"Tips for Learners’ Success in an EFL Reading Program” Story: “The Scarlet Letter”

Geovanny Peña Pérez M.A.

ELT Academic ConsultantOxford University Press

  Date : June 23rd,2009  School : Colegio Dominicano  From    : 8:30 A.M. To 10:30 A.M.        

Santiago, Dom. Rep

Developed by:

Review of some general strategies and concepts related to reading and The Graded Readers series.

A sample class consisting in an activity for reading some excerpts of the story “The Scarlet Letter” 3 phases of reading will be emphasized: “Before Reading”, “While Reading” and “After Reading”

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Conclusions with Questions and Answers

A Popup Quiz on the overall issues discussed will be given in order to refresh and feedback definitions, concepts and procedures.

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Let’s start Talking About How we Read…

What should our students take into consideration when they read?

Metacognition:Metacognition:Let’s talk about how we should think Let’s talk about how we should think when we read…when we read…Before we can truly improve our reading skills, we need to understand what happens in good readers’ minds while they read. You may even do these things already. You just don’t know it…yet.

Good readers have developed good habits when they read. We call these habits strategies. Strategies help readers understand, connect to, and determine the importance of what they are reading. They also visualize, ask questions about, and read between the lines of what they read.

More About Metacognition

The Reading StrategiesThere are seven reading

strategies.Make ConnectionsMake Connections

Ask QuestionsAsk Questions

Determine ImportanceDetermine Importance

Infer and PredictInfer and Predict

VisualizeVisualize

SynthesizeSynthesize

Use Fix Up StrategiesUse Fix Up Strategies

Make Connections

Text to Self (similar events in Text to Self (similar events in your life)your life)

Text to Text (books, movies, Text to Text (books, movies, T.V., etc.)T.V., etc.)

Text to Life (real world events)Text to Life (real world events)

Ask Yourself:Ask Yourself:What do I already know about What do I already know about this?this?

Has anything similar ever Has anything similar ever happened happened ......to me?to me?How would I feel if this How would I feel if this happened to happened to …… me?me?Can I relate to the characters?Can I relate to the characters?Does this story remind me of Does this story remind me of ……something?something?

Why Ask Questions?

Asking questions helps keep us Asking questions helps keep us focused on the text. focused on the text.

If your mind wanders, you will If your mind wanders, you will not understand. Then you will be not understand. Then you will be bored.bored.

If you run into problems, things If you run into problems, things you just don’t understand, then you just don’t understand, then you can check yourself with a you can check yourself with a question.question.

Determine Importance

Pick and choose which Pick and choose which details are the most details are the most important to remember.important to remember.

Think about what a teacher Think about what a teacher might ask on a test.might ask on a test.

Think about what the author Think about what the author hints might be important hints might be important later on.later on.

Why Determine Importance?

Anything you read contains a Anything you read contains a lot of information. You cannot lot of information. You cannot remember everything. By remember everything. By deciding what is important, you deciding what is important, you don’t have to remember don’t have to remember everything. You can prioritize everything. You can prioritize the information you need in the information you need in order to understand.order to understand.

Infer and Predict

Good readers are like Good readers are like detectives.detectives.

They use clues to determine They use clues to determine what is happening in a what is happening in a story.story.

This is called INFERENCE!This is called INFERENCE!

Good readers also make Good readers also make educated guesses about educated guesses about what may happen later in what may happen later in the story.the story.

They use the author’s They use the author’s hints to PREDICT what will hints to PREDICT what will most likely occur.most likely occur.

Infer and Predict

Infer and Predict

So…ask Yourself:So…ask Yourself:What isn’t stated that I have What isn’t stated that I have figured figured ……out?out?

What do I predict will happen?What do I predict will happen?

Why do I think so?Why do I think so?

REMEMBER:REMEMBER:

KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE ++ TEXT TEXT == INFERENCE INFERENCE

Visualize

Picture in your mind the Picture in your mind the images the author creates images the author creates with his/her words.with his/her words.

Pay close attention to Pay close attention to sensory details. For sensory details. For example, if you were there, example, if you were there, what would you SEE, HEAR, what would you SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TASTE, TOUCH, SMELL, TASTE, TOUCH, FEEL?FEEL?

Why Visualize? If you don’t picture the If you don’t picture the events of the story, you events of the story, you will get bored.will get bored.

