Activities for Reading

In order for children to learn to read, it’s helpful to have a proverbial reservoir of
activities for reading for them to do. Make that, a resevoir of enjoyable activities. Who
wouldn’t rather engage in activities that are enjoyable to do? And what sounds like
commonsense has the weight of good research backing it as well. Educators and
researchers have found, not surprisingly, that a student’s enjoyment of learning directly
relates to their desire and willingness to learn. The more enjoyable and interactive
learning is, the more likely that a student will engage in that activity.
But the trick is to find activities that are both enjoyable and an effective means of
instruction. There is, of course, no point engaging children in activities that are solely
enjoyable, with no educational basis, and then expect them to learn something and
make gains in their learning. And on the flip side, it is often very difficult to keep kids
motivated in educational activities if they do not enjoy them. Researchers have found
that kids need to engage in a diverse range of activities for reading, in order for them to
gain the literacy skills they need and become fluent readers. But what are the most
effective activities for reading?

Activities for reading need to have as their focus five key areas of instruction, which are:

• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics skills
• Fluency in reading
• Vocabulary building
• Text comprehension
Activities for reading which have these five areas of instruction as their focus have been
found to be highly-effective in helping kids acquire the reading skills that they need.

The ABC Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress programs incorporate each of the five
essential elements of reading instruction into the structure of every lesson. All of the
ABC Reading Eggs activities for reading feature either four or five of the essential
elements. Early in the Reading Eggs program, phonemic awareness is highlighted.
Later, phonics instruction takes precedence, and so on, moving through emphasis on
the other key areas of fluency, vocabulary and text comprehension in their turn.
Each lesson is comprised of a number of parts, featuring a variety of activities for
reading, such as phonetic sounding out of letters, phonemic awareness skills of being
able to hear the sound of letters as parts of spoken words, letter formation and writing,
vocabulary development and reading with comprehension.

The lessons build on one another so that all of the activities for reading within the lesson
are perfectly integrated and build upon one another, culminating in the reading of an e-
book near the end of each lesson. Each e-book has a cover and pages that turn,
mimicking the act of reading a real book, which helps students gain skills in handling
physical books, not just e-books. One of the marvelous benefits of the ABC Reading
Eggs program is that all of the activities for reading work to help students gain the skills
needed to read fluently offline as well as online.

The ABC Reading Eggs program also features a thoroughly engaging, age-appropriate
reward system that rewards students for their engagement with and completion of the
program’s activities for reading. Children enjoy receiving the prize of Golden Eggs at the
completion of the short activities for reading. The Golden Eggs are deposited in their
Eggy Banks for them to ‘spend’ in a variety of ways within the ABC Reading Eggs
program. They can spend them on games, on clothes for their Reading Eggs online
character, or on furnishings for their character’s house.

Students can also collect critters as well as Golden Eggs, with the reward of a three-
dimensional, animated critter that hatches out of an egg at the completion of each
lesson. This is a rich reward system that encourages students to engage with the
activities for reading in order to reap their rewards.

The wide variety of rewards within the ABC Reading Eggs program and the interactive
nature of the activities for reading make Reading Eggs an enjoyable, compelling, and
thoroughly educational learning experience for young students.

Testimonials

I am very impressed with your wonderful program. Each activity is clearly explained to the
children. It is fun and fast moving and also provides a variety of follow-up activities. Andrea
Reeson, Wingham Brush Public
Reading Eggs is incredible! My daughter can’t get enough of the activities, she enjoys them so
much…In just THREE days she started reading the most basic of words. Thank you so much
Reading Eggs. Arthur
Our students love this site. It is bright, entertaining, engaging and educationally sound. What a
fun way to learn to read! They can’t get enough of it and ask regularly, ‘is it our turn on Reading
Eggs today’? Katrina Kruger, Elliot Heads State School

25 Activities for Reading and Writing Fun

By: U.S. Department of Education

Doing activities with your children allows you to promote their reading and writing skills while
having fun at the same time. These activities for pre-readers, beginning readers, and older
readers includes what you need and what to do for each one.

RELATED

Reading Adventure Packs for Families

103 Things to Do Before/During/After Reading

Start with a Book

These activities have been developed by national reading experts for you to use with children,
ages birth to Grade 6. The activities are meant to be used in addition to reading with children
every day.

In using these activities, your main goal will be to develop great enthusiasm in the reader for
reading and writing. You are the child's cheerleader. It is less important for the reader to get
every word exactly right. It is more important for the child to learn to love reading itself. If the
reader finishes one book and asks for another, you know you are succeeding! If your reader
writes even once a week and comes back for more, you know you have accomplished your
beginning goals.

We wish you many wonderful hours of reading and writing with children!

Activities for birth to preschool: The early years

Activity 1: Books and babies
Babies love to listen to the human voice. What better way than through reading!
 What you'll need:

Some books written especially for babies (books made of cardboard or cloth with flaps to lift and
holes to peek through).

What to do:

 Start out by singing lullabies and folk songs to your baby. When your baby is about six months
old, choose books with brightly colored, simple pictures and lots of rhythm in the text. (Mother
Goose rhymes are perfect.) Hold your baby in your lap so he/she can see the colorful pages of
the book. Include books that show pictures and names of familiar objects.

 As you read with your baby, point out objects in the pictures and make sure your baby sees all
the things that are fun to do with books. (Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt is a classic touch-
and-feel book for babies.)

 Vary the tone of your voice with different characters in the stories, sing nursery rhymes, make
funny faces, do whatever special effects you can to stimulate your baby's interest.

 Allow your child to touch and hold cloth and sturdy cardboard books.

 When reading to a baby, keep the sessions brief but read daily and often.

As you read to your baby, your child is forming an association between books and what is most
loved – your voice and closeness. Allowing babies to handle books deepens their attachment
even more.

Activity 2: Tot talk

What's "old hat" to you can be new and exciting to toddlers and preschoolers. When you talk
about everyday experiences, you help children connect their world to language and enable them
to go beyond that world to new ideas.

What you'll need:

Yourself and your child

What to do:

 As you get dinner ready, talk to your child about things that are happening. When your 2- or 3-
year-old "helps" by taking out all the pots and pans, talk about them. "Which one is the
biggest?" "Can you find a lid for that one?" "What color is this one?"

 When walking down the street and your toddler or preschooler stops to collect leaves, stop and
ask questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. "Which leaves are the same?"
"Which leaves are different?" "What else grows on trees?"

 Ask "what if" questions. "What would happen if we didn't shovel the snow?" "What if that
butterfly lands on your nose?"

 Answer your child's endless "why" questions patiently. When you say, "I don't know, let's look it
up," you show how important books are as resources for answering questions.
 After your child tells you a story, ask questions so you can understand better. That way children
learn how to tell complete stories and know you are interested in what they have to say.

