Assignment 3: Skills-related Task

Pre-reading
The teacher shows the picture of a family who are having breakfast in their house. In the picture,
the students see a clock that shows time 9 A.M. and shows the sun light. Then, the teacher asks
the students “What time is it?” What do you see in the picture? What are they doing right now?
This stage leads to getting the students interested in the topic, activates their background
knowledge about vocabulary and arouses many discussions in the group. (Appendix 1).The
teacher talks about some reasons why we should have breakfast. The teacher asks students to
brainstorm their ideas in groups for 1-2 minutes. The teacher re-groups the students and asks
them to share their ideas. The teacher gives the students a handout (Appendix 2) about breakfast.
In the handout, the students see four vocabulary, which are adapted from the text and four
definitions. The teacher explains the instruction. The students should match the definitions to
vocabulary. The teacher gives the students 1-2 minutes. By doing the exercise, they get familiar
with new words through definitions. When they are carrying out the exercise, the teacher
monitors them. The teacher asks the students to check the answers in groups and then writes the
correct answers on the board.

Rationale:
There are still a lot of findings that show the power of pictorial aids, however, more studies have
been conducted on learning through verbal skill than pictorial learning.Through the picture, I am
going to activate schemata. “Since pictures activate readers’ background knowledge, they have a
positive effect on text comprehension and also, gives support by adding that pictures are a
‘scaffold’ which nurture attention and motivational talks and comments.” (Jenkin &
Pany.1981.p.171). In a sentence, the students see words, phrases, grammar and they do not need
to remember words. However, in a picture, students must concentrate on the picture and
remember words that are related to the picture, and this procedure leads to brainstorm and gets
the students interested in the topic.

While-reading
The first receptive skill is, to read gist. In this stage of the lesson, students should read through
the text without concentrating on every word (Appendix3). Through this process, students will
learn reading in a fast pace and the time the teacher allows for this activity should be in line with
the purpose. On a handout, the teacher gives the students the whole text. The first receptive skill
comes in by this question: Try to find a topic for this passage. The main topic is “The importance
of having breakfast.” To find the title, the students must read the whole text and realize general
understanding of the passage. The main purpose of this procedure is to read for gist. Perhaps, the
students do not know all the vocabulary, which are used in the passage but the students will
luckily get the value of eating breakfast. “The reader has made a choice not to attend to every
detail but to use their processing powers to get more of a top-down view of what is going on.
(Harmer, J. (2001). pg.202)
The second receptive skill is, to read for deducing meaning from context. Using a dictionary to
check meaning not only slows down the students reading pace, but also may delay the students’
comprehension. The best strategy is to use the context, the words and sentences that are
surrounding a particular word, to aid the students to guess that the word means. In this stage, the
teacher asks the student to read the whole text and to find the meaning of the underlined word
based on the text (Appendix3). Most of the time the guesses made by the students are accurate
enough for them to understand the writer’s opinions. “We know from experience that practically
all pupils acquire many meanings from the context with little or no help from teachers. (Gray &
Holmes.1938, p.28)

Rationale:
When students work together, they will learn many things. For example, they will learn how to
work with groups, how to share their ideas, how to improve their skills in reading. In this stage,
I am going to introduce the students, two sub-skills of reading. The first, reading for gist, which
is related to getting the gist or the main idea or sense of a text. The second, reading for deducing
meaning from context, by this technique, the students will learn that they can guess the meaning
of a word in a text by context surrounding that word.

When students work together, they will learn many things. For example, they will learn how to
work with groups, how to share their ideas, how to improve their skills in reading. In this stage,
I am going to introduce the students, two sub-skills of reading. The first, reading for detailed
comprehension that is related to reading carefully to understand deeply. The second, reading for
deducing meaning from context, by this technique, the student will learn that they can guess the
meaning of a word in a text by context surrounding that word and, also, to teach them that the
paraphrasing technique leads them to understand the full meaning of the original. Again, in order
to get the details from the text, the students should read the whole text.

