
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.
|