 Expose your child to varied experiences – trips to the library, museum, or zoo; walks in the park;
or visits with friends and relatives. Surround these events with lots of comments, questions, and
answers.

Talking enables children to expand their vocabulary and understanding of the world. The ability
to carry on a conversation is important for reading development. Remember, it is better to talk
too much rather than too little with a small child.

Activity 3: R and R – repetition and rhyme

Repetition makes books predictable, and young readers love knowing what comes next.

What you'll need:

 Books with repeated phrases (Favorites are: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very
Bad Day by Judith Viorst; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr.; Horton
Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss; and The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper.

 Short rhyming poems.

What to do:

 Pick a story with repeated phrases or a poem you and your child like. For example, read:

(Wolf voice:) "Little pig, little pig, let me come in."

(Little pig:) "Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin."
(Wolf voice:) "Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"

 After the wolf has blown down the first pig's house, your child will soon join in with the refrain.

 Read slowly, and with a smile or a nod, let your child know you appreciate his or her
participation.

 As the child grows more familiar with the story, pause and give him or her a chance to fill in the
blanks and phrases.

 Encourage your child to pretend to read, especially books that contain repetition and rhyme.
Most children who enjoy reading will eventually memorize all or parts of a book and imitate your
reading. This is a normal part of reading development.

When children anticipate what's coming next in a story or poem, they have a sense of mastery
over books. When children feel power, they have the courage to try. Pretending to read is an
important step in the process of learning to read.

Activity 4: Poetry in motion

When children "act out" a good poem, they learn to love its rhyme, rhythm, and the pictures it
paints with a few well-chosen words. They grow as readers by connecting feelings with the
written word.
 What you'll need:

Poems that rhyme, tell a story, and/or are written from a child's point of view.

What to do:

 Read a poem slowly to your child, and bring all your dramatic talents to the reading. (In other
words, "ham it up.")

 If there is a poem your child is particularly fond of, suggest acting out a favorite line. Be sure to
award such efforts with delighted enthusiasm.

 Suggest acting out a verse, a stanza, or the entire poem. Ask your child to make a face the way
the character in the poem is feeling. Remember that facial expressions bring emotion into the
performer's voice.

 Be an enthusiastic audience for your child. Applause is always nice.

 If your child is comfortable with the idea, look for a larger setting with an attentive, appreciative
audience. Perhaps an after-dinner "recital" for family members would appeal to your child.

 Mistakes are a fact of life, so ignore them.

Poems are often short with lots of white space on the page. This makes them manageable for
new readers and helps to build their confidence.

Activity 5: Story talk

Talking about what you read is another way to help children develop language and thinking
skills. You won't need to plan the talk, discuss every story, or expect an answer.

What you'll need:

Storybooks

What to do:

 Read slowly and pause occasionally to think aloud about a story. You can say: "I wonder what's
going to happen next!" Or ask a question: "Do you know what a palace is?" Or point out: "Look
where the little mouse is now."

 Answer your children's questions, and if you think they don't understand something, stop and
ask them. Don't worry if you break into the flow of a story to make something clear. But keep
the story flowing as smooth as possible.

 Talking about stories they read helps children develop their vocabularies, link stories to everyday
life, and use what they know about the world to make sense out of stories.

Activity 6: Now hear this

Children are great mimics. When you tell stories, your child will begin to tell stories, too.
 What you'll need:

Your imagination

What to do:

 Have your child tell stories like those you have told. Ask: "And then what happened?" to urge the
story along.

 Listen closely when your child speaks. Be enthusiastic and responsive. Give your child full
attention.

 If you don't understand some part of the story, take the time to get your child to explain. This
will help your child understand the relationship between a speaker and a listener and an author
and a reader.

 Encourage your child to express himself or herself. This will help your child develop a richer
vocabulary. It can also help with pronouncing words clearly.

Having a good audience is very helpful for a child to improve language skills, as well as
confidence in speaking. Parents can be the best audience a child will ever have.

Activity 7: TV
Television can be a great tool for education. The keys to successful TV viewing are setting limits,
making good choices, taking time to watch together, discussing what you view, and encouraging
follow-up reading.

What you'll need:

A weekly TV schedule

What to do:

 Limit your child's TV viewing and make your rules and reasons clear. Involve your child in
choosing which programs to watch. Read the TV schedule together to choose.

 Monitor what your child is watching, and whenever possible, watch the programs with your child.

 When you watch programs with your child, discuss what you have seen so your child can better
understand the programs.

 Look for programs that will stimulate your child's interests and encourage reading (such as
dramatizations of children's literature and programs on wildlife and science.)

Many experts recommend that children watch no more than 10 hours of TV each week. Limiting
TV viewing frees up time for reading and writing activities.

It is worth noting that captioned TV shows can be especially helpful for children who are deaf or
hard-of-hearing, studying English as a second language, or having difficulty learning to read.

Activities for preschool through grade two: Moving into reading

 Check out Reading Rockets' new summer website, Start with a Book. You'll find a treasure
trove of themed children's books, parent–child activities, and other great resources for summer
learning.

Activity 8: World of words

Here are a few ways to create a home rich in words.

What you'll need:

 Paper

 Pencils, crayons, markers

 Glue

 Newspapers, magazines

 Safety scissors

What to do:

 Hang posters of the alphabet on the bedroom walls or make an alphabet poster with your child.
Print the letters in large type. Capital letters are usually easier for young children to learn first.

 Label the things in your child's pictures. If your child draws a picture of a house, label it with
"This is a house." and put it on the refrigerator.

 Have your child watch you write when you make a shopping list or a "what to do" list. Say the
words aloud and carefully print each letter.

 Let your child make lists, too. Help your child form the letters and spell the words.

 Look at newspapers and magazines with your child. Find an interesting picture and show it to
your child as you read the caption aloud.

 Create a scrapbook. Cut out pictures of people and places and label them.

 By exposing your child to words and letters often, your child will begin to recognize the shapes of
letters. The world of words will become friendly.

Activity 9: Write on
Writing helps a child become a better reader, and reading helps a child become a better writer.
 What you'll need:

 Pencils, crayons, or markers

 Paper or notebook

 Chalkboard and chalk

What to do:

 Ask your child to dictate a story to you. It could include descriptions of your outings and
activities, along with mementos such as fall leaves and flowers, birthday cards, and photographs.
Older children can do these activities on their own.

 Use a chalkboard or a family message board as an exciting way to involve children in writing with
a purpose.

 Keep supplies of paper, pencils, markers, and the like within easy reach.

 Encourage beginning and developing writers to keep journals and write stories. Ask questions
that will help children organize the stories, and respond to their questions about letters and
spelling. Suggest they share the activity with a smaller brother, sister, or friend.

 Respond to the content of children's writing, and don't be overly concerned with misspellings.
Over time you can help your child concentrate on learning to spell correctly.

