The New Reading Curriculum

I haven't updated in a little while, as usual. My NELP blog is starting to sound a little like my letters to my grandmother: "Sorry I haven't written in so long, but I've been very busy."

I've been working on the new NELP curriculum and have now, other than a few snags, pretty much hammered it into shape.

Each half-term, students will have one poem, one short story, one non-fiction article and one current issue. In addition, I've updated the guidelines for new words and other vocabulary exercises. In the past, my rule was that students had to give me two new words every Monday, and that the second Monday after receiving a new reading packet, students would give me ten sentences using vocabulary from the reading. However, we've had a problem remember what's due and when. So starting this week, new words and vocabulary exercises will be a part of the packet, and each one will be appropriately labeled. This will make it a lot easier to remember when stuff is due. I write due dates on the speaking assignment sheet.

Also, I've been working on the new English reading tests. From now on, readings will come from a variety of sources, including our Progress in English book. Each test, the students will have three readings: a poem, a short story, and a non-fiction article or current issue article. These will be given to students in advance to study, but they won't see the questions until the day of the test. Also, the study packets will have vocabulary, but the real tests will not.

This means that each term, students will get a minimum of four poems, four short stories, and six non-fiction articles and current issues. Not bad at all.

The poems will also include music lyrics, and I've had some fun finding real poetry among song lyrics, both old and new.

This means that students will have a greater variety of readings in their tests. Although the tests will be much harder, I hope they will also be more interesting. I also hope this will finally put an end to students finishing my 50-minute readings tests in 20 minutes.

Finally, I've decided to start updating the NELP blog from home so that I'll have more chances to keep this blog up-to-date.

Date: 2008⁄09⁄21 21:54｜Permalink｜Author：nelp

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