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THE SEED VAULT 1 Why are new seeds important? A lot of countries need different types of seeds do they can plant them again. There is an important reason for this. Sometimes plants don’t grow in a country because of bad weather or disease and so farmers need new seeds. 2 Where can countries store the seeds? You can store seeds in a ‘seed vault’. It’s a place at a special temperature. The seeds don’t grow, but they can live for a long time. Norway has the biggest seed vault in the world – the Svalbard Global Seed Vault – and it has seeds from a lot of different countries. 3 Where is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault? The vault is on the island of Spitsbergen. The island is about one thousand kilometers from the North Pole. It’s a very cold place so it’s good for seeds. Above the ground, the doorway is small, but inside the building is huge. You walk down a long corridor and one hundred and thirty meters inside a mountain. At the end, there are three large areas with seeds. 4 how many varieties of seeds are there? There are about half a million varieties of seed inside the vault.

Choose a text appropriate to the students' level. Cut it up into paragraphs and number each paragraph on the back of the cards. Then prepare comprehension and vocabulary questions for each paragraph and create numbered cards with these as well. I usually do 3 or 4 questions per paragraph. In groups of 4 or 5, each team receives a set of cards - an instruction card, the text cards, and the question cards. I like to put them on different colored paper, say pink for the text and blue for the questions. The students take turns reading each paragraph in their group and then answering the questions about that paragraph. It's a great way to let the students help each other with difficult vocabulary and sentence structure, and since in my classes I refuse to speak the students' native language, it takes a bit of pressure off (the more advanced students can translate the text as needed in their group). It also helps the students understand a text bit-by-bit, and is less overwhelming than if they receive a handout with the whole text on it. Groups work at their own pace, so faster students are not bored at times when the teacher is trying to explain things to the weaker students. I assign one student to be the "secretary" who writes down the answers to the questions. In this activity, there's no real need for the teacher - your job is just to float and answer various questions as needed. It's entirely student-centered. Enjoy!

Here is a student centred activity for any reading text but the text needs to have enough paragraphs so that every student can ask questions about those paragraphs. Procedure: 1. Each student gets a slip of paper with a question number written on it. 2. Whatever number is written on the student's slip, the student has to read that paragraph and prepare a question about that paragraph. If you do it this way, then the questions are in the same order as the information appears on the text. But if you wish the students to ask questions about different paragraphs , then students can draw numbers from a bag and work on that paragraph. This means that the number on the slip of paper does not correspond with the paragraph number.This also means that the questions are not in the same order the information in the text appears. 3. After each student has written his/her question on the slip of paper, the teacher checks whether the question is correct or not. 4. After the teacher has checked the question, the student puts his slip of paper on the floor. 5. When all the questions are on the floor, each student takes a piece of paper and answers each question one by one by standing up and getting the slip and answering it and putting it back to the floor so that other students can also answer it. the students have to write the answers in their notebooks. 6. The teacher could also set a time limit. All the questions are checked afterwards. 1. Photocopy a one page reading. Ask the students to cut out each paragraph and tape it (paragraph by paragraph) inside the notebook. Between each paragraph ask the students to skip 10 lines. 2. In pencil ask the students to underline all of the vocabulary words they do not understand. Tell them to write each word under the paragraph. Ask each student to put their words on the board. Under the paragraph ask the students to come up with a working definition based on context clues from the reading. 2. Ask students to write the main idea for the paragraph. An alternative option would be to ask them to write a concluding sentence that summarizes the paragraph. 3. Ask students to list any facts or supporting details they find in the paragraph. Compare students answers on the board. Allow students to add or detract from their lists in their notebooks. 4. Ask students to circle all of the verbs in the paragraph. OR ask the students to write an opinion statement about the paragraph. . Read, Run, Write

Students get into groups of three. Students choose one role: reader, runner, or writer. Writer is given a list of reading comprehension questions at the desk. Reader is outside of the classroom (or at a wall farthest away from writer in the classroom). Writer asks the runner the first question. Runner runs to reader and repeat the question. Reader reads passage and gives runner the answer. Runner runs back to writer and repeats the answer. Writer writes down the answer. Students continue to do this until all questions are answered. They stop and check their answers. Reader can take passage back to group and they all work together to see if they have the right answers. As a class, go over answers or any questions about the reading.

