Teach-Secondary-14.1

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Meera Chudasama is an English, media and film studies teacher with a passion for design and research, and has developed course content for the Charted College of Teaching • What happened here? • What has happened to [X character]? • What do you think will happen next? • How could this happen? • Why could this happen? Rather than encouraging analysis, though, what we want to do here is encourage students’ interest in the story first and foremost, while developing their understanding of the story’s characters and events. If time allows, why not add some drama? Once the story’s been read through, have students assume the roles of the story’s characters and continue the narrative orally. Reading logbooks With the aid of just a standard exercise book, we can get students to better organise their thoughts with regards to one or more texts that they’re reading. Design quick activities that task students with considering different aspects of a story they’ve already read. Each entry can work as a separate homework assignment, encouraging students to participate in a range of reading-related tasks, such as: • Drawing a map or view of a particular location featured in the story • A short transcription of what a text message exchange between two of the story’s main characters might look like • Imagining the social media profile of one of the story’s characters and how their posts would read 30-Day reading challenge You can devise a 30-day challenge for your students, or support them in creating one of their own. A 30-day reading challenge should give students 30 small reading tasks to complete over the course of 30 days. Ensuring that these tasks are kept short and easy to manage will give students the confidence to develop their reading skills. There’s a link to an example in the ‘Free resources’ panel opposite. You could tweak the example provided and use alternative online links to embed audiobooks you feel might be more suitable for your class. The 30-day reading challenge is a great way of helping students to develop greater breadth and depth in their regular reading habits. What’s more, you could embed half-termly or termly challenges focused on different genres or specific authors. However you go about using it, this kind of reading challenge can be effective at targeting the needs of individual students. Text storyboards This activity can work in many different ways. For students who love listening to audiobooks, or can often be found gripped by a graphic novel, supporting their comprehension of text with visuals can be a good way of blending reading strategies. You can trial this technique by using a short story and following the 3-step ‘read, pause, draw’ strategy outlined below: • Read a part of the story • Pause at a point you feel gives students enough stimulus to draw from • Draw a frame or picture that encapsulates what they have just read Here, students are utilising their summary skills via visual means. They can support their drawings by writing their own written summaries mmediately beneath, or by directly quoting from the text. Whichever one they opt for, you’ll be able to keep track of howwell they’re comprehending the text. For added challenge, make this a timed activity, or direct students’ attention to an area of particular focus – such as the conventions of Gothic horror, for example. Of these strategies, my own personal favourites are the 5-second game and the 30-day reading challenge – both of which aim to bring students together in a shared a passion for reading, while giving those who typically struggle with reading to try their hand at smaller, more manageable tasks. Give them a go, and start thinking about how you can support all readers in further developing their comprehension skills outside the classroom. FREE RESOURCES 21 ‘ Name 3… ’ prompts for the ‘5 Seconds’ game bit.ly/ts141-SR1 Full 30-day reading challenge task list, presented as a student handout bit.ly/ts141-SR2 53 teachwire.net/secondary L I T E R A C Y