Skills Necessary for English Reading (Contests)

Skills Necessary for English Reading (Contests) Cheng-Ji (Paul) Lai, Ph.D. 國立台中教育大學英語學系賴政吉助理教授

Cheng-Ji (Paul) Lai, Ph.D. • Taught children English for 3 years • Interned in an American elementary school for 1 semester • Clinically taught in 中教大實小與忠信國小 for 2 years

Cheng-Ji (Paul) Lai, Ph.D. • Founder(since 2012) and director of ESL program at • 中教大實小 • 忠信國小 • 忠孝國小 • 文雅國小 • 新光國小

Cheng-Ji (Paul) Lai, Ph.D. • Specializations in elementary-level English education: • Spalding method of Phonics • Reading skills • Story-telling skills • Readers’ Theater Skills • Speechmaking skills

Agenda • Skills Necessary for English Reading (Contests) • Skills Necessary for English Story-telling (Contests)

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type • Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type. All day long he hears, • "Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo." • At first, he couldn't believe his ears. Cows that type? Impossible! • "Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo." Then he couldn't believe his eyes.

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type • "Dear Farmer Brown, The barn is very cold at night. We'd like some electric blankets. Sincerely, The Cows." • It was bad enough the cows had found the old typewriter in the barn, now they wanted electric blankets! • "No way," said Farmer Brown. "No electric blankets.“

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type • So the cows went on strike. They left a note on the barn door. • "Sorry. We're closed. No milk today." • "No milk today!" cried Farmer Brown. • In the background, he heard the cows busy at work. • "Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo."

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type • The next day, he got another note. • "Dear Farmer Brown, The hens are cold, too. They'd like electric blankets, too. Sincerely, The Cows." • The cows were growing impatient with the farmer. They left a new note on the barn door. • "Closed. No milk. No eggs.“

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type • "Cows that type. Hens on strike! Whoever heard of such a thing? How can I run a farm with no milk and no eggs!" Farmer Brown was furious. • Farmer Brown got out his own typewriter. \ • "Dear Cows and Hens, There will be no electric blankets. You are cows and hens. I demand milk and eggs. Sincerely, Farmer Brown.“

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type • Duck was the neutral party, so he brought the ultimatum to the cows. The cows held an emergency meeting. • All night long, Farmer Brown waited for an answer. • Duck knocked on the door early the next morning. He handed Farmer Brown a note.

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type • "Dear Farmer Brown, we will exchange our typewriter for electric blankets. Leave them outside the barn door and we will send Duck over with the typewriter. Sincerely, The Cows.“ • Farmer Brown decided this was a good deal. He left the blankets next to the barn door and waited for Duck to come with the typewriter.

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type • The next morning he got a note. • "Dear Farmer Brown, The pond is quite boring. We'd like a diving board. Sincerely, The Ducks.“ • "Click, clack, quack. Click, clack, quack." Farmer Brown heard.

Question • What are the skills necessary for reading stories like this? • Enunciation • Fluency • Pauses • Stresses • Linking • Tones of voice (narrator, speakers) • Upbeat spirit/appropriate emotion/ nonverbal language

南投縣105年英語文競賽實施計畫 • （一）朗讀： • 1.語音（發音及聲調）占百分之50。 • 2.氣勢（句讀、語調、文氣）占百分之30。 • 3.儀態（儀容、態度、表情）占百分之20。

Let’s demonstrate how to READ!!

南投縣105年英文朗讀:The Frog Prince • Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess who had a golden ball. One day, while playing in the garden, the ball fell into a pond. She was very upset and did not know what to do. • While she sat there crying helplessly, a frog hopped out of the pond and asked, “Why are you crying, little princess?” She told him about her golden ball. • The ugly frog said, “I can help you get your ball but what will you give me in return?”

南投縣105年英文朗讀:The Frog Prince • “I will give you anything you want!” promised the princess. • The frog immediately dived into the water and fetched the ball for her. The princess was very happy. • The frog reminded her, “Remember that you promised me anything. Well, I want to be your friend, eat from your plate, and sleep in your palace!” • The princess hated the idea but she agreed and ran back to the palace.

南投縣105年英文朗讀:The Frog Prince • The next morning, the princess found the frog waiting for her. He said, “I have come to live in your palace.” • Hearing this, the princess ran to her father, crying. When the kind king heard about the promise, he told her, “A promise is a promise, and you must keep your word. You must let the frog stay here.”

南投縣105年英文朗讀:The Frog Prince • The princess was very angry, but she had no choice and let the frog stay. He ate from her plate during dinner and asked the princess to take him to her bed at night. The princess picked him up angrily and threw him to the floor. • In a flash, the frog turned into a handsome prince! He told the princess that he had actually been under the spell of a wicked witch. The princess fell in love with the prince. They were married and lived happily ever after.

Common Errors • Pronunciation: /a/ /e/ /i/ /l/ • Syllables: immediately, hopelessly, attentively • Linking: • Intonation(語調) • Tone of voice (語氣) • Role play(角色互換)

Let’s demonstrate how to READ again!!

