TESOL Reading Methodologies

Teacher:
Robb Hughes
Skills: Building Vocabulary
Students: Xiao(Echo), Zhang
Lesson Plan
Date:
December 4th, 2014
Activity: Doing exercises to check understanding after complete reading
Length: 10 minutes
Students:
number: 12
level: intermediate
gender: 6m/6f
ethnicity: ESL Learners
Objective:
Students will do some exercises after complete reading, and will use previewing and
scanning skills to find the correct answers.
Students will find words` definition in context.

Rationale:
Checking comprehension is a way that teacher makes sure students understand the meaning
and some details of this reading article. Building vocabulary is adding new words to what
students already know. Finding definitions in context is an important way learn vocabulary.
Because vocabulary is central to English language learning. Without sufficient vocabulary
students cannot understand others or express their own ideas.

Materials:
A long passage The Importance of Grandmothers (from (2011). The
Importance of Grandmothers. In L. C. Smith, & N. N. Mare, Issue for Today,
forth edition (pp. 93-94). Heinle, Cengage Learning.)

Handouts for exercises.

Procedure(50mins):
- Anticipation (7mins):
T walks into class and greets Ss, then asks the class:How many of you live with
your grandparents? Ss answer. T continues asking:What do you think of your
grandmothers? Ss answer. After hearing Ss` answers, T ask Ss, randomly, why
do you think your grandmother is _____? What memories do you have of her
from your childhood? After that, T gives Ss 2 mins to share their stories about
their grandmothers. While Ss are talking, T observes Ss, and explores more
information by getting involved in their discussions. (5mins)
T gives Ss 30 seconds to think about the reason why grandmothers are important
to their grandchildren.
Then T elicits a few responses from Ss, asking for volunteers first then calling on

individual Ss if necessary. T could write on board to reduce and ask: What can
be reduced with the help of grandmothers? (2mins)
T: Now we`re going to look at an article about grandmothers.
Previewing(8-10 mins)
T asks Ss: If I want to quickly look through a newspaper, and learn about the
latest news in a very short time, what can I do?
Ss respond. If someone says preview or (skim ), T writes that word on board
and asks Ss about the steps of previewing. When Ss give answers, T writes those
steps on board, such as reading the title- subtitle- any charts/ pictures/ tables- first
paragraph, etc. Then T analyses the word Preview with students: pre- means
before, and view means look at. Thus, preview means to look at an article
before reading it deeply and completely.
T then asks: Why do we need to preview an article firstly? What`s the
importance of previewing? Ss answer. (e.g.: we can get main ideas through
previewing...)
T says: Last week we talked about the stories of grandmothers and ourselves.
Now I want you to imagine, what would you do if you were a grandmother in a
family? Ss talk with their partners. T then passes out the article and tells Ss:
OK, now we are going to look at an article about the importance of
grandmothers in a family. Meanwhile, T points to previewing steps on board to
let Ss follow.
Next T leads Ss in reading the title, picture and first paragraph, giving Ss 3 mins
to preview the rest on their own and talk with their neighbors about anything they
remember in this article. Then T has Ss try to predict what the author will say in
this passage.
After that, T calls on several Ss to give their answers.
T asks: What is the article talking about? Ss answer. T says: Good job! You
guys did a really good job with previewing. Keep your answers about your
predictions for this article. Let`s check some details next time. Now let`s read this
article together.
Checking comprehension(10-13mins)
T gives Ss 3mins to read the whole passage. T says to Ss: Read this article
carefully, because there will be some questions for you to answer. (3mins)
When time is up, T asks Ss: Now put your handout away, and talk with your
partners about you remember after reading this article. After 1min, T calls on Ss
to tell one thing to the class (no repeats, no passing). (3mins)
T passes out the copies of the comprehension questions. T, with the whole class,
does the first one as model. Then T gives Ss 3 mins to finish these questions.
(3mins)
After that, T calls on Ss to give answers, and tells Ss they should describe which
paragraph and which line they found out each answer. If one S gives a wrong
answer, T calls on others to help this S, by pointing out the specific location of