 When children begin to write, they run the risk of criticism, and it takes courage to continue. Our
job as parents is to help children find the courage. We can do it by expressing our appreciation of
their efforts.

Activity 10: Look for books

The main thing is to find books you both love. They will shape your child's first impression of the
world of reading.

What you'll need:

Good books

What to do:

 Ask friends, neighbors, and teachers to share the titles of their favorite books.

 Visit your local public library, and as early as possible, get your child a library card. Ask the
librarian for help in selecting books. Have your child join you in browsing for books and making
selections.

 Look for award-winning books. Each year the American Library Association selects children's
books for the Caldecott Medal for illustrations and the Newbery Medal for writing.

 Check the book review section of the newspapers and magazines for the recommended new
children's books.

 If you and your child don't enjoy reading a particular book, put it aside and pick up another one.
 Keep in mind that your child's reading level and listening level are different. When you read easy
books, beginning readers will soon be reading along with you. When you read more advanced
books, you instill a love of stories, and you build the motivation that transforms children into
lifelong readers.

Activity 11: Read to me

It's important to read to your child, but equally important to listen to them read to you. Children
thrive on having someone appreciate their developing skills.

What you'll need:

Books at your child's reading level

What to do:

 Listen carefully as your child reads.

 Take turns. You read a paragraph and have your child read the next one or you read half the
page and your child reads the other half. As your child becomes more at ease with reading aloud,
take turns reading a full page. Keep in mind that your child may be focusing more on how to
read the words than what they mean, and your reading helps to keep the story alive.

 If your child has trouble reading words, you can help him or her in several ways:

o Ask the child to skip over the word, read the rest of the sentence, and then say what would
make sense in the story for the missing word.

o Guide the child to use what he or she knows about letter sounds.

o Supply the correct word.

 Tell your child how proud you are of his or her efforts and skills.

Listening to your child read aloud provides opportunities for you to express appreciation of his or
her new skills and for them to practice their reading. Most importantly, this is another way to
enjoy reading together.

Activity 12: Family stories

Family stories enrich the relationship between parent and child.

What you'll need:

Time set aside for talking with your child.

What to do:

 Tell your child stories about your parents and grandparents. You might even put these stories in
a book and add old family photographs.

 Have your child tell you stories about what happened on special days, such as holidays,
birthdays, and family vacations.
 Reminisce about when you were little. Describe things that happened at school involving
teachers and subjects you were studying. Talk about your brothers, sisters, or friends.

 Write a trip journal with your child to create a new family story. Recording the day's events and
pasting the photographs into the journal ties the family story to a written record. You can include
everyday trips like going to the market or the park.

 It helps for children to know that stories come from real people and are about real events. When
children listen to stories, they hear the voice of the storyteller. This helps them hear the words
when they learn to read aloud or read silently.

Activity 13: P.S. I love you

Something important happens when children receive and write letters. They realize that the
printed word has a purpose.

What you'll need:

 Paper

 Pencil, crayon, or marker

What to do:

 Send your child little notes (by putting them in a pocket or lunch box, for example). When your
child shows you the note, read it aloud with expression. Some children will read the notes on
their own.

 When your child expresses a feeling or a thought that relates to a person, have your child write a
letter. Have your child dictate the words to you if your child doesn't write yet.

For example:

Dear Grandma,
I like it when you make ice cream. It's better than the kind we buy at the store.

Your grandson,
Darryl

P.S. I love you

 Ask the people who receive these notes to respond. An oral response if fine – a written response
is even better.

 Explain the writing process to your child: "We think of ideas and put them into words; we put the
words on paper; people read the words; and people respond."

Language is speaking listening, reading, and writing. Each element supports and enriches the
others. Sending letters will help children become better writers, and writing will make them
better readers.

Activities for grades three through six: Encouraging the young reader
 Activity 14: Good books make reading fun
Stories for young children should be of all kinds – folktales, funny tales, exciting tales, tales of
the wondrous and stories that tell of everyday things.

What you'll need:

A variety of interesting books

What to do:

 An essential step in learning to read is good books read aloud. Parents who read aloud to their
children are teaching literacy concepts simply by sharing books. Encourage your children to
listen, ponder, make comments, and ask questions.

 Be flexible enough to quickly abandon a book that does not appeal after a reasonable try at
reading it. No one is meant to enjoy every book. And no one, especially a child, should be forced
to read or listen to books that bore.

 Even after children have outgrown picture books they still enjoy hearing a story read aloud.
Hearing a good story read well, especially if it is just a little beyond a child's own capabilities, is
an excellent way to encourage independent reading. Not all books are best read aloud; some are
better enjoyed silently.

 There are plenty of children's books that are twice as satisfying when they are shared a chapter
at a time before bed or during long car rides. There are some books that children should not
miss, books that they will want to hear many times and ultimately read for themselves.

 Young children want to read what makes them laugh or cry, shiver and gasp. They must have
stories and poems that reflect what they themselves have felt. They need the thrill of imagining,
of being for a time in some character's shoes for a spine-tingling adventure. They want to
experience the delight and amazement that comes with hearing playful language. For children,
reading must be equated with enjoying, imagining, wondering, and reacting with feeling. If not,
we should not be surprised if they refuse to read. So let your child sometime choose the story or
book that they want you to read to them.

Give your child many opportunities to read and write stories, lists, messages, letters, notes, and
postcards to relatives and friends. Since the skills for reading and writing reinforce one another,
your child's skills and proficiency in reading and writing will be strengthened if you help your
child connect reading to writing and writing to reading.

Activity 15: Artful artists

Children love to be creative when it comes to drawing, and illustrations add visual imagery to
stories.

What you'll need:

 Drawing paper

 Pens and pencils

 Magic markers or crayons

 What to do:

Find a fable, fairy tale, or other short story for your child to read. Then ask your child to illustrate
a part of the story he or she likes best or describe a favorite character. Have the child dictate or
write a few sentences that tell about this picture.

Activity 16: Shopping your way with words

Use your weekly shopping trip as an opportunity to help your child develop reading and writing
skills.

What you'll need:

 Paper and pencils

 Newspaper ads

 Supermarket coupons

What to do:

As you make out your grocery shopping list, give your child a sheet of paper and read the items
to him or her. If the child asks for spelling help, write the words correctly for him or her to copy
or spell the words aloud as your child writes them.

Ask your child to look through the newspaper ads to find the prices of as many items as possible.
Your child can write these prices on the list and then look through your coupons to select the
ones you can use. Take your child to the supermarket and ask him or her to read each item to
you as you shop.

Activity 17: Cookbooking

Cooking is always a delight for children, especially when they can eat the results!

What you'll need:

 Easy-to-read recipes

 Cooking utensils

 Paper and pencils

What to do:

Show your child a recipe and go over it together. Ask your child to read the recipe to you as you
work, and tell the child that each step must be done in a special order. Let your child help mix
the ingredients. Allow your child to write down other recipes from the cookbook that he or she
would like to help make.
 Activity 18: Dictionary words
A dictionary is a valuable learning tool, especially if your child makes up his or her own booklet
of words that are challenging.

