How can we get students to participate more in English class? How can we help them remember vocabulary for longer? And how can we make reading a motivating experience?
This year we’ve had the opportunity to visit different schools throughout Spain to deliver our English reading workshops. Beyond simply sharing activities, these visits have allowed us to observe something very interesting: although every classroom is different, there are strategies that work time and time again.
We have delivered 55 English reading workshops to more than 1,500 students in the first cycle of primary education in 11 educational centers spread throughout Spain.
In this article we share some of the ideas we saw in action that any teacher can adapt to their own class.
1. Start with a story, not a vocabulary list
When a unit begins with a story, vocabulary ceases to be a list of isolated words and becomes part of a context with characters, emotions, and situations.
In addition, we look for ways to relate reading to the students’ context to involve them and awaken their interest.
Next, reading becomes the starting point for speaking, writing, asking questions, and developing oral and written comprehension.
In our workshops we find that a simple story can lead to many conversations and subsequent activities that achieve interaction and participation from the students.
2. Make English about them
At the end of the workshop, we created one of the activities as a way of putting learning into practice so that they could apply the knowledge acquired to their own experience.
Instead of mechanically repeating structures, the students used English to express their own tastes, ideas, and preferences.
When language is used to talk about oneself, motivation naturally increases.
3. Reading also means writing
Reading doesn’t end when you close a book.
After reading, writing helps to consolidate new vocabulary, organize ideas, and develop written expression.
There’s no need to write long texts. In primary school, a few well-guided sentences can have a significant impact on learning.
4. Combine print materials and digital resources
In the classrooms we visited, books, notebooks, printed activities, and digital resources coexisted.
Far from competing with each other, each tool contributed something different.
Digital resources helped to capture attention, listen to native audio, and offer interactive experiences tailored to students’ needs, while paper-based work allowed for writing, drawing, and calm reflection.
Technology works best when it complements learning, not when it tries to replace it.
5. Turn the classroom into a space that also teaches
Classroom walls can also be part of the learning process.
Murals, cards, characters, keywords, or images help students to constantly retrieve vocabulary without the need for additional explanations.
Every time students look around, they find new opportunities to remember what they have learned.
6. Ask thought-provoking questions
A good activity is not just about finding the right answer. It also encourages students to make decisions, express preferences, and justify their ideas.
In our workshops we saw how simple questions (“What kind of cake do you like?”, “What would you like as a gift?”, “Who came to your last birthday?”, “What would you give?”, “What would you choose?”) generated natural conversations in English and encouraged even the shyest students to participate.
It is important that each person share their experience and listen to each other to explore different options and always respect the opinions of the other classmates.
7. Each classroom embraces English.
Perhaps the greatest lesson we learned this year was realizing that no two classrooms are alike.
Each teacher adapts the activities to their group, their context, and their teaching style.
And that is precisely where the richness of education lies: the materials are a tool, but the one who truly brings learning to life is the teacher.
It is a privilege to be able to enter so many different classrooms and continue learning from those who teach every day.
Conclusion
After visiting so many schools this year, we came away with one very clear idea: teaching English goes far beyond completing a textbook.
Creating context, encouraging reading, connecting learning with the students’ experience and giving space to participation are strategies that we saw repeated over and over again in very different classrooms.
We would like to thank all the schools that opened their doors to us and trusted us to share these workshops.
- Santa Maria la Blanca
- Colegio Aquila
- IDEO
- De Prácticas Asunción Rincón
- Colegio Internacional Sek-Ciudalcampo
- Fundación Escolapias Montal – La Immaculada
- Colegio Logos
- Safa Jorge Juan
- Colegio Vegasur
- Ntra.Sra.del recuerdo
- Colegio Novaschool Añoreta en Málaga
Would you like to bring a reading workshop to your school?
Please fill out the form below and a member of our team will contact you as soon as possible to provide you with more information.