21 must use reading activities for language lessonsFun Pre-Reading and Post-Reading Activities for All Language Classrooms

I dearest language lessons which involve an element of reading. This is because there are so many opportunities for learning and improving linguistic communication acquisition with topic-related texts. Reading activities are the perfect starting point to acquire rich topic-related vocabulary (adjectives, nouns, verbs etc), choice up new grammer structures,steal 'star phrases'and ultimately better comprehension and amend linguistic communication acquisition skills.

Co-ordinate to Moeller & Meyer (1995), reading, even at a boring pace exposes students to more sentences, grammar, and new vocabulary per minute than the average short grade, TV show, or song. Then, if y'all are in a rut with how you nowadays and teach your reading activities, get an innovative injection of pre-reading activities and post-reading activities below.

Who Should Use These Awesome Reading Activities?

All of these reading ideas for the language classroom are low-prep and no-prep reading activities. Use them in any postal service-beginner linguistic communication classroom, including French, German, English and Spanish lessons.

The aim of these 21 must-use reading activities is to become your language students focused and in the mood for learning.  However, as the teacher, you volition need to exist in accuse of providing a great text, to bring the reading ideas below to life. This could range from one paragraph for beginners, to a few chunky paragraphs for intermediate learners, to an extended text for advanced students.

Pre-Reading Activities

  1. "Discover The Word" Reading Aloud Activity (Pair Work)
    Put students in pairs and provide them with ane copy of a text. Have a clandestine listing of words at the ready and call them out, at random, ane at a time. Let time for students to scan the text for the discussion they hear. The outset person in the pair to point correctly at the word in the text gets a betoken. Brand sure you set sound level rules, every bit well as clear guidance on how the class should be silent ready for the side by side round.
  2. "Reading Aloud" Job (Pair Work / Pocket-sized Group Work)
    Provide students with a 'chunky' text divide into paragraphs. Propose that each pupil in the pair/group must read ane paragraph aloud. If the person has an upshot pronouncing a word, he/she must circumvolve information technology and if they come across a give-and-take they don't sympathise, they must underline information technology. Let students to discuss their problem areas in pairs and and then in fours. Go effectually making a note of the common issues and write on the lath with whole group choral work and discussion at the end.
  3. "Squad Reading Aloud" – Pronunciation Reading (Whole Group)
    Split the classroom in 2 and assign all students in each team a number and echo (using the same numbers) with the other squad. Provide students with a 'chunky' text for reading and ready each team off with twenty points. The aim of the activity is to exist the team to finish with the nigh points subsequently the text has been read. Flip a money to see which team begins. Randomly choose a number and that student must begin reading. If the other team spots a pronunciation mistake, equally the student is reading, a member of the team must put their mitt up. If all others in the squad agree, everyone'south mitt must go up – this should keep everyone focused. If they spot a 18-carat pronunciation error, they can help the reader brand the correction receive a indicate (provide back up if their 'help' isn't quite accurate). However, if the whole team has fabricated a mistake and picked a discussion that was correctly pronounced, they volition lose a point and the other team will gain a bespeak. Each time an error in pronunciation is correctly spotted, bandy the reading team. Deduct points for talking or misbehaviour.
  4. "The Last Word" Reading Activity (Pair / Small Group Work)
    As a group, the team chooses how many words each student should read. For case, three words. In improver, let students to cull the guild of reading. One time the students begin reading, the winner is the student who follows the rules and manages to be the person to read the last word.
  5. "Avert The Line" – Reading Aloud Action (Pair / Minor Groups) When yous set a text, underline words at random. Students beginning with v points. Each student must read 5 words at a fourth dimension, but must avoid actually proverb any words that have been underlined. Should they read the underlined word by accident, they lose a bespeak. Students with with the most points at the terminate of the reading activity win.
  6. "Bratwurst" Proper noun" – Reading Out Aloud Action (Small Groups) One student begins and after a pre-determined number of words or sentences, they shout "Bratwurst / Pain au chocolat / Churros" (etc, depending on the language you teach) plus the proper name of someone in the group i.e. Bratwurst Laura. This person must so continue where the other reader left off. Accolade points at the beginning and if someone loses focus and doesn't know where the previous reader was, they lose a point.
  7. Teacher Names – Reading Activity Out Aloud (Whole Grouping)
         Split up the grade in two and assign 5 points to each squad. And so, model pronunciation of the text by reading it out aloud. At random intervals, instead of reading the next discussion, call out a student's proper name and that student must read the word that their name was replaced past. If the chosen student doesn't respond without being prompted within 5 seconds of stopping, the team loses a indicate. Perfect for getting students to focus on reading activities, as well as getting them to pronounce the words y'all think they might discover tricky or could do with knowing. In addition, yous could go students to create a list of vocabulary replaced by students names and translate/make sentences with, as a post-reading activity.
  8. "Wie bitte?" – Reading Aloud Activity (Small Groups)
         Put students into threes, taking it in turns to read a sentence. Equally they read, a educatee must make a mistake, on purpose. This could include: wrong words, wrong genders, wrong pronunciation, incorrect verb ending etc. When a listener hears a mistake, they must say 'Wie bitte?' 'oh la la' or 'Oye', depending on the linguistic communication you teach. If they can correct the error, they win a point and if they tin't correct the error, the reader gets a point. This can also exist done as a whole group with students standing upwardly when yous make a error. The concluding 1 to stand up upward is 'out'. However, make sure you give students who are out a niggling chore to practice until the terminate of the game.
  9. Spontaneous Reading Activity (Whole Group)
         1 educatee starts reading at random and can read a maximum of i judgement. As soon as they finish their sentence, some other pupil must brainstorm reading. If no-one starts within a second, or more one person starts reading, the whole group must become dorsum to the starting time. Starting with some other pupil reading the first sentence. You tin vary this by getting learners to translate the text as they read the sentence or change the person (thus the verbs and possessive adjectives etc). Continue going back to the beginning until the reading out aloud activity has been completed equally per the rules.
  10. Find …. – Skim Reading Activity (Alone)
         As presently as you give students a reading text, provide them with a list of words in L1 (native linguistic communication) to find in L2 (language being learnt) in the text. This could be all masculine nouns, all verbs, all adjectives, all words outset with 'a'. They could either highlight the words in the text or underline the words.
  11. Find the Synonym – Skim Reading Activity (Individual)
         Equally with reading action x, give students a reading text and provide them with a list of words in L2. They must find and annotation downwardly the synonyms they find in the text.
  12. Be A Presenter – Reading Aloud (Pairs)
         Accept iPads or laptops available, enough for i between two. Have students paste a copy of your text into cue prompter with ane educatee sitting with their dorsum to the laptop and the other person reading aloud. The presenter must read clearly with accurate pronunciation and the listener must fill in the gaps on their sheet as they are listening with the words they hear. They may not ask the presenter to spell any give-and-take. Instead, if they have gaps at the cease, the presenter must re-read (the whole lot or just the sentence, depending on how you lot're feeling on the day).
  13. Guess The Rule Reading Aloud (Whole Grouping Game)
         The teacher begins past reading every other discussion from the text in order. Students must put their hands up to guess the rule. Permit individual students in the group to exercise the aforementioned past reading aloud. The residue of the group must attempt to guess the rule. Students can but starting time to put their easily upward afterwards the reader has read at least 1/3 or 1/2 of the text. Let the students be creative with their rules. The instructor could too re-read and do the same with adjectives, nouns, verbs etc to make the reading activity more grammar based. Information technology's perfect to go reluctant and shy students reading.
  14. Running Dictation Speaking Reading Activity (Modest Groups)
         This works better with shorter texts or splitting a whole text into paragraphs, which each squad is responsible for. Put enough copies of the texts up outside the classroom with a number on each. Assign each squad a number. Suggest the aim is for students to be the first team to communicate the text from their respective paragraph outside the classroom, without cheating. Students must accept it in turns to read a sentence in sequence from their paragraph, and be the first team to finish communicating and writing the paragraph down on a canvas of paper.
    RULES: a) only one pupil tin can exist out of their seat at a time, b) students must not run or shout, c) students  must as well take it in turns to write the sentences on the newspaper, d) learners are non allowed to spell any words, only they are allowed to become back as many times as they need to to re-read the judgement, e) the rest of the group must work as a team to ensure the words are spelled accurately and the grammer is also correct.
  15. Gap-Make full Transcript Dictation Reading Activity (Private)
    Provide students with a copy of the text, with gaps. I suggest iii forms, one with verbs missing, the second with nouns missing and the third with adjectives missing. Distribute the sheets so they have people around them who had the aforementioned sheet. The students must individually fill in the words as they listen. You could read again if necessary. In one case finished, get learners to check they have spelled the words correctly by discussing (not showing!) with their neighbours.
  16. Wrong Words Reading Activity (Individual)
    The teacher provides students with a copy of the text with a choice of incorrect words. As they listen to the text being read, they must highlight the word they hear that is incorrect. Become through a second fourth dimension, and this time, the students must write in the correct words. This will requite the students an idea of the text before they practise any comprehension activities.
  17. Key Word Bingo – Vocabulary Based Reading Action (Private)
    From the text, read 5-20 words (dependent on text length) at random in L2. Students must cross them off equally they hear them.