What you'll need:

 Paper and pencils

 A stapler

 Old magazines

 Newspaper and supplements

What to do:

Encourage your child to make a dictionary by putting together several sheets of paper for a
booklet. Ask your child to write at the top of each page a new word he or she has recently
learned. If the word can be shown in a picture, have him or her look through magazines and
newspapers to find pictures that illustrate the words and paste them on the correct pages.

Have your child write the meaning of each word and a sentence using each new word. Your child
can then use some or all of these sentences as the basis for a creative story. Have your child
read this story to you and other family members.

Activity 19: Journals

Keeping a journal is a way for your child to write down daily events and record his or her
thoughts.

What you'll need:

Two notebooks - one for your child and one for you!

What to do:

Help your child start a journal. Say what it is and discuss topics that can be written about, such
as making a new friend, an interesting school or home activity just completed, or how your child
felt on the first day of school. Encourage your child to come up with other ideas. Keep a journal
yourself and compare notes at the end of the week. You and your child each can read aloud parts
of your journals that you want to share.

Activity 20: Greetings and salutations

Everyone loves to get mail, especially when the card has been personally designed.

What you'll need:

 Paper and pencils

 Crayons and magic markers

 Stamps and envelopes

What to do:

Ask your child to list the birthdays of family members, relatives, and friends. Show your child
some store-bought birthday cards with funny, serious, or thought-provoking messages. Your
child can then create his or her own birthday card by using a folded piece of paper, making an
attractive cover, and writing a short verse inside. Then your child can mail the cards to friends
and relatives for their birthdays.

Activity 21: Giving the gift of reading

Reading a book is more fun when you have a homemade bookmark to mark your spot.

What you'll need:

 Pieces of lightweight cardboard

 Pens and pencils

 Paper

 Crayons and magic markers

What to do:

Provide your child with a piece of cardboard about 6" long and 2" wide. On one side of the
bookmark, have your child draw a picture of a scene from a book he or she has read. On the
other side, ask your child to write the name of the book, its author, publisher, publication date,
and a few sentences about the book. After making several of these bookmarks, you might ask
the child to send them to friends and relatives as gifts accompanied by a short note.

Activity 22: Let your fingers do the walking

The telephone book contains a wealth of information and is a good tool for reading and writing.

What you'll need:

 A telephone book, including the yellow pages

 Paper and pencils

What to do:

Have your child look through the yellow pages of the telephone directory, select a particular
service, and write a clever or funny ad for it. Have your child read this ad to you. Help your child
to find your own or a friend's listing in the white pages of the telephone book. Explain the
different entries (for example, last name and address), along with the abbreviations commonly
used.
 Activity 23: Map your way to success
Children love to read road maps and this activity actually helps them with geography.

What you'll need:

 A road map or atlas

 Paper and pencil

 Stamps and envelopes

What to do:

When planning a vacation, let your child see the road map and help you plan where you will
drive. Talk about where you will start and where you will end up. Let your child follow the route
between these two points. Encourage your child to write to the Chamber of Commerce for
brochures about places you will see on your trip.

Activity 24: What's in the news?

Newspapers are a form of daily communication with the outside world, and provide lots of
learning activities for children.

What you'll need:

 Newspapers

 Scissors

 Colored pencils

What to do:

 Clip out an interesting news story and cut the paragraphs apart. Ask your child to read the
paragraphs and put them in order.

 Ask your child to read a short editorial printed in your local newspaper and to underline all the
facts with a green pencil and all the opinions with an orange pencil.

 Pictures fascinate children of all ages. Clip pictures in the newspaper. Ask your child to tell you
about the picture or list adjectives to describe the picture.

 Do you take your child to the movies? Have your child first look up the movie page by using the
index in the newspaper. After a movie has been chosen, have your child study the picture or text
in the ad and tell you what he or she thinks the movie is about.

 Have your child pick a headline and turn it into a question. Then the child can read the article to
see if the question is answered.

 Ask your child to clip food coupons from the newspaper for your grocery shopping trips. First,
talk about which products you use and which you do not. Then the child can cut out the right
 coupons and putt hem into categories such as drinks and breakfast items. You can then cash in
the coupons at the store.

 Pick out an interesting article from the newspaper. As you are preparing lunch or dinner, tell
your child that you are busy and ask him or her to read the article to you.

 Many newspapers publish materials especially written for children, such as the syndicated "Mini
Page," "Pennywhistle Press," and "Dynamite Kids." In addition, some newspapers publish weekly
columns for children, as well as tabloids and summer supplements written by educators.

Activity 25: Using television to stimulate reading

What child doesn't enjoy watching TV? Capitalize on this form of entertainment and use TV to
help rather than hinder your child's learning.

Some important ideas to consider before turning on the TV: Limit in some way the amount of TV
your child watches so as to leave time for reading and other activities. Decide how much time
should be set aside for watching TV each day.

Serve as an example by limiting the amount of TV you yourself watch. Have time when the TV
set is off and the entire family reads something. You may want to watch TV only for special
shows. Before the TV set is turned on, encourage your child to select the programs he or she
wishes to watch. Ask your child to give you the reason for the choices made.

In addition, watch some of the same TV programs your child watches. This helps you as a parent
share in some of your child's daily activities.

What you'll need:

 A TV

 A TV selection guide

 Colored highlighters

 A calendar page for each month

 Paper and pencils

What to do:

 Ask your child to tell you about favorite TV characters using different kinds of words.

 As your child watches commercials on television, ask him or her to invent a product and write
slogans or an ad for it.

 Encourage your child to watch such programs as Reading Rainbow. Urge older children to watch
such programs as 60 Minutes and selected documentaries. These programs are informative.
Discuss interesting ideas covered in the programs and direct your child to maps, encyclopedias,
fiction, or popular children's magazines for more information.

 Have your child name 10 of his or her favorite shows. Ask your child to put them into categories
according to the type of show they are, such as family shows, cartoons, situation comedies,
sports, science fiction, or news and information. If you find the selection is not varied enough,
you might suggest a few others that would broaden experiences.
 Prepare a monthly calendar with symbols such as a picture of the sun to represent an outdoor
activity or a picture of a book to represent reading. Each time your child engages in a daily free
time activity, encourage him or her to paste a symbol on the correct calendar date. This will give
you an idea of how your child spends his or her free time. It also encourages a varied schedule.

 Ask each child in your family to pick a different color. Using the TV listing, have each child use
this color to circle one TV program that he or she wants to watch each day. Alternate who gets
first choice. This serves two purposes. It limits the amount of time watching TV and it
encourages discriminating viewing.

