 Sarah Lynn |
According to the National Reading Panel (2000), the four components of reading are: comprehension, vocabulary, fluency and alphabetics. As ESOL teachers we know how to teach vocabulary and comprehension, but fluency and alphabetics are terra incognita.
Most teachers spend a lot of time working on learners’ grammatical accuracy. To make sure your students improve their fluency too, be sure not to skip this important step. What step?
What’s wrong with this picture?
You start your lesson with an article that contextualizes the lesson’s grammar. After eliciting its meaning, you illustrate usage, and use a chart to show form. You give your students some controlled exercises and end the lesson with an extended communicative task. Why do so many students trip over the target grammar? Did they not get enough focused exercises?
Don’t skip less-controlled practice
The problem is jumping straight from controlled practice to free practice with nothing in between. …