The author’s job is to The author’s job is to paint pictures in the paint pictures in the reader’s mind. The reader’s mind. The reader’s job is to visualize reader’s job is to visualize what the author what the author describes.describes.

Why not?Why not?

Synthesize is a fancy way of Synthesize is a fancy way of saying that you must bring saying that you must bring everything together in the end. everything together in the end. In other words, what is the In other words, what is the meaning of what you are meaning of what you are reading?reading?

Ask Yourself:Ask Yourself: What does it all mean?What does it all mean?

What’s the big idea?What’s the big idea?

Are there questions still Are there questions still left unanswered?left unanswered?

What are the lessons I What are the lessons I should learn?should learn?

What do I think about this What do I think about this book?book?

Use Fix Up Strategies

Make sure you are Make sure you are understanding what you are understanding what you are reading. When you run into reading. When you run into trouble, (you just don’t get trouble, (you just don’t get it), use little correction it), use little correction strategies to help you figure strategies to help you figure out what went wrong. We out what went wrong. We call these methods FIX UP call these methods FIX UP STRATEGIES.STRATEGIES.

Use Fix Up Strategies

Here are some examples of Fix Up Here are some examples of Fix Up Strategies:Strategies:

☻ Re-read Re-read

☻UnderlineUnderline

☻Use a DictionaryUse a Dictionary

☻Read AloudRead Aloud

☻Ask for HelpAsk for Help

Strategies create a plan of attack. Then you can solve any reading problems yourself.

Strategies help you learn HOW to understand. If you know HOW to understand, then you are more likely TO understand.

Strategies help you realize HOW you are thinking so that you can think more deeply and more consciously.

Why Use Strategies?

REMEMBER:REMEMBER:

You may be using some or all You may be using some or all of these strategies already. of these strategies already. You just may not know it. You just may not know it. However, as you learn to read However, as you learn to read more complicated materials, more complicated materials, you WILL NEED to use these you WILL NEED to use these strategies purposefully. strategies purposefully.

SO PRACTICE!SO PRACTICE!

Spend one minute. Share with a partner what you have learned or anything you would like to add to it.

Take another minute to read the definitions you were given, when you see the concept, raise your hand to explain or read it out loud to the rest of this audience .

1) GRADED READERS 2) READING 3) SCHEMATA 4) BOTTOM UP PROCESSING 5) TOP DOWN PROCESSING 6) INTERACTIVE READING 7) SKIMMING A TEXT 8) SCANNING A TEXT9) INTENSIVE READING

10) EXTENSIVE READING

THE Scarlet Letter

by:Nathaniel Hawthorne

Types of questions we would be asking our students about the cover of the book

• NOW LISTEN TO THE INTRODUCTION OF THE STORY. . .

SALEM, MY HOME TOWN, is a quiet place, and not many ships call at the port here, though in the last century, before the war with Britain, the port was often busy. Now the ships go down the coast to the great sea-ports of Boston or New York, and grass grows in the streets around the old port buildings in Salem.

For a few years, when I was a young man, I worked in the port offices of Salem. Most of the time, there was very little work to do, and one day in 1849 I was looking through an old wooden box in one of the dusty, unused rooms of the building. It was full of papers about long-forgotten ships, but then something red caught my eye. I took it out and saw that it was a piece of red material, in the shape of a letter about ten centimetres long. It was the capital letter A. It was a wonderful piece of needlework, with patterns of gold thread around the letter, but the material was now worn thin with age.

It was a strange thing to find. What could it mean? Was it once part of some fashionable lady's dress long years ago? Perhaps a mark to show that the wearer was a famous person, or someone of good family or great importance?

I held it in my hands, wondering, and it seemed to me that the scarlet letter had some deep meaning, which I could not understand. Then I held the letter to my chest and - you must not doubt my words - experienced a strange feeling of burning heat. Suddenly the letter seemed to be not red material, but red-hot metal. I trembled, and let the letter fall upon the floor.Then I saw that there was an old packet of papers next to its place in the box. I opened the packet carefully and began to read. There were several papers, explaining the history of the scarlet letter, and containing many details of the life and experiences of a woman called Hester Prynne. She had died long ago, sometime in the 1690s, but many people in the state of Massachusetts at that time had known her name and story.And it is Hester Prynne's story that I tell you now. It is a story of the early years of Boston, soon after the City Fathers had built with their own hands the first wooden buildings - the houses, the churches . . . and the prison.

The Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter. Retold by John Escott, 2008 Oxford University Press

1. Adultery is a terrible sin which must be punished.

2. Adultery means a marriage has broken down and so it is best for everyone to finish the marriage.

3. It is more important to forgive than to punish.

4. You should be kind to somebody who has sinned, and help them to be good again.

5. You must never tell a lie.

6. If telling the truth will hurt another person, you should stay silent.

7. A child of adultery is a bad child, and must stay away from other children.

A. Read the story introduction on the first page of the book, and the back cover. Which of these ideas would you agree with, and which do you think the Puritans of New England would agree with?

B. Can you guess what happens to these people in the story? Choose as many answers as you like.

1... has a long life. 5... is punished for past sins.

2... has a short life. 6... becomes a stronger person.

3... goes to prison. 7... leaves Boston.

4... finds happiness. 8... forgives a sinner.

Hester ● Hester's child ● Hester's lover ● Hester's husband

1. Read Chapters 1 and 2. Choose the best question-word for these …questions and then answer them.

Who ● What

1.... was in the old wooden box with the papers?2.... punishments did the women suggest for Hester?3.... could the magistrates send to the scaffold?4.... was Hester's punishment for her sin?5.... had probably died before reaching Massachusetts?6.... name did Hester refuse to give to the priest?7.... did the prison officer bring to see Hester?8.... was Hester afraid that Roger would do to her and her child?9.....did Roger want to find?10.. did Roger want to do to this person?11.. did Roger ask Hester to do?

Before you read Chapter 3, can you guess what difficulties Hester will face? For each sentence, circle Y (Yes) or N (No).

1. Someone tries to kill her. Y/N

2. The Puritans want to take her child away from her. Y/N

3. The women try to make her leave town. Y/N

4. People try to stop her getting any work. Y/N

5. Nobody in the shops will sell her any food. Y/N

1. People gave Hester a lot of work because they felt sorry for her.

2. People wanted to take Pearl away from Hester and send her to England.

3. Arthur thought that Pearl should stay with her mother.

4. As time passed, some people began to think that Roger Chilling worth was sent by the Devil, not by God.

5. Arthur Dimmes dale often talked about the sickness of his soul, but Chilling worth refused to listen.

6. When Arthur told people that he was a hateful sinner, they believed him and talked about getting a new priest.

7. When Arthur saw Hester and Pearl, he asked them to go away and leave him alone on the scaffold.

8. Arthur was able to stand on the scaffold at night, but he was too afraid of public shame to do it in the daylight.

Read Chapters 3 to 5. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? Rewrite the false ones with the correct information.

Pearl: Mother, why didn't your husband come with you toBoston?hester: ________Pearl: And how did you get to know my father? hester : ________ pearl: But how could you fall in love with him? You already had a husband, so it was a sin — breaking God's law. Hester : ________ pearl: Two years! That's a long time. And when he suddenly appeared again, how did you feel? hester : ________pearl: But why didn't he accuse my father in public? Hester : ________ pearl: How horrible! Why didn't you tell me all this before, when my father was alive?

1. When Hester and Pearl sailed back to England, what did Hester tell Pearl about her life with Roger and Arthur? Complete their conversation (use as many words as you like).

1. You were too young to understand.

2. It was better for you not to know.

3. I didn't have the right to tell you other people's secrets.

4. Your father and my husband both had secrets, and children can't keep secrets.

5. If you didn't know, other people couldn't find things out from you.

6. I had wronged my husband, and I didn't want your father to go to prison, or die, so I had to keep their secrets from everybody. That meant you as well.

2 Pearl's last question in the activity above is an interesting one. Here are some possible answers. Choose the one you think best and explain why you prefer it.

1. 'Heaven has allowed you public shame, and the chance to win an open battle with the evil inside you and the sadness ; outside. Do you refuse to give him [the child's father] that same chance — which he may be too afraid to take himself?' (Arthur, page 10)

2. 'It is not for some magistrate to take off this letter. When — if ever -1 earn the right to be rid of it, it will fall off without anyone's help.' (Hester, page 40)

3. 'You planted the evil, and now its black flowers are growing. We cannot change the way things are.' (Roger, page 43)

4. 'That old man's revenge has been blacker than our sin, Hester!' (Arthur, page 49)