2. Read and Retell Separate students in half. One half of the class is given the reading. Their job is to read and understand so they will be able to retell using their own words. These students can work together to help each other understand the vocabulary and the reading. Other half of the students are given questions and they can work together to predict what the reading will be about and what they think the answers will be. Pair students who read with the students who have the questions. (Take the reading away from the readers). Readers retell using their own words first and then the listener can write down the answer to their questions. They can collaborate and work together to see how many answers they can get. This reading activity is for high-intermediate to advanced students. Students need to be able to retell and summarize information.

Reading Race This takes some classroom set up and movement of seats but it's fun and students like to compete with each other in this reading race. It works for all levels. Groups students in groups of usually 5-6 depending on the size of your ESL classroom. Students in the same group sit in a row facing front. (You will have 4 rows if you have 4 groups) Student in the back of the row has the reading. Student in the front has the question. Other students in the middle are the telephone line. Student in the front tells the question to the student behind him, and they pass it back until it gets to the last person who has the reading. That student will read the reading to find the answer and then tell the answer back forward to the first person so that person can write it down. This is like a game of telephone where students are whispering questions and answers back and forth. It's interactive and fun for the students.

Reading Scavenger Hunt

This reading activity is more of a mingler that gets everyone walking around the classroom. Pair students so they can work together. Post paragraphs of a reading around the classroom. Give the pairs the list of comprehension questions. Assign each pair to start with a different answer so they are not all crowded around the same paragraph. Students have to walk around the room to read the passages and find the answers to the questions. After have students share as a class and you can answer any questions they have. Works for any level.

This method incorporates many skills: reading, listening, speaking, vocabulary, and writing. Students must thoroughly analyze and understand a section of the reading, and only by working together can they understand the entire reading. Instructions: 

First, assign a paragraph of the reading to each student. If you have a lot of

students, assign the paragraph to a pair of students instead. 

Explain that each student (or pair) will be responsible for relating the information

from their paragraph in their own words. 

Have students silently read through their paragraphs.



If you want, get them to write out their summaries, but I usually prefer to have

them give an oral, and more natural, summary. 

To help them and their classmates understand the reading well, have each

student (or pair) choose 3-5 vocabulary words that they are unfamiliar with. 

Have each student (or pair) define their vocabulary words (via a dictionary:

English-to-English is best) and write out each definition in their own words. 

Get each student to write down an example sentence for each word; this will

ensure that they’ve truly understood the word. 

Once all the students are finished their reading and vocabulary, have each

student (or pair) present their vocabulary and their summaries (in the order of the original reading). 

Then, in pairs or as a class, answer the comprehension questions and correct

them before you let the students see the entire reading.

Many of the ESL-Library lessons are formatted in short paragraphs that are ideal for using this method (for example, in Famous People, Famous Places, Famous Things, Holidays, etc.). I usually have students write their words and definitions on the board for their classmates to

see and copy down, but I get students to read their example sentences out loud as it usually takes too long to have them write those out, too.

2) CUT UP & REARRANGE This works best for short readings or dialogues. This method ensures that students think very carefully about the meaning of each sentence. Instructions: 

Divide students into small groups or pairs.



Hand out a cut-up version of the story or dialogue.



Have students try to arrange the sentences in order. It helps to tell them which

sentence is first. 

Encourage them to tell each other why they think a particular sentence comes

next. 

Circle through the groups, pointing out sentences that are not in the correct

position. (It helps if you bring the original around with you for easy reference.) 

To make it fun, you could have a prize for the team or pair that finishes first.

ESL-Library has a whole section with dialogues that are all ready to cut up! Check out our Traveling in English section.

3) READ OUT LOUD This technique easily turns a reading exercise into a listening exercise for a bit of variety. Students listen to you, the teacher, read aloud as a class activity. Instructions: 

First, read through the comprehension questions as a class.



Read the story out loud.



Give students a few minutes to answer what questions they can.



Read the story out loud a second time.



Give students a bit more time to answer the questions. Then correct them as a

class (and hand out the reading for reference or self-study, if desired).