 Devise a rating scale from 1 to 5. Ask your child to give a number to a certain TV program and to
explain why such a rating was given.

 Have your child keep a weekly TV log and write down five unfamiliar words heard or seen each
week. Encourage your child to look up the meanings of these words in the dictionary or talk
about them with you.

Six Games for Reading

By: Bank Street College of Education

Playing games is a great way to provide additional practice with early reading skills. Here are six
games parents or tutors can use to help young readers practice word recognition, spelling
patterns, and letter-sound knowledge.

Here are six games parents or tutors can use to help young readers practice word recognition,
spelling patterns, and letter-sound knowledge. When planning to play one of these games,
choose words to use from books the child is reading or has read recently. The games should also
be chosen or designed to promote the child's sense of competence and success.

1. Concentration
To make
Select five to ten words from a book (or books) the child is reading. Print each word clearly and
boldly on separate 3x5 inch index cards, making pairs of each word. (The child may be able to
help you by copying the words you write.)

To play
Shuffle the cards and place them face down in neat rows. Take turns turning up two cards
at a time and reading the words aloud. If the two cards match, the player keeps them and
takes a second turn. If they do not match, the cards are replaced face down and the next
player takes a turn. Play until all the cards are matched. The player with the most pairs wins. If
the child has trouble recognizing a word, say the word — do not ask the child to "sound out" the
word. The purpose of this game is to build automatic recognition of whole words.

You can control the difficulty of the game by the choice and number of words used: for very
beginning readers, choose meaningful words that are visually distinctive: "ghost", "dark",
"sister", and keep the number of words low. For a more challenging game, include some words
that are less distinctive: "when", "what", "this", "that", but be careful not to overwhelm the child.

Variation 1
Instead of matching pairs, you can use rhyming pairs: look, book; dark, park.

Variation 2
This game can also be used to build letter recognition and letter/sound association. Paste or
draw simple pictures on one set of cards; and on the other set, print initial consonants to go with
the pictures. For example, paste the picture of a dog on one card, and write the letter "D" on a
matching card.

Note: This game can be adapted to use with older children, or more advanced readers:
variations can include vocabulary practice such as using homonyms, (words that sound alike but
are spelled differently and have different meanings: cent/scent; dear/deer, etc.) or contractions,
(can't; cannot, etc.).

Back to Top

2. Go fish
This game is good for early fluent to fluent readers.

To make
Select ten to 20 words from a book (or books) the child is reading. Print the words clearly and
boldly on separate 3x5 inch index cards, making pairs of each word. (Children may help by
copying the words you write.) Two to four players can play this game.

To play
Shuffle and deal three to five cards to each player. Place the rest of the deck face down. Players
take turns asking each other for a card to match one held in his or her hand. If the opponent has
a matching card, it is given over, and the first player takes another turn. If the opponent does
not have a match, he or she says "Go Fish" and the player draws from the remaining deck of
cards, and the next player takes a turn. Each time a player has a match, he or she reads the
words, and puts down the pair, face up. Continue the game until the cards are all used up.

Instead of matching words, rhyming words can be used. In this case, players ask for "a word
that sounds like 'night'..." At the end, the child can earn extra points by dictating or writing
additional words that rhyme with the base words, or creating "silly" sentences using the rhymes.

Note: This game can be adapted to use with older children, or more advanced readers:
variations can include vocabulary practice such as using homonyms (words that sound alike but
are spelled differently and have different meanings: cent/scent; dear/deer, etc.), or contractions
(can't; cannot, etc.).

Back to Top

3. Old maid
To make
Select three words per player from a book (or books) being read. Print them clearly and boldly
on separate 3x5 inch index cards, making pairs of words. Choose one more word without a
match that will be the winning card.

To play
Shuffle and deal three to six cards to each player. Players take turns drawing a card from a
player to their left. If a player draws a card that matches one in his or her hand, he/she reads
the two matching words in order to keep the pair. Play continues until all the cards are matched,
except for the one odd card. The player who holds that card at the end wins the game.

Note: This game can be adapted to use with older children, or more advanced readers:
variations can include vocabulary practice such as using homonyms (words that sound alike but
are spelled differently and have different meanings: cent/scent; dear/deer, etc.), or contractions
(can't; cannot, etc.).

Back to Top

4. Monopoly
This is a great game to help teach word family patterns and spelling patterns. This should be
used with children who write fairly comfortably, usually second grade or older.

To make
Create a game board with four or five squares on each side. Prepare word cards with families of
words that emerge from the child's reading: night, light, tight; went, bent, sent; hat, cat, bat.
(For beginning readers or younger children, make sure the patterns are not too similar: mat, sat,
 rat; man, can, ran; met, set, bet.) Color code each word family and each side of the game
board.

Place the words face up around the board in sets. To add to the element of chance, have other
game directions on the board, such as "take another turn", "go back 2 spaces", etc. Prepare
score sheets for each player with color-coded headings for each word family.

To play
Role dice or use a spinner to move around the board. Wherever a player lands he reads the
word, then writes it in the appropriate "word family" category on the score sheet. Extra points
can be earned by dictating or writing sentences with the rhyming words.

Back to Top

5. Rhyming games
Play rhyming games to teach about the patterns in words. Try the following, for example, for
words in the same family as the word black:
 Introduce a poem or rhyming story such as Miss Mary Mack:

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

all dressed in black, black, black
with silver buttons, buttons, buttons
up and down her back, back, back…

 Encourage the child to point out words in books that have a similar spelling pattern as in black.

 Help the child think of other words that have this pattern. You may have to write a few words for
him or her:

sack
pack
stack

Then have the child read the whole word and underline the repeated part of the word, "ack."

 Using magnetic letters or Scrabble pieces, form a word with the "ack" pattern. Ask the student to
change the first letter of the word (for example: 's' in sack) to make a new word, such as pack.
You should be sure to provide a limited number of letters (two or three at first) for the child to

choose from.

 Remember to choose a word pattern that is useful and important to the student and that relates
to something that he or she has read or will read. If possible, start with a word he or she already
knows in the word family. After reading a book about being sad, for example, start with the word
"cry" and then follow with "fry", "try", and "wry".
 Remember to review the word families you've chosen to work on periodically by playing some of
the other games described above.

 Be sure to give the student a chance to go back to a book, poem, or other texts where he or she
can apply this new reading skill. Poems, nursery rhymes, and jump rope jingles are a great
resource for early readers.

Back to Top

6. Fishing for sounds

This is a game for emergent readers and writers.

To make
Find and cut out small pictures of familiar objects from magazines, old workbooks, catalogues.
Try to find several pictures that start with the same letter, such as book, bed, basket, boy;
snake, sun, skate, slide, etc. (The child can help; this is a good language activity too.)

Cut out 12-15 fish shapes and paste or draw one picture on each fish.

