Week 6: Readers, Mr. Noh JB (Good Job)

Assignment for Extensive Reading (5~6 Week)

 

	Title	Author	Publisher (ISBN)	Publishing year	Number of page	Book format	Reading Level
1	Feathers, flippers, and feet	Deborah Lock	DK Publishing (0-7566-0265-3)	2004	31	Texts  pictures Riddle Answer	Beginning stage 2
2	Life in a coral Reef	Wendy Pfeffer	HarperCollins Publishers (978-0-06-445222-9)	2009	32	Texts  Pictures	Beginning stage 2
3	Farm animals	Wade Cooper	Scholastic Inc (978-0-545-00721-4)	2008	29	Pictures Understanding Rhyme Quiz	Beginning stage 2
4	A butterfly grows	Stephen Swinburne	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company (978-0-15-206422-8)	2009	20	Pictures Texts Questions	Beginning stage 2
5	After the Dinosaurs	Charlotte Lewis Brown	HarperCollins Publishers (978-0-06-053053-2)	2006	32	Pictures Story Texts	Beginning stage 2

 

1.     Feathers, Flippers, and Feet

: This book deals with the parts of the animal’s body such as wings, feet, and feathers etc. By illustrating and introducing familiar animals, the readers can have meaning focused input. With the help of longer sentences and increased vocabulary and  introducing series of parts of animals’ body, it is also offering the readers fluency development strands of a course. Amazing photos combine with lively illustration for  stage-2 beginners. Repetitive and simple words enable the readers to increase their fluency. Unfamiliar and unknown few words are used repeatedly and explained to readers in detail as a picture. The level of this book for the readers on the beginning stage 2, when shown in vocabulary, seems to be so difficult.  

 

In grammatical viewpoint, this book uses lots of noun, adjectives, gerunds, to infinitive and clauses. But, the key point of grammar in this book is gerund. The usages of gerund which should come after preposition are shown.  Q and A style of this book is attractive enough to collect readers’ attention and motivation. Not only interesting and appropriate reading texts but also pictures are provided until the book is over. This book helps the readers move forward systemically through the graded readers levels. New words are approximately 25-30. Totally, 500~600 words are used.

 

2.     Life in a coral Reef

: As we know from the title, this book deals with coral reefs, including the largest coral reef, how coral reefs are created, the kinds of coral animal and life of many ocean creatures. Readers admire coral reefs for their wonderful colors and diverse marine creatures. By using the cause and effect logic and arranging the order of time of a day, the book tries to appeal the stage 2 beginners. As it is offering meaning focused input by using clear and familiar fish names, the readers are able to focus on meaning in the peaceful and calm atmosphere under the ocean. Through the repeated and linked several words every each page, fluency development strands of a course are shown and expected. The level of the book as stage 2 books is easy and common, but the length of one sentence is rather long. This book has a special distinction by using many sentences compared for other same level books. About 30 new nouns (including fish names) are introduced. Totally, 550~650 words are used. The level of unknown vocabulary seems very appropriate. In this book, like the following, the elements of grammar are mainly shown: past-participle, comparative, the superlative, passive voice, subordinate clause, and keep+objective+adjective etc. Of course, the key point of grammar in this book is the usage of main and subordinate clause. The content is very easy because of linked words and the style is bright. If the fish and names are shown by graphics or clear pictures computer assists, the readers can make sense meaning better and develop and improve their fluency in language and learning.

 

3.     Farm animals

: This book is composed of the explanation of the animals’ characteristics, pictures and further study. It has simple, easy words and sentences with amazing photographs of real life animals, which makes the readers motivated and encouraged.

 

 It is very good to have meaning focused input, for stage 2 beginners can read the book without other’s help, that is, they can read aloud interestingly for themselves.

As the real animals’ photographs and their illustrated voices stimulus the readers, they can develop their fluency. The level of this book is appropriate for the beginning readers, especially in the aspect of vocabulary and sentence. As a whole, 450-500 words are used, and unfamiliar and difficult words are about 20.
Although this book deals with easy themes and familiar animals, the usage of the sentence is very important. It has many essential, grammatical elements such as preposition phrases, subordinate clause, “hear, see …” verbs, conjunction and relative adverb, etc. Reading texts are simple and appropriate very much. As the verb and the object are used repeatedly, the readers can be motivated in order to develop their language skills and fluency. This book presents precise expressions, clear written style, good grammar usages and understandable contents. Therefore, especially, this book is good for increase fluency development strands.