Alternatively, read the story out loud twice in a row, and have students try to answer questions in pairs before correcting in order to incorporate some speaking. To make it even more communicative, higher-level students can pair up and each read half the story aloud to the other, then try

to answer the questions together. If students are reading out loud, you can circulate and correct their pronunciation as needed, or note some common pronunciation errors to go over as a class at the end of the activity

Distractive reading To liven up your dry reading materials bring a student from each team to the front of the class and have them try to finish the extract whilst you are trying to distract them with silly comments, sound effects, funny faces or anything else that can distract people without touching them. Award points for the first person to finish reading or the one who kept a straight face for the longest. DVD control button reading Draw a DVD player style control panel on the board i.e. a box with a series of buttons; play, pause, slow motion (rather than rewind) and fast. Use the symbols that you would see on a DVD player as they are universal and break down language barriers. Have the class read out the extract or story, when you hit a button they must adapt their reading style according i.e. start, stop, slow down, speed up etc. Develop the game further by adding buttons with happy and sad faces, musical notes (indicating that they sing instead of read. Be creative. The possibilities are endless. One student one word Before you start reading as a class put your students into teams. Go around the room having the students read the story or extract- one person, one word. When a student says the wrong word or delays for more than 3 seconds, give the other team a point. Encourage them to be alert and keep a good fast pace going. Read to me- circle Get the students stood in a circle with their reading books. Designate pairs within the circle and instruct them to read to each other simultaneously. When you shout switch they turn to the person to their other side and start reading to them instead. Read to me- walk around Put students into pairs. Tell them to stand with their partners in a free space in the classroom. Tell them to begin reading to each other simultaneously. When you shout switch they must quickly find another partner to read with. Walk and read Tell your students to stand up and hold the reading book close to their faces. Have them read the book whilst walking around in a certain direction or in any random fashion. Tell them to hop and skip etc to mix it up. Emotional reading Tell your class to read the text whilst displaying a certain emotion or situation i.e. a family member just died you are preaching, you have just won the lottery. Stand up and clap Before you start reading, set up a rule that when a certain piece of grammar or word

appears the students have to stand up and clap then continue. You can experiment with the action to mix it up. Upside down reading Put students into pairs. Have them hold their book upside down and race to read through the extract. After each round tell them to switch partners and do it again. Interruptive reading Choose a student to read to the rest of the class. At any point the others can interrupt with a relevant question about the material. The reader must answer all questions and try to get through the material. One team one sentence Simply read the text with one team saying a sentence then the next team and so on. Monkey Split your class into two teams. Team A begins reading. When you shout “monkey” the reading switches over to the next person on the opposite team. Shout out different words every so often to confuse them. Banned words Before you start say that words with a particular grammatical value are banned. This can be anything from words that begin with a certain letter or a past participle verb. Read the text and when a banned word emerges students must replace it with a sound or a different word. Left-right reading Divide the class into two. When you raise your left hand, the left side read and vice versa. Punctuation bomb Read through a piece of text- one student, one word. When a punctuation mark comes up the student it lands on is out. Volume gage Draw a volume gage on the board. Have the class reading the text and change the volume by pointing with your pen. Memorising the material Simply have students close their books and have them recall words and sentences from the text in order to win points for their team. New word comprehension race Get a student from each team to stand at the front of class. Have them go against each other to explain the meaning of a new word at the same time. Judge who manages to do it better and quicker then give a point to their team. Reading bingo Tell students to choose 10 random words from a reading extract and write them down. Read out sentences from the text in a random order. When students hear their words they cross them off. The first student to cross off all their words is the winner and becomes the reader. Reverse reading Simply read the text backwards. To make it more interesting read it one word, one student and give a point to the other team when a student makes a mistake. Word jigsaw puzzle Make a copy of the text. Cut it up into different slips of paper. Have the students work in pairs to piece it together in the correct order then read it.

1. Questions While Reading Asking questions while reading can be one of the greatest aids to understanding a passage, either at home or in class. For ESL students, though, questions can become a juggernaut making the end of the reading unreachable. Students may become frustrated, and if they had finished the selection some of their questions may have been answered by the remainder of the article. To help your students over this hurdle, give each student several post-its to use as he reads. When he has a question about the passage or finds himself confused, have him write the question on the post-it and stick it near the place he had the question and continue reading. Then, when he has reached the end of the passage, have him return to his notes and see if any of his questions were answered. Any remaining questions, he brings to a reading group of three or four and asks his classmates if they know the answers. Collect any questions that remain after the discussion groups and talk about them as a class. Your students will eventually have all of their questions answered. Through this activity, your students will also recognize that having questions as you read is okay, and that the questions are often answered by the end of the reading selection.