On individual 3x5 inch index cards or on an 8x11 inch piece of paper or cardboard, print
consonant letters with a key picture for each group of pictures found. (For example, print the
letter "S" with the picture of a sun to represent all the words beginning with that letter.) (If using
a sheet of paper, print only two or three letters per sheet.)

To play
Select two or three sets of fish pictures that start with the same letters and mix them up. Place
face down on a table and take turns "going fishing." As each fish is turned over, the child names
the picture and places it in the appropriate pile under the key letter / picture. When all the fish
are caught and placed correctly, have the child "read" the pictures under each heading. If
necessary, read along with him or her, saying the letter name and stressing the initial sound of
the word. "Yes, here are 'S' pictures: sssun, sssnake, sssaxophone."

To add excitement, you can play as opponents, each player having one or two categories and
key letter / pictures. Take turns fishing, and discard those fish that belong to the other player.

Back to Top

Updated and adapted from: Sample Games. (1997). America Reads at Bank Street College of
Education. Retrieved May 12, 2009, from http://www.bankstreet.edu/literacyguide/games.html.

Reprints
 You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes,
as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the
author or publisher listed.

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10 Reading Strategies and Activities for

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byJanelle Cox

Updated October 03, 2017

Discover 10 effective reading strategies and activities for your elementary
classroom. From book activities to read-alouds, there is something for every
student.

01

of 10

Children's Book Week Activities

Jamie Grill/The Image Bank/Getty Images

Since 1919, National Children's Book Week has been dedicated to encourage
young readers to enjoy books. During this week, schools and libraries across the
nation will celebrate this by participating in book-related events and activities.
Get your students involved in this time-honored tradition by creating fun,
educational activities. Activities include hosting a book exchange, planning a
book party, having a book cover contest, making a class book, a book-a-thon, and
much more.

02

of 10

Book Activities for Grades 3-5

Book reports are a thing of the past, it's time to be innovative and try some book
activities that your students will enjoy. These activities will reinforce and enhance
what your students are currently reading. Try a few, or try them all. They can also
be repeated throughout the year. Here you will learn 20 classroom activities that
compliment the books that students are reading.

03

of 10

Reading Motivation Strategies and Activities

Looking for ideas on how to boost your students reading motivation? Try to focus
on activities that spark your students' interest and help increase their self-esteem.
Research confirms that a child's motivation is the key factor in successful
reading. You may have noticed students in your classroom who are struggling
readers, tend to have a lack of motivation and do not like to partake in book-
related activities. These students may have trouble selecting appropriate texts,
and therefore do not like to read for pleasure. Here are five ideas and activities to
increase your students reading motivation and encourage them to get into books.

04

of 10

Reading Strategies for Elementary Students

Studies show that children need to practice reading every day in order to improve
their reading skills. Developing and teaching reading strategies to elementary
students will help increase their reading ability. Often when students get stuck on
a word they are told to "sound it out." While this strategy may work at times,
there are other strategies that may work even better. The following is a list of
reading strategies for elementary students. Teach your students these tips to help
improve their reading ability.

05

of 10

Reading Activity Calendar

Here is a compiled list that you can pick and choose to add to your reading
activity calendar. Browse through the list and choose the ones you like. The
activities are in no special order and can be placed on your calendar on any given
day. Here are a few examples of what you will learn, how to write a letter of
appreciation to an author and mail it to them, have your friends/classmates dress
up like the characters from your favorite book, create a word game and make a
list of words to describe something you love, make a list of the longest words that
you know, make a list of your top 10 favorite things.

06

of 10

Read-Alouds
A good read-aloud captures the listener's attention, keeps them engaged, and is
embedded in your memory for years. Reading aloud to your students is an
excellent way to prepare them for success in school, and not to mention, is
usually a favorite activity in the classroom. Here is a quick guide all about read-
alouds.

07

of 10

Teaching the Analytic Method of Phonics

Are you looking for ideas for teaching phonics to your elementary students? The
analytic method is a simple approach that has been around for nearly one
hundred years. Here is a quick resource for you to learn about the method, and
how to teach it. Here you will learn the benefits, how to teach the method, and
tips for success.

08

of 10

Repeated Reading Strategy

The repeated reading strategy is designed for students to be able to feel confident
while reading. Its main goal is to help children be able to read accurately,
effortlessly and at an appropriate rate. In this guide, you will learn the
description and purpose of this strategy, along with the procedure and example
activities.

09

of 10

5 Fun Ideas for Reluctant Readers

We have all had those students who have a love for reading and the ones who
don't. There may be many factors that correlate with why some students are
reluctant to read. The book may be too hard for them, parents at home may not
actively encourage reading, or the student is just not interested in what they are
reading. As teachers, it is our job to help nurture and develop a love for reading in
our students. By employing literacy strategies and creating a few fun activities, we
can motivate students to want to read, and not just because we make them read.
The following five activities will encourage even the most reluctant readers to be
excited about reading.
 10

of 10

Help Parents Raise Great Readers

Are you looking for ways to help your students improve their reading skills? It
seems as if teachers are always looking for activities and ideas that they can share
with their students' parents. Here are a few ideas by author Betty Davis.

Here are some activities you can use with students before, while and after reading a
text.

Before reading
There are lots of activities you can do before students read a text to help enhance their
comprehension, such as ones that activate the students’ schemata or background
knowledge, arouse their interest in the topic or prepare them linguistically.

1. A carousel of ideas
This activity helps Ss find out what they already know about a topic and encourages
them to share ideas about topics before they read a text.

Before Ss read a text, choose four topics that relate to the text that would be useful for
Ss to think about before reading.

Take a large piece of paper and divide it into four triangles by drawing diagonal lines
from opposite corners. Write one of the topics in each of the triangles in the centre of
the piece of paper.

Four students sit around the piece of paper and are given a time limit e.g. one minute.
They write as many ideas as possible relating to the topic in their triangle. When the
time’s up, they rotate the piece of paper and have another minute. This time, they read
the ideas already written down and add new ones to it. After a minute, they rotate the
paper again and add more ideas. Repeat one last time until all Ss have written in each
triangle. They then read all the ideas in each triangle.

2. Ideas continuum
This activity helps Ss think about how much they know about a topic and share ideas
with each other.

Draw a horizontal line on the board. At one end write ‘I know a lot about this’ and at
the other end write ‘I know very little about this’.

The teacher says topics or ideas that relate to the text. Ss decide how much knowledge
they already have about the topics and write them on the line in their notebooks, so if
the topic is Australian animals and the student knows quite a lot, they write ‘Australian
animals’ towards the ‘I know a lot about this’ end.
Students compare their existing knowledge and those who know a little about one of
the topics find someone who knows more than them and they tell each other what they
know.

3. Sneak preview
Show the text on the IWB or with the projector for just 20 seconds. If your classroom is
low tech, students can open their books and look at the text for just 20 seconds. The
idea is for them to get as much information as possible in a short space of time so they
scan the text for key words that include the most important information.

