Reading Lesson Plan

Students: 10-15 intermediate primary ESL students with any native language background

Objectives: To help students become able to read and comprehend so that they can follow instructions and directions

Materials: Small pieces of paper, color tapes, ‘treasures’, and the original picture book about treasure hunt

Lesson Plan:

The teacher starts this lesson by asking the students if they know what treasure hunt is. If they do, the teacher can pick some of them to tell the rest of the class what it is. If they don’t, the teacher gives them a little time to take a guess and think about it. Asking them questions like ‘What is a treasure?’ or ‘What does hunt mean?’, ‘Do you know what hunting is?’ etc. would be helpful hints to the students.

No matter whether the students know what treasure hunt is or not, the teacher goes on to the next step, which is to read to them a short story about treasure hunt. The story the teacher reads to them is the picture book created specifically for this lesson. The story goes something like this: ‘Ken is a boy. He likes school. And he loves reading books. Ken’s father knows that Ken loves reading. So he buys Ken a book to read every month. One day, Ken comes home from school and runs to his bookshelf. Because he knows that this is the day he gets a new book. But he can’ find a new book. Instead, he finds a little note. The note says, ‘Hi, Ken. I used to be your favorite toy, Teddy the bear. Because you don’t play with me anymore, I am sad. This morning, I found a new book on your bookshelf. It was so interesting. Since I liked this book very much, I decided to keep it. If you want your new book back, You need to go to your bed, and check inside your pillow case.’ Ken gets very surprised, but goes to his bed and checks inside his pillowcase, and finds another note!

‘Take five big steps towards the window and then turn right.’ (He finds a new note after another, and finally finds his new book. And sitting besides the book was his toy bear Teddy. Ken says sorry to Teddy and reads his new book to him.)

Having read this book to the students, the teacher asks questions to see if they have understood the whole story. The questions might include the following: ‘What was the boy’s name?’ ‘What did he like to do?’ ‘Was his new book on the bookshelf?’ etc.

After making sure that everyone has understood this story, the teacher informs the students that they are going to be playing ‘treasure hunt’ just like the story. It is important that the teacher has built up some feelings and air of excitement by this time. Teacher needs to continue to get the students excited about this activity.

Then the teacher separates the students into groups of 3-5 students. The teacher explains to each group that they will be given a note, which tells them what to do or where to go to find their treasure. The teacher helps everyone understand that the note they will receive is merely a first clue to get to the treasure and not the only one. It is important that the students understand that they will find an instruction after another and they are to follow all the instructions to be able to find the treasure they are after. The teacher asks them to see if they have understood what they are about to do. The teacher may have some of the students in each group explain to the other members of the group if he/she deems necessary.

The teacher hands out a note to each group, and has each group work on their own. While each group is working independently, the teacher can go around and see what and how the students are doing. Even if the students are doing something wrong, the teacher doesn’t let them know right away. Instead, the teacher makes sure that students don’t get too nervous or frustrated because of the mistake they have made, and instruct them to go back to their previous instruction and start over.

The teacher can make this activity so that all the groups get to the same treasure via different routes or each group gets to different treasures. Depending on how much time the teacher plans to spend on this activity, the teacher can make a lot of directions/instructions for the students to read and follow in order for them to get to a treasure, or, the teacher can make each directions short and simple so that the students can get to their treasure quickly and move on to another treasure hunting.

1) read

This is both introduction and preparation step for this lesson. It is introductory because it introduces the idea of the activity to the class through this story, and preparatory because it prepares the students for reading.

Teacher can stop while reading this story to ask some questions to see if the students are catching up and also to keep them interested. The teacher keeps the students curious about what happens next and gives them opportunities to guess what is going to happen before he/she tells them how the actual story goes. This guessing technique is very important for the students to become good readers. Also, it is important for the teacher to not let the students become just passive when they listen or read but to help them actively participate in the activity they are engaged in by having them work their mind.

2) the picture book

This picture book offers the visual aid so that the students can picture what is happening as the story goes visually in their mind. This book also helps them realize just how fun the reading must be because there is a boy (in this particular story) who loves reading so much that he even bothers to go through all sorts of troubles to find his book. This story also teaches students to remember what they used to cherish and now forgotten. It could be a toy, a book, a picture or a friend. Although this story doesn’t tell who actually wrote the notes, but the pictures depicts the boy’s dad and mom hiding and watching their son, indicating that either one of them or possibly both wrote the notes. So the teacher can have them guess where the father or mother is, who wrote the notes, and so on and so forth. There are many different aspects to this picture book, but one of the most important among all is that basically all the vocabulary the students come across, both familiar and new, appear in this story. It should be a good preparation for the students to learn and review all the words beforehand so they can deal with this activity with confidence. It should also help enhance their comprehension.

3) asks questions

By asking questions, the teacher not only makes sure that the students understand how the story goes and what happens in it, but also teaches and reviews the vocabulary. The teacher needs to make sure everyone gets to understand each vocabulary that is important in this activity.

4) get the students excited

The questions asked in the beginning and the storytelling are just a little bit of help to get the students interested in and excited about treasure hunt. The teacher provides motivations for the students extrinsically by doing those things. But one learns more effectively when motivated intrinsically. Once the students get excited about this activity, they have a greater desire to do it than when they are simply told to do it. When they have that desire, they get self-motivated. This self-motivation improves their abilities to learn, comprehend and accomplish the task. The teacher plays an important role of making the transition from the extrinsic motivation to the intrinsic motivation.

5) groups of 3-5 students

Group work can offer extra help and fun. One is less likely to feel unconfident when working in a group than when working on his/her own. It an individual gets stuck or has a hard time understanding something, other members can help that individual and work it out together as a group. Small groups of this size are preferred so that in this group work, each individual can still benefit from it and take an active part in it.

6) follow all the instructions

The students need to follow every instruction because an instruction builds upon the previous one. So once the students screw up at some point, they can’t go on to the next step, and furthermore, they won’t be able to get to the treasure they are to find. This activity can indicate how much the students really understand certain things and in which areas they can improve.

7) doesn’t let them know

The students learn from mistakes. The teacher shouldn’t let the students become afraid of making mistakes. Unless they are seriously stuck and clueless, the teacher should leave them alone and figure things out on their own. Besides, this should be a great time for observationóan opportunity to learn the points of improvement of both individual students and a class as a whole.

* Treasures

Rather than just candies and sweets, treasures should be something more meaningful and helpful which will enhance the students’ interest to read. Such as a short story book, pretty bookmarks, and so forth.