Reading for pronunciation
So, what was I going to do in class? Ideas for in-class reading seemed limited to reading alone or reading out loud. I decided to experiment as I knew my students certainly needed pronunciation input, specifically intonation. Dialogue both in the reader and the film seemed to hold lots of potential. Would it be possible to make reading aloud a 'learning experience'?
I decided to show the first few scenes of the video before dividing the class into small groups of 4 or 5 and asking them to read aloud together and notice any differences. A comparison with the video and book is a good strategy to keep interest going and motivates them to read. It does take planning though, as both the book and the film need to be divided into suitable time frames and themes.
Once a suitable part was selected, the students watched the film for 15 minutes. Afterwards they wrote their own sequenced list of events, observed in the film clip. When they went onto read the book aloud, the students were given the task of listening for when the events happen in the book.
I found that students were very good at noticing quite detailed differences.After I had given a few example exercises they preferred to write their own questions and statements.