Can we use Group Activities to enhance Reading Comprehension?
Yes. We can and we should.
How can we do that?
Let's divide the class into groups of 4 – 6 students.
The group has to become a cooperative learning group. Each student in the group must assume responsibility and participate actively in the group's work.
How do we do that?
One student becomes the leader of his group and assigns roles to all the members of the group.
e.g.,
- Read different paragraphs or different texts.
- Sum up the paragraph in one sentence.
- Give a title to the paragraph.
- Can you predict what the whole text is about?
- Do you think your paragraph opens the text, appears somewhere in the middle or at the end? Can you explain why?
The position – leader of the group – will be assumed by a different member of the group in every activity. The decision can be made by the teacher at first until the students are ready to assume responsibility. After each member has completed his task (5-10 minutes), all the members of the group have to discuss the text, reflect upon their knowledge and explain their opinion to the other members. Then they have to read the questions or other tasks assigned and discuss probable answers.
Reading Comprehension Passage.
Hand out a text.
We have already read texts about violence in general and at school. The following text deals with violence on T.V.
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions that follow. You may find that some information is missing.
Many people have begun to protest against the negative effects of certain television programs. Parents and Teachers Associations all over the world are putting pressure on television networks to ban movies and series containing violence. They claim that many of the programs have a harmful effect on children.
It is, however, difficult to measure the influence of violence on T.V. since different things may frighten different children and adults as well. Others won't even give it a second thought.
Some people, on the other hand, contend that children should be exposed to real life situations and violence is simply one of them. It would be useless to remove violence from T.V. as long as it prevails in the cinema, in books and on the streets. Moreover, certain experts claim that violence on T.V. – the excitement, fear and anxiety it produces – may have a positive effect on viewers.
Extremely violent scenes should be removed and more programs stressing positive values should be introduced in order to create a proper balance. Some people claim that movies containing violence should be shown only at times when most children are already in bed, if at all. Parents should make certain that their children don't watch programs that are not suited to their age.