the correct answers. If no one finds the answer, T elicits them with key
information and explains the answers when necessary. (4mins)
Building Vocabulary(7mins)
After checking students` comprehension, T tells Ss to look back to their article. T
points out a word, for example, the word infant, and asks Ss the meaning. If Ss
do not know the meaning of this word, T tries to elicit to find the answer in the
context. T asks Ss to focus on the sentence They studied infants and children to
learn about the factors that helped infants and children survive. There is the
conjunctionand between infants and children, so we can guess that infant is a
noun which has a similar meaning with children.
Then T tells Ss the specific meaning of infant- a child during the earliest period
of its life, especially before he or she can walk; baby.
After that, T passes out a handout to Ss and gives them 2 mins to guess the
meaning of each word.
When time is up, Ss check their answers with each other. Then T quickly checks
the answer. Ss need to provide the specific sentence that they found as the clue.
Next T tells Ss: Sometimes we can figure out a new vocabulary`s definition
without a dictionary, by using the context. Look through any words or sentences
that surround the target vocabulary. You might be able to guess the meaning of
the new word.

Comprehension check
A. Answer the following questions. Select all possible answer.
1. How do grandmothers play important role in a family?
a. Grandmothers have the time and energy to help with their grandchildren.
b. Grandmothers help their grandchildren when they have problems with their parents.
c. The extra help is an important factor in reducing the morality of grandmothers.

2. What does the Dr. Mace and Dr. Sear study mainly talk about?
a. Child mortality.
b. The presence or absence of the child`s father.
c. Children were only helped by the presence of their maternal mother.

3. What do the population in central Japan records show for the period 1671
through 1871?
a . The mortality rate in the village was very high.
b. Boys were 62% less likely to die in childhood if a maternal grandmother lived in
the household.
c. Boys were 62% more likely to die in childhood when a paternal grandmother lived
in the household.
B. Write T for True and F for False, according to the text. Correct the false
statements.
4. _____ Anthropologists believe that grandmothers often help their grandchildren
survive.
5. _____ The children were helped by the presence of their grandmothers.
6. _____ Dr. Ruth Mace and Dr.Rebecca Sear found that the mortality rate for
children in the village was very high.
7. _____ The death rate for girls was the same whether or not a grandmother lived
with them.

Answer key: 1.abc; 2.c; 3.ac; 4.T; 5.T; 6.F; 7.F

Building vocabulary
Understanding Vocabulary in Context
A. Circle the correct answer, according to the provided sentences.
1. In recent years, anthropologists have begun to study the role of grandmothers.
Anthropologists are scientists who study people, societies, and cultures. They study
infants and children to learn about the factors that helped infants and children survive.
Anthropologists usually look at parents and do not pay much attention to
grandparents.
An anthropologist is
a. A scientist who studies people, societies and culture.
b. The person who looks at parents
c. The person who does not pay attention to parents
2. In fact, at one international conference, the role of grandmothers was the main
topic. The biologists and anthropologists explained that although grandmothers no
longer have children, many grandmothers are still young and active. As a result, they
have the time and energy to help with their grandchildren. This extra help may be an
important factor in reducing the mortality, or death, rate among young children.
A conference is
a. The process of deriving the strict logical consequences of assumed premises.
b. An association of athletic teams
c. A meeting for consultation or discussion

d.
e.
f.

Mortality means
Chastity
Death
Rate

3. The children were only helped by the presence of their maternal grandmother- their
mother`s mother. The presence of their father`s mother, or paternal grandmother, had
no effect on the mortality rate.
Maternal means
a. The mother`s mother
b. The father`s mother
c. Mother

d.
e.
f.

Paternal means
Grandfather
Father
The father`s mother

Answer key: 1.a; 2.c/e; 3.a/f