Post-Reading Activities

  1. True or Faux? – Post-Reading Activity (Alone)
    One time students have read the text through properly, allow them v minutes to create a listing of truthful or faux statements. These can be given to a peer to answer if time allows.
  2. Summarise The Text – Post Reading Activity (Individual)
    Once students have read the text, advise that they must underline the fundamental messages, depending on the size of the text. I recommend advising a maximum number. Students must and then combine and re-word these ideas to summarise the whole text in a ready number of words.
  3. Re-write The Text – Reading Activeness (Alone)
    Afterwards reading (and depending on the length of the whole text), students must re-write the text in the first, 2d or 3rd person singular. If the text is long, then propose that they should pick out a certain number of paragraphs.
  4. Walking Text – Reading Comprehension Activity (Private)
    Instead of getting students to read the texts in their seats, print out a few copies.  Ensure the text is enlarged and in paragraphs with line numbers. And then, chop them up with numbers, indicating the paragraph number on each and stick them around the room. I recommend doing a few copies to ensure that no more than than ii students are at one paragraph of text at a time. Give them some pre-printed comprehension questions to reply every bit they get around. Y'all can support learners who need it with an indication of the paragraph number, correlating to the question, written on their sheet.

Desire these ideas in a handy downloadable format? Download my 21 must-utilise reading activities for all language classrooms PDF hither:

Did y'all enjoy this reading activities for the language classroom mail? If and so, be certain to cheque out these posts to amend language acquisition here too:

Fun Games for the MFL Classroom
Spontaneous Speaking with Video Clips in the Language Classroom

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