Now that students have prior knowledge of the topic that will be used in class to develop C2, it is time to use other strategies to read, view and listen to texts. 

"When they prepare to listen to and read texts, students use their prior knowledge, contextual cues (title, subtitles, illustrations, table of contents, synopsis, etc.) and make predictions about the content of texts.” 

(Elementary Cycle Two and Three ESL program, p. 356)

Find out how you can prepare students for reading, viewing or listening to texts. Students learn to derive meaning from text. 

  Suggested activities to prepare for reading texts

This step in the process holds significant importance to most students who need preparation to grasp the information about to be presented to them.

When they engage in previewing a text alone or with others, they construct meaning that helps them understand its overall meaning. While predictions are not necessarily accurate, making educated guesses based on their own life experience prepares them to absorb new information. 

You will read three examples of predicting and previewing activities for different text formats. 

Your Task

Take the time to look at the suggested activities and answer the questions below in your participant booklet.

In this example, we used a presentation tool (a quiz tool could also be pertinent) to prepare questions and possible answers before reading a book. The intention is to have them predict what they think will happen in the story.

This presentation can be shared amongst students so they can collaborate by writing their names under the correct answer. It can also simply be projected in front of the class. 

Have a look!

This model activity was created with the Toot & Puddle story by Holly Hobbie. 

Book cover of Tooth and Puddle

Image source: Toot & Puddle book cover

Open the Toot and Puddle Model.

Look at the different questions to prepare students to read the book. 

    If the text is a video, a good way to preview it, is using a tool called Digiview. DigiView lets you use a YouTube video, and add a title and a description that can be viewed without distractions. 

    How?

    We first need to prepare the video in the Digiview app. Make sure you select a description of the video that students will understand. 

    Once added in the app, write a few questions to prepare them to view the video in order to better  understand its content. The questions should help them understand the topic.

    Let them discuss each question to predict (and infer) about the message in the video. 

    Have a look!


    Have a look at an example on the topic of endangered animals. 
    View the video in Digiview. (4 m 53 s)


    It is possible to select a moment to show. You can play the video without its image.
    Use it on a screen and watch as a group or share the link with students.

    Possible questions:

    1. Look at the title. What do you think the video is about?
    2. Let’s read the description. Which animal is the topic of the video? What does it mean to be endangered? 
    3. 00:28 - Where do they live? 
    4. 3:54: What do you see? What do you think is happening?
    When you want your students to listen to an audio text such as a podcast, there is also a way to prepare them to listen to this text type. 

    Podcast platforms vary in the choice of information and the way this information is presented. However, you will usually find the name of the podcast series, a title, a description presenting the podcast, a thumbnail and a script. Some platforms even offer the possibility to modify the speed of the audio and suggest chapters to help find a specific topic.

    How?

    As you would do it for any text, you can prepare questions about the title, the description, and the image shown as a thumbnail. You can also select a few moments in the audio text to guide discussions. The transcript can also be used to help you.


    Have a look!

    Example created with this episode of the Brains On : Why are giraffe tongues blue?

    Possible questions:

    1. Look at the title. What do you think the podcast is about?
    2. Look at the thumbnail of the podcast. What do you see?
    3. Let’s read the description. Does it give you any information about the topic of the podcast?
    4. Do you think a giraffe’s tongue is really blue?
    5. 3:33 Listen a bit and question them. Which colours do you think is a giraffe’s tongue?

    Consult the Suggested Activities un a PDF Format
    Participant Booklet 
    See my notes

    Last modified: Thursday, 22 August 2024, 3:44 PM