III. Group Activity
(2 participants to 1 volunteer if possible)

Participants and volunteers:

  1. Read the remainder of the story in unison in their small groups. They practise the strategy with their volunteers who write the questions down on a work sheet as they progress through the book.

NOTE: You may need to explain the reasons and procedures for the unison reading. Round robin reading is not advised. Reading softly aloud together (unison reading) is supportive, helps participants tune their ear to the English pronunciation of words and facilitates reading text in meaningful phrases or thought units, as well as encouraging the continuous reading of whole text and the construction of overall meaning.

Reading aloud also discourages interruptions to discuss word meaning and word pronunciation difficulties which are not essential for understanding the main ideas.

While initially the generated questions are written down both for practice and future reference, ultimately the Self-Questioning process will be internalized, that is carried out mentally.

IV. Summarizing Concepts

At the completion of the activity, the instructor:

  1. Discusses the strategy:

    How did the strategy work for you?
    Were all your questions answered?
    Which ones were not?
    Can you suggest a possible reason why?
    What types of questions did you have?

  2. Focuses on the question types by having participants review their worksheets to look for and underline any of the 5 w and h questions.

    Why is the old lady sitting?
    What kind of game is he playing?

  3. Then illustrates how even though some of the questions generated didn't initially begin with the 5 w and h questions, when they were re-worded, they actually did, as shown in the following examples of pre-reading questions from Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge and

    Is she the boy's Grandmother? [Who]
    Is it a funny story? [What kind of story is it?]

  4. Compiles a story overview chart making connections between the story characters and their memories in order to enhance comprehension and recall. (See Box 4.)

NOTE: This step may be used here OR as part of the introduction to Session Three.


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