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Finding a Seat on the Bus • Miss Miller lived beside a church in a small town. She did not have a car. On Fridays, she always walked to the bus stop. Then she went to the market and bought food for the next week. There were usually a lot of people on the bus, but Miss Miller always found a seat.

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Finding a Seat on the Bus • One of the houses at the corner of Miss Miller’s street had been empty for a long time, but then a couple with two children came and lived in it. The children went to school in the morning.

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Finding a Seat on the Bus • That Friday Miss Miller went to the house and visited the children’s mother. She said to her, “Good morning. My name is Jane Miller, and I live beside the church on this street. I’m going to the market now. Do you need any food?”

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Finding a Seat on the Bus • “Good morning,” the woman said to her visitor, “It’s very kind of you. My name’s Mary Adams. Yes, I need food for my lunch today and for our supper tonight. I also need some fish for the cat, but I don’t know the way to the market yet. Can I come with you?

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Finding a Seat on the Bus • “Of course,” Jane answered. Mary put her coat on and the two women went out and walked along to the bus stop. While they waited there, Jane said to her new friend, “There’s a bus at five minutes to ten. It’s always full but I always get a seat.”

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Finding a Seat on the Bus • “Oh? How do you do that?” Mary asked. • Jane smiled and answered, “Wait and you’ll see.” • The bus came and the two women got in. It was full but Jane said quite loudly, “Perhaps those two very handsome men will give us their seats.” Six men stood up quickly, and both women went and sat down in the nearest seats.

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Mary’s Memorable Painting Class • Mary was an elementary school student. She had a painting class last Wednesday. Her best friend, Tom, studied with her. • On that day, their teacher taught them how to make different colors. “Good morning, class. There are three primary colors. Do you know what they are?” their teacher asked. • All the students raised their hands and said, “They are red, blue and yellow.”

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Mary’s Memorable Painting Class • The teacher continued to ask, “Who knows what a secondary color is?” • Tom knew and said, “It’s a color made by two primary colors.” • The teacher said, “Would you please give us an example?” Tom said, “Orange, we can make orange by mixing red and yellow.” • Then Mary raised her hand and said, “I know another secondary color is purple. We can make purple by mixing red and blue.”

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Mary’s Memorable Painting Class • The teacher smiled and said, “Good job! Now I want you all to make a secondary color.” • All the students began by mixing colors. The teacher walked around the class. She looked at all the colors that the children were mixing. She came to Henry’s desk and asked, “What color is it?”

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Mary’s Memorable Painting Class • Henry answered, “I don’t know. I mixed all the primary colors together. I want to see what color I got.” • Their teacher said, “That’s not a secondary color. That looks like mud!” • Their painting topic of the day was to paint an animal with different colors. Then their teacher taught them how to draw and paint.

南投縣105年英文朗讀 Mary’s Memorable Painting Class • The students had their own ideas and painted attentively. They created animals of different colors. Tom drew a colorful rabbit. Mary drew an orange and purple bear. Henry drew a red, blue and yellow elephant. All of them had a wonderful painting class. They learned how to make different colors and created lively pictures with those different colors. It was a memorable painting class.

可發揮度 • Passage 1: • Passage 2: • Passage 3: • 但發揮不好，也成了缺點

朗讀時的表情 • It can be challenging for kids to maintain facially expressive in reciting. However, if students could maximize facial expressions, audience would definitely be impressed.

朗讀時的態度 • Keeping a upbeat tone of voice is always critical.

Training Students to read • Step 1: Find or compose script that interests or suits the reader in terms of his or her age, maturity, content, capability, and the like. • Step 2: Have students read slowly and make sure the enunciation of each word is clear

Training Students to read • Step 3: Read faster and more authentically concerning the intonation, tone of voice, linking of words, and the like. Teachers could demonstrate the foregoing nonverbal language first for students to copy. • Step 4: Rehearse until story tellers feel comfortable and proficient

Facing one’s own stage fright • Rehearse in front of one person whom students trust most • Rehearse in front of more people when they feel more comfortable and fluent • Rehearse in front of a class to get the ambianceuntil students are very proficient

Video • 永芳國小102學年度英語朗讀比賽第一名 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Tjlo0hp8Y

Video • 英語朗讀比賽榮獲第二名 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtapdpNoFGE

Video • 芝麻街英文朗讀比賽-Annie • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YwhyzuN_Ro

Video • 英語朗讀比賽第一名 The Farmer, His Horse, and His Son • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n0ympJ8S18

More Reading Texts/Stories • http://www.storyteller.net/stories/text • http://www.english-for-students.com/Short-Moral-Stories-for-Kids.html

1. Assess level • Knowing your students’ level is important for choosing materials. • Reading texts should be neither too hard nor too easy. • How do you assess whether the reading material is hard or not?

Passage 1 • Once, there was a tree. She loved a little boy. Every day the boy would come and play. He would climb up her trunk and swing from her branches and eat apples. • They would play hide-and-seek. When he was tired, he would sleep in her shade. The boy loved the tree very much and the tree was happy.

Skills Necessary for English Reading (Contests)