How to Use Extensive Reading in an ESL Classroom

For a successful ER program, a teacher really has to reconsider their own attitudes toward teaching reading. ER is truly student-centered. Students select their own material, read on their own time, choose their own new words to learn, and do this all without the fear of tests and examinations!

So what should students be reading? Anything and everything. Novels, simplified readers, magazines, newspapers, and internet news articles are all appropriate for extensive reading. Let the students pick what they want and read about topics that they like.

Students doing extensive reading should be reading independently and without fear of a big examination or test. Half of the goal of a successful ER program is that students learn to enjoy reading! They also should be allowed to move at their own pace and encouraged to read as much as they can. But most teachers will still need to find ways to evaluate student performance.

Alternative assessments are the best way to judge how much your students are getting out of their ER materials. Informal assessments such as a simple conversation about the book can be a good place to start. But if you have larger classes and time constraints prevent you from meeting with each student individually, you can turn to written evaluations like book letters or book reviews. Try having students pair up and discuss their respective books or articles. Have them work on a compare and contrast of the books' plots or characters. Students can also make brief presentations to the class about their books and what they think of the book as they read and after they finish.

Younger students may enjoy art projects that incorporate the stories they just read. Have them draw pictures of a favorite character or story board an important plot point.

Technology is another way to help evaluate progress. Start a class forum to post short messages about the books they are reading. Make a website to post the students' book reviews or compile a list of the classroom's favorite books. If you have access to video equipment, have the students act out a scene from the book, or make a short commercial/public service announcement about why people should read the book.

Reinforcing vocabulary is key to successful extensive reading programs. Have students start a personal dictionary of the new words they encounter in the book. Students can find other articles with these words using a search engine and increase their own retention. Then they can practice using the words correctly in sentences or short stories of their own.

Adapt these activities to the level and age of your students. Model for students with you own readings. I make a point to take one of the books I am currently reading into my ESL classrooms and give a book talk just like the students do, or I pull out a vocabulary word that might be new to them and share on the board just as I would have them share. It really does help them to know that their teachers still enjoy reading and can learn something from a new book.