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Using the Student Club topic links
Dr. Ken Beatty
Author of Read and Think!
(www.read-and-think.com)

At the end of each Read and Think! unit, there is a reminder to visit the Read and Think! companion website, www.read-and-think.com. In the Teacher’s Club, you will find numerous articles offering teaching suggestions to help you and your students get the most out of Read and Think! In addition, the Student Club provides interesting Internet links to complement the topics introduced in each unit. Here are five ways that you can use these Student Club topic links to support your students as they progress through the course:

1. Ask students to write a report. A key to critical thinking is to consider ideas and issues from two or more points of view. Many of the units in Read and Think! present students with two reading passages expressing opposing points of view on a topic. Students can use these passages and the Student Club topic links to start their research. Students can then compile their findings into written form, either as a formal essay, a summary table, a collage of information bubbles or even as a new website. When complete, students’ work can be displayed in the classroom for their classmates to review (remember to keep a copy to help you prepare for next year’s lessons!)

2. Ask students to prepare a presentation. Students can use the Student Club topic links to prepare a class presentation. If there is an Internet-connected computer with a projector in the classroom, students can both show and introduce the websites to the class.

3. Ask students to shift the genre. Using information from the Student Club topic links, students can write a related piece of work using a different genre to what is provided in the unit. An article (or any other example of writing genre from Read and Think!) can be rewritten as a new genre such as a play, a speech or a letter. This is a great way for students to show their deep comprehension of the topic.

4. Ask students to create a web bibliography. The Student Club topic links can provide a starting point for students to find other interesting and useful websites related to the topic. Students can then make a bibliography with a short summary of each website to share with the class.

5. Ask students to prepare a debate. Debates are included in each unit of Read and Think! but students can also make up their own ideas to debate. Using the Student Club topic links, students can find many new points of view to support their side of the debate.

Students can do each of the above activities on their own, but working in small groups is better, especially if students are encouraged to use English. Students who are given opportunities to practice a range of research, reading, writing, listening, speaking and thinking skills will improve faster and enjoy English more.


 
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