Post-reading
This stage is also called productive stage. It is a good idea for the students to practice writing
individually, which is related to advantages of having breakfast in the morning, and to discuss it.
Students should think about what people like to have in the morning as breakfast. To begin this
stage, students should explain their favorite breakfast. Then, the students should write at least
two reasons describing the advantages of eating breakfast or disadvantage of not having
breakfast.

Rationale:

In this stage, emphasis is placed on writing as an important productive skill. Because writing not
only helps the students to remember words they have learned and imagine their meaning, it also
strengthens what they have learned. Writing is an excellent way to memorize new vocabulary
and phrases, and it helps the students to figure out what these words mean. It is a good idea for
the students to write down the words in a notebook together with their definitions. Finally, writing
helps the students to get feedback from their teachers.
Sources Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Nuttall, C, 2005, Teaching Reading Skills in a foreign language.pg.186)
(Nuttall, C, 2005, Teaching Reading Skills in a foreign language.pg.206)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jenkins, J. R. & Pany, D. (1981). Instructional variables in reading comprehension. In J. T.

Guthrie (Ed.), Comprehension and teaching: Research reviews. Newark, Delaware: International
Reading Association, 163-202.

Gray, W. S., & Holmes, E. (1938). The development of meaning vocabulary in reading; an
experimental study. Oxford, England: Univ. Chicago

Appendices
appendix 1
Appendix 2
Match the definition with the given words.
1-Physical strength and good health. (…….)

2-The ability to endure an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way.(……..)
3-Satisfactory or acceptable in quality or quantity.(……)
4-Focus all one's attention on a particular object or activity.(…….)

a-adequate
b-vigor
c-concentrate
d-endurance
Answer keys :1-vigor 2-endurance 3-adequate 4-cocentrate

Fill in the blanks with the given words above.

If you have to miss one meal a day (or if you want to do so), which meal will causes you fewest
health problems if you don't eat it? If they have to make a decision of this type, most people
(especially dieters or very busy people) will choose to skip breakfast.

However, many experts in the field of health consider breakfast (the meal which ‘break’ your
‘fast’ which started the night before) to be the most important meal of the day. If we eat a good
breakfast, they say, we will have the energy and nutrients we need to begin our working day
with …1…. and hopefully with good humor. Nevertheless, many people skip breakfast or subtitle
toast and a cup of coffee for a well-balanced meal. What happens if we ignore the importance
of breakfast?

One recent study conducted in the United States tested a large number of people. Participants
included both males and females who ranged in age from 12 to 83. During the experiment, these
people were given a variety of breakfasts, and sometimes, they had to skip breakfast
completely. Special tests, including blood tests and …2… tests, were set up to analyze how well
the participants’ bodies functioned when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast.

The result showed that if a person eats an/a …3… breakfast, he or she will work more efficiently
and more productively than he or she skips breakfast or eats a very poor breakfast. This fact
appears to be especially true if a person’s work involves mental activity. The study showed that
if schoolchildren eat fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, they will learn more
quickly and be able to …4… on their lessons for a longer period of time than if their breakfast
diet is inadequate.

The study also showed that, contrary to what many people believe, if you skip breakfast, you
will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry if they skip breakfast that they
eat too much for lunch and end up gaining weight instead of losing. So remember, if you are on
a diet, skipping breakfast will not help you. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce
your other meals.

Answer key: 1- vigor 2-endurance 3-adequate 4-concentrate

Appendix3

If you have to miss one meal a day (or if you want to do so), which meal will causes you fewest
health problems if you don't eat it? If they have to make a decision of this type, most people
(especially dieters or very busy people) will choose to skip breakfast.

