

Next: I set an alarm on my phone 2 minutes before the bell. When I hear that alarm, I tell the students to log out of their computers and clean up with a Clorox wipe.

Of course, lesson structures can vary. For example, we may spend the whole day on an activity. Just last week we spent the majority of the period finding different school locations. In classes like those I cannot have a reading check-up. But for the most part, there will be time for reading check-ups.

During this check-up time, I will ask the class if anyone wants to read their book to me. The student will have practiced reading their book at home. (I showed them at the start and throughout the year how to use Google Translate while reading their book to find the meaning and pronunciation of words.) The student reads the book to me. When a student pronounces a word incorrectly, I point to the word to give the student more tries. When the student cannot get the correct pronunciation, I write the word down on a sticky-note, and I show the note to the student while saying the correct pronunciation. As the student reads, I will write other mispronounced words on the sticky note and say the correct pronunciations. In general, if the student can read the short, simple book with three or less mistakes, I give the student a piece of candy. I also give the student reading credit for the week. For students who have great trouble reading, I have a different standard like reading just two pages with no mistakes. If the student makes more than three mistakes, I give the student the sticky-note, and I tell him/her to keep practicing. This ensures that I can circulate among all of my students, and I do not spend too much time with just one student.

Students have two options when choosing their book. They can grab a physical book off my shelf, and I will record what book they chose. They can then take that book home with them. The other option is that they can read a book on the online reading site Epic!. This site has a library of books that can be sorted by reading level. I recommend the read-aloud books which have a real person reading the book.

These reading check-ups encourage reading time at home, and they do not dig-in to class time. (Of course, it does take away from time that I can provide feedback to students on the day’s assignment, but I think it is a good trade-off. And I can still provide feedback on the day’s assignment, just not as much.) You may be surprised to see some of your students really shine and make large strides with independent reading check-ups. I was pleased to see my students show-off their reading, and I was pleasantly surprised with some of their skills.

Let me know if you have reading check-ups or other methods for encouraging independent reading at home. How do you include these check-ups in your class schedule?