3. Here are some quotes from the story. What do they tell us about the speakers, or other characters in the story?

Developing critical thinking

THE SCARLET LETTER

The woman who wears the scarlet letter on her bosom is a woman without friends, a woman who has sinned. Fingers point at her, respectable people turn their faces away from her, the priests speak hard words about her. Shame follows in her footsteps, night and day.Because this is New England in the 1600s. The Puritans have crossed the sea to the shores of America, building their new towns, bringing their religion and their customs with them from the old country. And in the early years of Boston, in the state of Massachusetts, the church is strong — and unforgiving. Anyone who breaks the laws of the church, and of God, must be punished.But Hester Prynne, whose husband is not her baby's father, did not sin alone. Who is the father of her child? Why does he not speak out? Why should Hester wear the scarlet letter of shame, and not her lover? Is he not guilty too? (Prologue to the story)

‘Sensurround’ Scene Note-Taker

1. List the different things in this scene you can:

a) Hear/Listen to (noises, sounds, voices)

b) See/Watch/Look at (colours, shapes, movements)

c) Smell (aromas, scents, odours)

d) Taste (sweet, sour, salty, bitter)

e) Feel (internally or externally)/Touch

2. Describe six of your things to a partner.

3. From your notes write a description of the scene.

Integrated skills & speaking

Writing: Character AcrosticHester, a beautiful young woman

Edged out authorities expectations

She must wear a scarlet letter “A”

To see her shame

Especially, for the act of adultery that she committed and for the

Rest of her life

Now write an acrostic for another character from this story.(Chillingworth, Mr. Dimmesdale, Pearl etc…)

Pearl, her lovely daughter,Remains with her at all times

Years later Hester returns to ..Boston. Dimmesdale hasNo more reasons to live

No matter what, he leaves all his ..money to Pearl. Many peopleEstimate that Pearl married well ..after that.

Bridging to outside class reading

Reading Log

Book:

Author:

Level:

Chapter Time No. of time per % that I times I used a

pages page understood dictionary

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

(NAME OF TEACHING INSTITUTION)L E S S O N P L A N

Estimated Time of Lesson: Profs: Teaching Point: Date: Level of students: Age Range: Teaching Objectives: Materials to be used: 1. 1. 2. 2. 3. 3. 4. 5.

Pre-Teaching Activity Procedures Follow up/Evaluation

Aprox. Time:

Aprox. Time:.

Aprox. Time:

Teacher’s Handbook for each stage- Notes on getting the best out of Bookworms- Answers to the activities in all the books

Updated Tests, including -a new Multiple-Choice test for every book,-As well as the ‘old-style’ comprehension Test

Updated Activity Worksheets, at stages 1 – 4- Book summary & background notes- Before, While & After reading activities, and answers

New website at www.oup.com/elt/bookworms:- all Bookworms Library teachers resources are available to download -Word files for the Comprehension Tests and new Multiple-Choice Tests

-so you can create a different test if you need it - New Level Tests to help you choose the correct stage to read

(Don’t worry nobody’s gonna fail!! )

Answer the following True or False State a different point of view for the false statements.

1. The pre-teaching activities aim at developing the whole setting of the story.

2.One of the objectives of the “Before Reading” activity for the students is to have

them get the story “right”/to interpret the events correctly.

3.Open answers from the students usually encourage them to speculate and to guess but not necessarily to give the “right” answer.

4. Graded materials do not encourage language acquisition.

5. The Oxford Teacher’s Club is a place where teachers can purchase most of the bookworms series at a reasonable price.

True

True

False

False

False

6. The Bookworms series only deal with thriller and Adventure stories.

7. Good readers see reading as an obligation- not something interesting .

8. The teacher can help his/her students when he /she reads for specific understanding of the story –worrying and making sure that the student understands every word read.

9. The author of the Scarlet Letter was Wilmer Jenkins

10. The book includes a glossary in the last pages.

11. The story of the Scarlet Letter is based on real events.

False

False

False

False

True

True

…and have fun putting the ideasfrom this workshop into practice!

References

http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/assessment/c4_l2t3_tv_chall.htm

Anderson, N.J. (1999). Exploring second language reading: Issues and strategies. Boston, MA.:Heinle & Heinle.

Baker, L. & Brown, A.L. (1984). Metacognitive skills and reading. In P.D. Pearson (Ed.),Handbook of reading research (pp.353-394). New York: Longman.

Carrell, P.L. (1989). Metacognitive awareness and second language reading. ModernLanguage Journal, 73, 121-149.

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