 

4.     A butterfly grows

Totally, 150~200 words are written on the book. A few unknown vocabulary are about 15 words. This book was written by Stephen Swinburne who is both a author and a photographer. From cover to cover, lots of photos are shown with texts. Readers are likely to see the author’s mind of loving nature. This book is loyal to show meaning focused input by describing how the caterpillar changes in the story book. The development form egg to caterpillar is explained with live pictures. This book uses variously phonetic vocabulary. Therefore, the book is to increase the fluency development strands. With a caterpillar’s development, this book throws some questions about what the next process is, which plays a key role in making readers interested, encouraged and motivated dreading. The level of this book looks so simple and common, because few words used comparatively. There are many words with similar sounds in relation to the story. This way helps readers support and supplement extensive reading with language focused learning. In grammatical position, Q&A, cause and effect and imperative form are treated. Author unfolds the story naturally by using Q&A style. Considering the level of vocabulary, author spreads his intention until the end of the book.

 

5.     After the Dinosaurs

This book is not only a very instructive book in the point of featuring many lost dinosaurs’ names but also high interested stories for stage 2 beginners . In order to make some words which is not easy for beginners to articualte easier, author introduces the easy introductions of pronunciation every each name.

 

This method inputs readers’ meaning and language focused strategies and helps them develop their fluency in vocabulary. The level of the book seems rather difficult, but it is trying to let them recall the animals which were extinct 40000 years ago.

Big and overwhelming illustration for the extinct and fossil animals encourages readers to be interested in reading text and motivates them to predict what kind of extinct fossil animals appear. Repetitive lexicon are used in relation to the content of the story. Readers can practice and acquire such words with ease. 550~600 words are used in total. About 50 words are used as unfamiliar ones. While reading the book, readers can recognize the name thinking of how big and curious the animals were. In this respect, this book helps them increase their imagination. As this book is showing the content by imaginative illustration and logic words, readers can make sense it easily. In this book, the categories of grammar are used like various adjective, omission, to infinitive, formation of comparative and subordinate clauses. Evidently, the usage of to-infinitive is widely used. That is to say, the usage of phrase this book is using frequently. On account of it, learners can learn grammar and vocabulary systemically and gradually.

 

 

 

Wow, you reviewed five copies of books voluntarily!  Thank you for the extraordinary efforts that you have put in this project.  A paragraph of your insightful summarizing words might have made this project more superior one, I believe. Thank you.

 

 

Week 6: Readers, Ms. Lee MH (Excellent)

TSL 509 Extensive Reading Review

2010-09-24

Oxford Bookworms Library Graded Readers’ Series ( for ESL Starter Learners)   1.      Burrows, Phillip & Foster, Mark (2008). Starman (PP1-40). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press 2.      Twain, Mark (2008). A ConnecticutYankee in King Arthur’s Court (PP1-40). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press 3.      Brooke, Helen (2008). Survive (PP 1-40). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press

 

     Extensive reading provides readers with a killing-two-birds-with-one-stone effect. Readers acquire language naturally while reading as many as books which are appropriate for the learners’ level and interest. At the same time, the books they are supposed to read are easy enough with virtually no unknown words to give pleasure of reading them, which hooks learners to be a life-long reader. This approach focuses on developing fluent reading skills by providing the conditions for meaning-focused input. The effects of extensive reading have been proved successful in language acquisition, since books play a role of language input, motivating and natural. Now in Korea as well as in English-speaking countries, readers’ series, which are strategically designed for fluency development, are in trend and under the way to be adopted into a school-based English syllabus.

     Readers’ series did not attract much attention of Korean educators and parents until recent a few years ago. Unfortunately, I was not a beneficiary of Graded readers’ series, when I learned English in my childhood. Three copies of a starting level of books in Oxford Bookworms Library are the first graded readers’ series I was first exposed to. When I read these books while having my hair done, I was so soaked in books that I was “brain-dyed” to be a book-addict for a couple of hours reading and appreciating. Even my hair-dresser was interested in the books for her adolescent children. I became a missionary to spread the good news “how to make your kids love English”. I wish I had known the pleasure of reading earlier when I first learned English. I would have been more fluent in reading and speaking based on systematically built-up vocabulary and subconscious learning of English structure. Also, I would have been a more positive English learner who has learned the pleasure of reading English books.

