READERSextracted from the Penguin Readers Teacher’s Guide to Using Best Sellers by

Carolyn Walker

NET Coacalco A07/08

Introduction

• Readers offer teachers and students an extremely valuable resource for learning English.

Making use of the Readers list • There are two

main ways in which graded Readers are used:

• In a library system: a selection of books at the right level for the class is assembled to make a class library.

• The advantages of the library system are that, because it operates on a self-access basis, students can control what they read, when and where they read, and how much they read.

• As class Readers: the teacher, or the teacher together with the students, chooses a book at the right level for the class, and everyone has a copy to read. Students can do the reading at home or in class, either individually or as shared or group reading.

• The advantages of a class Reader are that the whole class reads the same text and so teachers can keep a check on how much reading is being done. The class Reader can naturally form part of a reading syllabus, and acts as a stimulus for class activities. It can be a focus for vocabulary extension work, grammar or pronunciation practice.

• It is important that both these ways of using graded Readers should be seen as complementary, not mutually exclusive. Using a class Reader can act as a motivation for students to go to the library and find more books to read on their own. The work done in class on a Reader can help students feel confident about approaching a book of their own choosing.

The library system • Do your students read books

for pleasure? Unfortunately, reading books for pleasure (in the first language) is not something that everybody does, though other types of reading (newspapers, magazines, Internet, etc) may take place. Even in places where school children do read a lot, especially in the early years of learning to read, once they reach adolescence, there are other activities which start to take up their attention, so that by the time they are adults they may have lost the reading habit.

Reading is a social activity

• Although the act of reading is done by each individual on his or her own, in fact reading is firmly rooted within a community.

• Many people choose the books they read by looking at the bestsellers lists in newspapers. All of this is evidence of the ‘reading community’ in a particular society. In the same way, the Readers list is evidence of a community of readers learning English.

Some points about managing the reading • Most of the reading can

done by students out of class time. Use class time for working on activities designed to increase students’ understanding and enjoyment of the book.

• If you wish to devote a (small) part of each lesson for students to do some reading, you could read aloud a part of each section to your students and ask them to finish the reading at home. Alternatively use the tape (many Readers are available with cassettes or CD’s) while students follow the text in the book. People of all ages enjoy being read to, whether in their native language or in the foreign language. Hearing the words will both help students with their pronunciation (and with the reading process since knowing how words sound is an important factor in reading), and also whet their appetites for more and so increase motivation.

Language practice • It is not recommended that Readers

should be used to teach grammatical structures, since their principal purpose is to provide a good, enjoyable story. But it may be useful in class to look at some aspects of the language in order to help the comprehension process. Vocabulary acquisition is an important by-product of reading, so activities which provide vocabulary practice are useful. It may also be beneficial to use the Reader together with the accompanying tape to practice some aspects of pronunciation.

Examples of Readers• Dracula New Edition• Bram Stoker• Count Dracula is a vampire. He drinks

people's blood. When he leaves his lonely castle in the mountains of Transylvania to come to England, Professor Helsing is the only one who understands the danger. But can he stop Dracula's deadly intentions?

• Bram Stoker's Dracula is the world's most famous horror story and has inspired many films.

Examples of Readers• Frankenstein New Edition• Mary Shelley• Victor Frankenstein is a young

scientist who creates a hideous living person from the parts of dead bodies. At first the monster looks for love and wants to be kind. But soon his experiences teach him to hate. Will the monster finally destroy his creator?

• Frankenstein is probably the most famous horror story of all. Mary Shelley wrote it in 1816 when she was only nineteen years old.

Examples of Readers• Amistad• Joyce Annette Barnes• In 1839, a young man called Cinque

leads a group of Africans to take control of the slave ship Amistad. They want to return to their homes in Africa but instead they land in America and are sent to prison for murder. The Americans think of the Africans as property, not people. Now they must begin fighting for their freedom ...

• Amistad is a powerful new film from Steven Spielberg and Dream Works starring Morgan Freeman. It is a true story which will inspire and move you.

Examples of Readers• Braveheart New Edition• Randall Wallace• 'Sons of Scotland, you have come

here to fight as free men ... if you fight perhaps you'll die.'Braveheart is the true story of William Wallace who led his people to fight for the country they loved.

• Braveheart is an exhilarating and moving film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. It won five Oscars at the Academy Awards.

Examples of Readers• Forrest Gump New Edition• Winston Groom• "I was born an idiot - but I'm

cleverer than most people think", says Forrest Gump. And this soon becomes clear in this wonderfully warm and funny story about a good-hearted young man from Alabama who wins a medal for bravery in the Vietnam War, who meets the President of the United States of America, and whose best friend is an ape called Sue!

• Forrest Gump is also an Oscar-winning film, starring Tom Hanks and Sally Field.