Pre-Reading/Listening/Viewing Activities
Purpose:
 To build and draw upon schema (background knowledge)
 To generate interest in the text/video
 To establish a purpose for reading, for instance:
o Pleasure
o Information
o Learn to do something
o Solve a problem
o Gain cultural understanding
o Answer a question
 To prepare students with necessary
o Vocabulary
o Familiarity with the text structure
o Content and/or cultural understanding
Ideas:
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Anticipation Guide (students have a list of statements that can be verified or disproved from
the text; before reading students choose whether they agree or disagree with each
statement; during/after reading, they check their original answers)
Visuals – (show pictures to introduce the text or illustrate what the text/video is about)
Provocative Questions (ask students to respond to questions related to the content of the
text/video)
Related text (read together a text related to the target text/video; this could also be a
selection from the text)
Basic Background (introduce students to the main characters, setting, plot, theme, and/or
tone of the text/video)
Vocabulary (teach essential vocabulary required to comprehend the text/video)
Text Structure (teach students how to make sense of the format and organization of the
text)
Cultural Understanding (teach students necessary cultural knowledge in order to make
sense of the text/video)
Put Yourself in their Shoes (present students with real or hypothetical situations related to the
text/video; ask “what would you do?” or “how would you feel if . . .” type questions.
Graphic Organizers
KWL Chart (three columns, “what I know,” “what I want to know” and “what I learned” – the
final column is completed as students read/listen/watch)
Strategies (teach language learning strategies – i.e. discerning meaning from context – that
students can utilize while reading/viewing/listening
Once students have necessary background knowledge, they need to
know their purpose for reading/viewing.
(Sample purposes)
 As you read/watch/listen, pay attention to _________________
 As you read/watch/listen, you will complete this activity.
 As you read/watch/listen, be prepared to make a prediction of what will happen next.
 When you finish reading/watching/listening, you will be asked to ___________.
 As you read/watch/listen, choose your most/least favorite ____________.
 As you read/watch/listen, you will learn to/be able to/discover ___________.
 When you are finished, you will be asked to compare _______ with _______.
TE 407 Fall 2006 – Anny Fritzen
During Reading/Listening/Viewing Activities
Purpose:
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To support learners’ comprehension of text/video
To help learners stay actively engaged in the task
To help learners actively interact with the text/video
To create a foundation for extension activities following
reading/listening/viewing
Ideas:
 Graphic Organizers
 Take notes (specify what it means to take notes – what should students pay
attention to? if possible, provide a form or empty outline; don’t require so
much writing that students become distracted from the meaning of the
text/video)
 Personal Responses (ask students to respond to the text/video in personal
ways – i.e. surprised, agree, disagree, shocked, confused; make connections
to the text/video – i.e.“As you’re listening/watching, decide which character
is most like you.”)
 Stop and Guess (periodically, stop the activity and ask students to guess
something – i.e. “What do you think _______ (a vocabulary word) means?” or
“Why do you think x did y?”
 Stop and Predict (periodically, stop the activity and ask students to predict
what will happen next
 Vocabulary from Context (while reading/listening/viewing, learners guess
meanings of certain words/phrases)
 Story Map (while reading/listening/viewing, learners create a map of key
events from the story – could use a graphic organizer)
 Stop and Double Check (periodically stop the activity and ask students to
consult with a partner about what is going on in the text/video; clarify
questions together)
 What’s Confusing? (while reading/listening/viewing learners write down
questions)
 Character Sketches (while reading/listening/viewing, learners create profiles
for the characters in the story – i.e. physical descriptions, attributes, roles in
the story, etc.)
 KWL Chart (students keep track of what they’re learning from the text/video)
 Strategy Practice (periodically stop the activity and discuss how certain
language learning strategies are working or not working)
TE 407 Fall 2006 – Anny Fritzen
After Reading/Listening/Viewing Activities
Purpose:
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To check students’ comprehension of the text/video
To reinforce language and content knowledge gained from the text/video
To practice language skills gained or modeled in the text/video
To extend students’ understanding about the text/video topic
To prepare students for the next installment of the text/video
Ideas:
 Role play (students act out scenes from the text/video or scenes with similar
or related contexts)
 Graphic Organizers
 Critical Response (students complete an activity that allows them to
evaluate and review the text/video – i.e. “How many stars would you give
this? Why?”)
 Comprehension Quiz
 Sequencing Activities (students place items in correct order to represent a
sequence of events from the text/video)
 Review Games
 Follow-up research and/or writing (students learn more about the text/video
or something related and prepare a paper, presentation, or visual
representation of their learning)
 Language Use and Review (students practice using vocabulary and
structures from the text/video by creating their own texts or skits)
 Cultural Observations (discuss what the text/video revealed about the
target culture; compare and contrast with students’ cultures)
 Creative Representation (students represent the text/video through art,
music, creative writing, etc.)
 Tweek the Text (students rewrite the story in the text/video – i.e. create a
new ending, change the characters, change the setting, etc.)
 Linguistic Analysis (students analyze the text/video to deepen their
understanding of grammatical structures or other unique features of the
language)
 KWL (complete the “what I learned” section of the chart)
TE 407 Fall 2006 – Anny Fritzen
ACTIVITY PLAN – INTERPRETIVE TEXT
Name:
Partners:
Title of Text:
Pre-Planning Assessment
Potential difficulties in text:
Language features in text:
Content understanding in text
Language Objectives:
Content Objectives:
Pre-Reading/Listening/Viewing:
During Reading/Listening/Viewing:
After Reading/Listening/Viewing:
TE 407 Fall 2006 – Anny Fritzen