    Three copies of Oxford Bookworms series share the common features as they are written for ESL starters or English learners whose Toeic score is around 300 points. For instance, every book in this start level contains around 250 headwords involving ranging from 900 words to 1,600 words in total. The language features in the books are simple and basic. For example, tense in the books is mostly simple present, present progressive, or simple future in simple clauses involving many interrogative or imperative sentences. Not many modals are used but ‘can, must, be going to, or will’. Gerunds and to-infinitives are shown, but relative clauses are rarely observed in the books. Root verbs and simple words are repetitively used. Each book consists of 40 pages inserted with colorful pictures followed by glossary and activities for before reading, while-reading, and after-reading to help readers’ understanding and motivate readers. Distinct feature differentiating each from the others is the format of the books. There are three formats of the books – narrative, interactive, and cartoon strips, depending on the subject of the book. Starman chooses a narrative style in which the author tells chronologically how Bill meets a man named John Phillips on the hot and dry road in Australia, and what strange things happen related to the strange John. In the story, the author lets readers follow the story mostly consisting of dialogue and description of characters and behaviors, and guess what this book implies. In the meanwhile, Survive picks an interactive style in which each reader follows the number of sentences by responding to the given situation. In result, readers are supposed to read the whole sentences and learn the best solution to the situation of plane crash. This format made really fascinating by integrating a problem-solution task-oriented reading with an active reading technique by which readers’ choice determines the following content. This reading was like solving a puzzle or a maze learning. Lastly, Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is formatted in cartoon strips. Considering the age and level of readers, a cartoon-formatted book appeals to the initial English reading starters, as interesting picture cues help readers understand the content without much effort by providing a context, and the number of words is limited and colloquial-based. Even among the same level of books, in my opinion, a cartoon-style book is more beneficial for earlier-stage learners, while a narrative-style book is for older and more trained learners. Exploring different style of books would give readers much diverse experiences to read and pleasure. Though the level is solely determined by the number of headwords in each book, styles of format such as narrative, cartoon, or narrative, styles of narration such as colloquial or written English, picture cues, and so forth would be the factors for which readers choose their books. Teachers should motivate students by guiding them to explore various genres of books and providing opportunities to express their opinion in recommending and commenting on the books they read.

     My experience of reading this Oxford graded readers’ series interested me to train myself to be an extensive reader with such systematic reading materials. Also, thinking of my intense pleasure of reading, and feeling of success, since I could get three books done within an hour, I believe my students also benefit from the extensive reading program with graded readers’ books, because it would ensure linguistic competence with step-by-step natural exposure to language input, and psychological competence with pleasure of reading.

 

 

Your review on readers series is, overall, well organized and analyctic which can serve as a good writing example to your classmates, I believe. I would like to hear from you more about how you are planning to apply this 'readers series' in your classroom setting.  Thank you.

Week 6: Readers, Mr. Kim HS

 

1.      Happy Birthday Spongebob!

-          Title: Happy Birthday Spongebob!

-          Author: J-P Chanda

-          Publisher: Simon Spotlight/Nickelodeon

-          Publishing Year: 2005

-          Number of Pages: 24

-          Book Format: Hard cover and illustrated

-          Reading Level: For beginning reader, Level 1

2.      Dora’s Sleepover

-          Title: Dora’s Sleepover

-          Author: Lara Bergen

-          Publisher: Simon Spotlight/Nickelodeon

-          Publishing Year: 2006

-          Number of Pages: 24

-          Book Format: Hard cover and illustrated

-          Reading Level: For beginning reader, Level 1

3.      Diego’s Baby Polar Bear Rescue

-          Title: Diego’s Baby Polar Rescue

-          Author: Chris Gifford

-          Publisher: Simon Spotlight/Nickelodeon

-          Publishing Year: 2009

-          Number of Pages: 24

-          Book Format: Hard cover and illustrated

-          Reading Level: For beginning reader, Level 1

Two days ago I went to Centreville Regional Library in Fairfax County and found the right books.  When I saw the covers of the books, they caught my attraction.  They all were based on the TV series--SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and Do, Diego, Go!, so these books were enough to attract the young readers.  I borrowed three books, came back home and read them in a short time.  They were all full-colored and illustrated, and the words are limited 75-200 and repeated.  Above all, most of nouns were replaced by pictures with captions.  During my sleeping after reading the books, my 9-year-old son read 9 books I had borrowed in a straight.  As soon as I woke up, he said to me to lend other books.  He said they were easy to read and fun.

These books have stories, in other words, they are meaning-focused. They were written with easy words and illustration.  They, broadcasted on TV, are familiar with young kids.  So these books are very good materials for extensive reading.  For my sons I will borrow the all series to read.

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Kim

You included the images of the books (even though I could not include those images in this page), briefly mentioned your analysis, and added what really happened to an English learner (which was your son) with these readers. It is delightful to find that your son liked reading this series. I would like to hear more about your son, how he is coping with his new environment both at school and at home.  My best wishes to your family.