Standard Reading Exercise Reading Metacognitive Strategies
At a Glance Students will: ü work through a series of tasks reflecting on cognitive efforts in problem-solving ü gain an insight as to how and why the performing of these tasks helps them to deal with English texts more effectively ü practise skimming		Purpose: to use and develop problem solving and metacognitive strategies and skills for improved reading competence Materials: selected text, Task List Preparation: 10 minutes to photocopy Task List for each student Time: one or more periods, depending on student reading levels
Teacher’s Notes	Procedure See the student’s Task List and Teacher’s Notes for delivering this lesson Student Levels: The exercises are appropriate for intermediate as well as for advanced students. Once the student is familiar with the 'idea' behind each task it is more or less the linguistic and content complexity of the exercise-texts that determine the level of difficulty. For this reason the first runs through the different tasks ought to be done in class to make sure that all the students not only understand clearly what they are supposed to do but also gain an insight into how and why the performing of these tasks helps them to deal with (English) texts more effectively. Some of the aspects and questions likely to come up during those first runs will be dealt with after the following presentation of the Standard Reading Exercise. (see Teacher’s Notes and the Lesson Extension)

Reading Standard Reading Exercise Metacognitive Strategies
Teacher’s Notes	Lesson Extension Task 1: indicates that the student can write a response in mother-tongue or English. This is only advisable for students lower than a Canadian Language Benchmark 5 in reading. Students at CLB Reading 5 or higher should know sufficient English vocabulary to complete this exercise in English. An indicator of successful ESL acquisition is to be able to “think in English”. It might be necessary to discuss these points with particular individuals who tend to rely too heavily on dictionary translations from mother-tongue to English. These students should be encouraged to take risks with English. Many ESL students come from classroom cultures where it is shameful to be wrong. An accepting, positive classroom atmosphere will help them to feel more comfortable with risk taking. Tasks 12 and 13: This is a READING exercise. The tasks are not intended for developing writing skills. Less or no emphasis should be put on quality of writing, especially the first few times using this exercise. After the students have become familiar with using these strategies it could be appropriate to use tasks 12 and 13 as writing assignments, depending on students’ needs and levels; and coordination with other lessons and assignments. Follow-up / Transfer Activities: 1. Encourage students to use these strategies in all reading activities at home, work and school. Encourage students to report back to you when they use the strategies outside the class. (At the beginning of each class ask, “Did anyone use the reading strategies outside of class?”) Ask if they feel that the strategies are helping them to be more successful readers of English. If students are not reading outside of class try the Multiple Choice Challenge (an activity to encourage students to complete reading assignments). There may be personal issues such as work or family preventing them from reading. It might be necessary to develop a flexible reading schedule for such individuals with support from the learning lab or other resource. Adapted from an article originally published in The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 6, June 1996. http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Stiefenhoefer-FastReading.html Adapted with permission	Additional Resources For more ESL teaching techniques: The Internet TESL Journal http://iteslj.org/ Other Resources on learning styles and cultures www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Techniques/Stiefenhoefer-FastReading.html