Alternatively you could show students a few key words from the text, headings and
accompanying visuals and they guess their relevance in the text.

4. Words and pictures

Show students images related to the text and students work together to write down all
the words they can see in the images or related to the images. Then they swap their
piece of paper with another group and write synonyms or related words in a different
colour next to the other group’s words. This activity helps predict words that might
appear in the text and extends students’ vocabulary.

5. Peer pre-teaching vocabulary

This is a communicative way of pre-teaching tricky but essential vocabulary. Make a list
of words that appear in the text that students need to know in order to understand the
text. Write simple definitions for the words and cut them up on individual slips of paper.
Divide the students into three groups: A, B and C. Give each group a list of the words
they need to understand e.g. if there are nine words altogether, give three different
words to each group. Put the nine definitions around the classroom. One student from
each group has to go and find the correct definition for one of the group’s words. S/he
brings the definition over to the group and they all write it down. Another student goes
to find the definition for word 2 and another for word 3. When the three groups have
their three definitions, make new groups of three with an A, B and C student in each.
They teach each other their words and all students make a note of the words and
definitions.

The final stage is to check that all students understand all the words with a quick team
game that reviews all the new words.

For ideas on how to deal with unknown vocabulary in a text see:

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/reading-exams/difficult-vocabulary

While reading
Depending on the type of text, students will need to use a variety of reading subskills.
Here are some activities you can use to develop the different subskills.

A: Scan Reading
When we scan for information our eyes move quickly around a text from side to side or
up and down. We don’t read all the information on the page but look for specific pieces
of information that we need. Such information could be a number, date, time, place,
name or price. Working on scan reading skills lends itself to exploiting authentic
materials such as leaflets, posters, tickets, timetables, flyers, what’s on guides or
menus.
1. Noticeboard quiz
Put the authentic materials on a noticeboard and divide the students into teams. One
student from each team comes up to the board and the first student to find the answer
to a question you ask gets a point. Alternatively you could get students in groups to
write a quiz for another group based on the information on the noticeboard.

2. Remove a sentence
This activity helps students think about text genre and the likely content of each type of
text. Using the same texts as above, remove one sentence from each text. Students
look at the removed sentences and predict which text they think they have been
removed from. Then they scan the noticeboard and check their predictions.

B: Skim Reading
When we skim a text our eyes follow the text from start to finish. One of the aims of
skim reading is to encourage students to read a text quickly and comfortably in order to
get an overall understanding of it.

1. Time limit
Set a realistic time limit for your students to read the text and give them a general
question to answer before they read. A typical task could be to choose the best title for
a text. To help choose a realistic time limit, time how long it takes you to read the text
comfortably and add a bit more time, depending on the level of the students. You could
ask students to raise their hand as soon as they know the answer to the task. This is an
unobtrusive way of seeing how quickly each student reads the text and which students
need to increase their reading speed.

2. Confirm predictions
After a pre-reading prediction task students skim the text and confirm which of their
ideas from the pre-reading task are mentioned in the text.

C: Intensive Reading (for detail)

1. Student-generated questions
Students work in pairs or groups and write a few comprehension questions based on
the text. They must know the answers. This is a great way of reviewing question forms
and helping students write questions correctly. Then, they give their questions to
another group and answer the other group’s questions. Finally, they give their answers
to the original group who correct them. Students love correcting each other’s answers.

2. Student-generated true and false sentences

After reading the text, students work in groups and write two true and two false
sentences about the text. They give their sentences to another group who have to
decide which are true and which are false, and correct the false ones. Finally, they give
their answers to the original group who correct them. Again, they love correcting each
other’s answers.

3. Colour the text

For any intensive reading task, I encourage students to colour or highlight the part of
the text that gives them the answer. This trains them to always look for justification in
the text to support their answer and helps you see which students are able/not able to
find this information in a text. This is a technique they can be encouraged to use in a
reading test or exam.

4. Read and tweet

Asking students to summarise a text is a useful skill as it helps them to pick out key
information and to develop paraphrasing skills. Students highlight the key information
in the text with a coloured pen. A short written summary could take the form of a
tweet. To summarise a longer text, ask each group of students to summarise a different
paragraph from the text as a tweet. Then collect the tweets, put them on the board and
the students read them all and decide which order they go in. Rather than spending lots
of time counting a maximum of 140 characters, you could give them a maximum
number of words e.g. 25 words. The same activity could be done orally.

After reading
After reading a text, students can integrate the skills by talking or writing about it or
could focus on specific language in the text.

Drama
This is a fun activity that works with texts with a lot of action. In groups, students act
out the text. If necessary, one or two students could be narrators.

Roleplay
Choose two or three of the characters in the text and students imagine what they would
say to each other and carry out a roleplay. This is a good way of developing creativity
and imagination as the dialogue goes beyond what is in the text.

Vocabulary
A typical vocabulary activity carried out after reading a text is ‘Find the word in the text
that means...’. Students look for words in the text for these synonyms or definitions.
This activity can be taken one stage further by asking students to replace the words in
the text with the synonyms and make the necessary changes to the syntax and
grammar. This helps students develop their paraphrasing skills.

Language
Take a paragraph from the text and take out examples of a similar word type, e.g. all
the verbs, articles, prepositions or personal pronouns. Give the students the missing
words and they put them back into the text in the right place.

For extra reading material and activities to use in class see:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-teens/resources/stories-poems

The ideas and activities above will help your learners develop their reading subskills in
class and also provide them with the strategies they need to enhance their extensive
reading for pleasure outside the classroom.

No matter whether you walk in to a classroom Asia, North America or Europe you will almost
certainly see teachers and students building their understanding of the world through a dedicated
daily reading session.
Books allow students an opportunity to be informed, entertained or escape as they comprehend
fiction and non-fiction texts against their understanding of the world, their personal insights,
opinions and finally comparing those texts to others.

Whilst you may have a wealth of books in your school library it can often be tough to come up
with fresh and engaging ways to study literature. So today we are going to explore 25 proven
activities that can be applied to any book and at any age level.

These activities are easy to follow an suitable for most age groups within an elementary / junior
high school level.

A LIFETIME TALE IN PICTURES

Draw the main character from a book you have recently read. Show them as a baby, middle
aged and as an older person.

Underneath each picture write what you think they might be doing at that point of their life, and
explain why they may be doing so.

For example if you drew Harry Potter as a baby, he might be casting spells on his mum to feed
him lots of yummy food.

This activity is very easy for all age groups to adapt their skill level and text style.
TEXT TO SELF

Based upon a book you have just read, share a story about yourself that is related to an event or
character that was in the book.
It is probably best done in the form of a written recount. Link your experience to no more than
four situations that occurred within the text.

Text to self is a great opportunity for students to become introspective about the content they
read and make comparisons to their own experiences in life.