2.2 Vocabulary Preview Before you introduce a new set of reading vocabulary to your students, see what they already know or can decipher about the given set of words. Write the new vocabulary on the board and have groups of three or four students copy each word on to its own post-it. Then ask the students to sort the words in a way that seems logical to them. They can use the knowledge they already have of the words, word roots, or part of speech endings. If possible, have them sort the words on the inside of a file folder, and can keep the words sorts until after the reading is complete. Then, once they have read the words in context and learned what they mean from the reading selection, have the same groups resort the same set of words. Most likely, they will

decide on a different sorting logic after learning the meaning of the words.

3.3 Comprehension Check You can use post-its to check your students’ reading comprehension as well as teach them how to write a summary. Break your class into groups of four to six students, and assign a reading selection to the group. Once everyone has completed the selection, have your students close their books, and give each person three post-it notes. On each of these notes, each person writes one event or piece of information from the reading selection. Encourage your students to write the most important events, and check to make sure everyone has some understanding of what they have read by reading the notes. Then, the groups of students come together and put all their post-its in sequential order. They will find it challenging to remember all the events in the reading selection. Once the events are in order, you can show your students how to write a summary from the main points they chose from the story. Your students will not become bogged down in the details of the story when they write from their own highlights!

4.4 Reading Cloze You can also use the smallest post-its to create a cloze exercise for your students. Type out a reading passage in a large font, and use the small post-its to cover every fifth word. (Note: you may have to adjust the spacing of the words to make the post-its fit.) Then, challenge your students to write an appropriate word on each post-it to complete the passage. They can check to see if their words match the original words by looking underneath the post-it, but any word which logically and grammatically completes the blank would be an acceptable answer.

5.5 KWL Board If you use KWL charts (Know, Want to Know, and Learned) with your students before reading a new reading selection, try this variation, which uses post-it notes. Instead of having students complete individual charts, have them write what they know about a given topic on post-it notes – one idea on each note. As a student completes a note, announce to the class what is on the note and stick it to your board. As your students hear what their classmates know, they may remember facts of their own. Continue until everyone has written down all of their ideas and you have posted them. In effect, your class will be brainstorming everything they know about the day’s topic, but the simple addition of sticky notes will make the activity more energetic and entertaining. Once the first part of the activity is done, have students write down any questions they might have about the topic of the day on separate post-it notes. (Use a different color note, again one note per idea.) Follow the same procedure as you did with the first part. After your class reads their selection, have them write things that they learned on a third color of post-it. These go on the board, too. When what a student learned answers one of the questions from the second part of the activity, post the third note next to the question note.

6.6 Book Reviews Keep a supply of post-its near your classroom library. When a student completes a book from the library, he writes a one sentence review of the book on a post-it note. He can write what he liked, what he didn’t, or any other thoughts he has after reading the book. Then, when your other students are choosing their next books, they can read the review that the first reader wrote. After this second person finishes the book, she writes her own review and sticks it in the front of the

book. The reading and reviewing continue in this manner, and by the end of the school year, you will have a deep understanding of which books are working for your class and which aren’t. Moreover, your students will have peer feedback at their fingertips when it is time to choose a new book.

7.7 Quick Questions You can get your students to think critically as they read by placing post-it notes in your classroom library books. Write several sticky notes for each book that you have in your classroom, and ask questions such as these: What do you think will happen next? Did the main character make the right decision? What advice would you give the character? Then, place these notes strategically in your classroom books. When a student comes across one of the notes during his or her reading, he answers the question on a separate postit note, writes the page number on which he found the question, and sticks the note to the cover of the book. You can then check your students’ comprehension by simply looking at the covers of their books and their answers to your quick questions.

8.8 Step by Step Summary For students who may have a difficult time writing a summary of a large reading selection or chapter book, they can use post-it notes to write a summary as they read. Simply have students stop at the end of each chapter and write one sentence on a post-it summarizing what happened in that chapter. Then, at the end of the book, the student takes all the notes and puts them together to complete a summary of the entire novel.

9.9

Read Aloud Comments If you find your students either interrupting you or giving you blank stares when you read to the class, you can use post-it notes to make a smoother and more effective read aloud experience. Whenever a student has a comment or question while you are reading to the class, he writes in on a post-it note. He can then stick the post-it to the front board once your reading session is over. You can then answer the question for the whole class or write a reply post-it to that specific student. If you are looking for feedback from all of your students, you can also hand out post-it notes to everyone after you are finished reading and have everyone write something that confused them, something that they thought was interesting, or something that they thought of as you were reading.