Catriona Chalmers
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All Levels Bringing Graded News and World Topics into the Classroom more
Living in the “24-hour news cycle”, whether through traditional news sources or social media, we can easily keep up with important issues from around the world. Literature on using news in ESL/EFL classrooms suggests that news stories can be used to develop leaners’ reading, writing and speaking skills (Tafida & Dalhatu, 2014), However, resources for language learners can be limited. One resource that does provide news stories written with graded language is Xreading News. This is a collection of five current news stories, written at the CEFR B1 level and published weekly on Xreading. This session will introduce Xreading news, discuss how it is created each week, and suggest some ways it can be used in the classroom. Presenters will also show graded readers featuring world topics. Books written in an engaging and accessible way, which provide students with the language needed if they are to discuss real world issues.
All Levels From Concept to Classroom: Writing Graded Readers more
In this session the presenters will discuss the process of writing graded readers from an initial idea, to writing and editing, and to finally getting the books into the hands of students in both paper and digital formats. Where do stories come from? How do we ‘find’ stories and tell them in an engaging and interesting way? We will detail the steps that have worked for us — from ‘story,’ format, length, level, editing and illustrations, to publishing steps and options, including ISBN numbers — all while trying to keep abreast of the rapid advancement of online tools. Mistakes have been made and lessons have been learned. We share where we are today in this journey in the desire to support burgeoning writers.
All Levels Graded Readers: What is available publisher by publisher more
Until relatively recently few publishers, mostly the larger ones, published graded readers. However, in recent years there has been an explosion in the number of books available. Big companies, small companies and individual writer/publishers are producing some excellent books in graded format. These books cover a wide range of genres, such as adventure, romance, mystery, and non-fiction, to appeal to all types of reader. They are available at different levels, in different formats and wordcount. So, how do we know which books we can use in tandem with other classroom content? How do we recommend books to students? How can we create themed assignments? In this session, the presenters will give a brief, informative overview of the different series available by publisher giving participants a clearer idea of what is available in this market.