However, many experts in the field of health consider breakfast (the meal which ‘break’ your
‘fast’ which started the night before) to be the most important meal of the day. If we eat a good
breakfast, they say, we will have the energy and nutrients we need to begin our working day
with vigor and hopefully with good humor. Nevertheless, many people skip breakfast or subtitle
toast and a cup of coffee for a well-balanced meal. What happens if we ignore the importance
of breakfast?

One recent study conducted in the United States tested a large number of people. Participants
included both males and females who ranged in age from 12 to 83. During the experiment, these
people were given a variety of breakfasts, and sometimes, they had to skip breakfast
completely. Special tests, including blood tests and endurance tests, were set up to analyze how
well the participants’ bodies functioned when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast.

The result showed that if a person eats an adequate breakfast, he or she will work more
efficiently and more productively than he or she skips breakfast or eats a very poor breakfast.
This fact appears to be especially true if a person’s work involves mental activity. The study
showed that if schoolchildren eat fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, they will
learn more quickly and be able to concentrate on their lessons for a longer period of time than
if their breakfast diet is inadequate.

The study also showed that, contrary to what many people believe, if you skip breakfast, you
will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry if they skip breakfast that they
eat too much for lunch and end up gaining weight instead of losing. So remember, if you are on
a diet, skipping breakfast will not help you. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce
your other meals.

Read the passage and answer questions.

1- You will learn more quickly if you have cheese and honey in your breakfast. T F
2- Breakfast is the most important meal of a day. T F
Answer key: 1.f 2.t
3- According to the passage, it is important to have breakfast because ………….
a) it can help to reinforce your day
b) it causes to remember everything.
c)it affects our interests and ideas
d)it decreases mental ability.

4- What is the benefit of healthy breakfast for children?

a. they can endure hunger and cold.
b. their mental ability increases.
c. they find out their lessons well.
d. they put on a lot of weight.

5- According to the passage, some people skip breakfast, because ………………..

a. they are not hungry.
b. they cannot focus on their job.
c. they know that they have at their office.
d. they are engaged in working.

6- The word “vigor” in the paragraph2 is closest in meaning to………………….

a)strength b)vital c)probable d)lethargic

Answer key:
3-a 4-c 5-d 6-a

Appendix3
If you have to miss one meal a day (or if you want to do so), which meal will causes you
fewest health problems if you don't eat it? If they have to make a decision of this type, most
people (especially dieters or very busy people) will choose to skip breakfast.

However, many experts in the field of health consider breakfast (the meal which ‘break’ your
‘fast’ which started the night before) to be the most important meal of the day. If we eat a good
breakfast, they say, we will have the energy and nutrients we need to begin our working day
with vigor and hopefully with good humor. Nevertheless, many people skip breakfast or subtitle
toast and a cup of coffee for a well-balanced meal. What happens if we ignore the importance
of breakfast?

One recent study conducted in the United States tested a large number of people. Participants
included both males and females who ranged in age from 12 to 83. During the experiment,
these people were given a variety of breakfasts, and sometimes, they had to skip breakfast
completely. Special tests, including blood tests and endurance tests, were set up to analyze how
well the participants’ bodies functioned when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast.

The result showed that if a person eats an adequate breakfast, he or she will work more
efficiently and more productively than he or she skips breakfast or eats a very poor breakfast.
This fact appears to be especially true if a person’s work involves mental activity. The study
showed that if schoolchildren eat fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, they will
learn more quickly and be able to concentrate on their lessons for a longer period of time than if
their breakfast diet is inadequate.

The study also showed that, contrary to what many people believe, if you skip breakfast, you
will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry if they skip breakfast that they
eat too much for lunch and end up gaining weight instead of losing. So remember, if you are on
a diet, skipping breakfast will not help you. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce
your other meals.

1-What is the best title for this passage?

a) The importance of having breakfast.
b) The advantages of not having breakfast.
c) The research for having breakfast.
d) How to lose weight.

2- The word “vigor” in the paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to………………….

a)probable b)vital c) strength d)lethargic

Answer key:
1-a 2-c