This activity is appealing to teenagers more so than juniors

IT'S IN THE INSTRUCTIONS

From a book you have just read, select either an important object or creature and create a user
manual or a guide explaining how to care for it.
Ensure you use any important information learnt from the book as well as any other information
you consider to be important.

If you are writing a user manual for an object remember to focus on how to use the object
correctly and how to take care of it.

If you are writing a user guide for an animal or creature focus on keeping it alive and healthy as
well as information that explains how to keep it happy and under control if necessary.
IT'S ALL HERE
125 Text Response Tasks, Games, Projects for ANY
BOOK
This massive collection of ☀️READING ACTIVITIES☀️ covers all essential reading
skills for elementary / primary students. NO PREP REQUIRED! works with all text
and media types.

Thousands of teachers have adopted this as a GO TO

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DEAR DIARY

Place yourself in the shoes of one of the characters you have just read about and write a diary
entry of a key moment from the story.
Try to choose a moment in the story in which the character has plenty of interaction and emotion
to share in a diary entry.

Your diary entry should be around a page in length and contain information you learnt from the
book when the character was in that specific place and time.

Remember when you are writing a diary entry you are writing it from first person perspective. It
is usually but not always written in present tense.

Diary writing has been a very popular actiivty thorughout time but social media tools such as
Facebook and blogging has in some ways changed this.

MAPPING IT ALL OUT

Have a go at drawing a map of one of the places from the text you have just read. See how
much detail you can include and be sure to discuss your map with another reader so you can
compare and add more if necessary.

Take some time and effort to ensure your map is appealing to the same audience that the book is
aimed at.

All good maps should contain the following BOLTS elements.

B - Bolts

O - Orientation

L - Legend

T- Title

S - Scale
EXPRESS YOURSELF

Using an iPad or a digital camera make faces of the emotions the main characters would have
gone through in your book and take photos of them.
Put them together in a document on your computer or device and explain the emotion below the
image and when the character would have felt this way.

This is an excellent opportunity to use some creative direction for this task.

Be sure to play around with the images, filters and graphical styling available to you.

TRAVEL AGENT

Think of yourselves as a group of travel assistants whose job it is to promote a city of your
choice from the text you have been reading.

As a group, you need to come up with a concept map of all of the exciting things that happen in
your city and then present it to the class.

Don’t forget all of the exciting things such as theaters, restaurants, sports, adventure activities,
entertainment and much more…

If yo are a little short on details of the location of your story do some research if it was a real
location or just get creative andmake up some locations and tourist attractions based upon what
you read.
YOU'RE HIRED
Select a character from a book and consider what might be a good job for them. You can
choose something completely suitable such as a security guard job for Superman or a more
oddball approach such as a pastry chef.

Either way, you will have to write a letter from the perspective of this character and apply for a
position.

Be sure to explain why your character would be great employee and what special skills they
would possess to make them ideal for the role. Really sell you character explaining all the
great attributes they possess.

WHAT'S THE STATUS?

Create a Facebook page for your character with some status updates about what they have been
up to.

Include some pictures and make sure your status updates are relevant to the character and the
story.

Around 3 - 4 status updates with mages should give an overall picture of the character.

Use your status updates to explore what your character does for a job, leisure time, places they
might go on vacation and the like.
BUBBLES AND CLOUDS

Using speech bubbles and pictures of the characters, draw a conversation between two
characters from the story you have been reading.
Remember a thought is drawn as a cloud and a spoken statement is drawn as a bubble.

Be sure to take a look at some comics or graphic novels for some inspiration and insights.

This activity is usually best done on pen and paper but there are numerous digital apps and tools
whcih will allow you make this a reality thorugh technoilogy.

AMAZING ARTIFACTS

An artifact is an object that has some significance or meaning behind it. In some cases, an
artefact might even have a very important story behind it. I am sure you have got a favorite toy,
or your parents have a special item in the house that they would consider an important artifact.

For today’s task you are going to select five artifacts from the text you have been reading and
explain what makes them significant or important.

They don’t all have to be super important to the story but I am sure that at least a couple of
them played a major role.

Be sure to draw a picture of the artifact and if necessary label it.

THINKING DIFFERENTLY

Choose 3 important events from the text and explain how you would have handled them
differently to the characters in the story.
Explain how it may have changed the outcome of the story in either a small or major way.

Be insightful here and think of the cause and effect. Sometimes your smallest action can have
have a major impact on others.

POPPLET MIND MAPPING TASK

Popplet is a mind mapping tool that allows you connect ideas together using images, text and
drawings.

From a text you have recently read create a family tree or network diagram that explains the
relationship the characters have to each other.

Some may be father and son, husband and wife or even arch enemies.

Try and lay it out so it is easy to follow.

YOU HAVE THREE WISHES

A genie lands in the midpoint of the story you have just read and grants the two main characters
three wishes.
What do they wish for and why?

Finally, would their wishes have changed anything about the story? How so?

Again think about the cause and effect relationship and how this may have altered the path of the
book you have been reading.
What are While-Reading Activities?
While-Reading Activities are defined as activities that help students to focus on aspects of the
text and to understand it better. The goal of these activities is to help learners to deal as they
would deal with it as if the text was written in their first language.

During this stage, students will be able to:

1. confirm predictions
2. gather information
3. organize information
What are Examples of While-Reading Activities?
1. Identify topic sentences and the main idea of paragraphs. Remember that every paragraph
usually includes a topic sentence that identifies the main idea of the paragraph.
2. Distinguish between general and specific ideas. If you want to know what I mean, have a
look at this reading exercise
3. Identify the connectors to see how they link ideas within the text. For a full list of linking
words, have a look at these linking words grouped by category.
4. Check whether or not predictions and guesses are confirmed. A reading class might start
with one of these pre-reading activities. Some pre-reading tasks might go beyond its stage.
5. Skim a text for specific information. Skimming is the ability to locate the main idea within a
text, using this reading strategies will help students to become proficient readers.
6. Answer literal and inferential questions: Literal simply refers to what the text says and
inferential is using the text as a starting point to get a deeper meaning
7. Infere the meaning of new words using the context: All language learners rely on context to
decipher the meaning of a word, a reading strategy used quite a lot when you do extensive
reading.
8. Coding text involves teaching students a method of margin marking so they can place a
question mark next to an statement they don’t understand or an exclamation mark next to
something that surprised them.
9. Student-to-student conversation, you can ask students to have a conversation after they have
finished a paragraph or a stanza of a poem so they can clear up any confusions they might have.
10. Scan a text for specific information: You scan when you look for your favorite show listed
in the TV guide, when you look your friend’s phone number in your contact list. If you want to
use this reading strategy successfully, you need to understan how the reading material is
structured as well as have a clear idea about what specific information you have to locate. This
technique is key if you need to find information in a hurry