What students do after the main learning task can be just as important as what they do before and during the process of learning.
Post-reading activities serve several purposes
- To obtain a sense of closure
- To personalize the main activity
- To summarize, reinforce and evaluate what was done
Post-reading activities for ESL teachers:
- To practice / review new vocabulary encountered in the text
- To practice / review grammatical structures encountered in the text
A post activity should be the last 5-10 minutes of the lesson. In a reading lesson for example, there is a difference between applying the activity at an earlier stage of the reading process and at the post reading stage. This difference is due to the quantity and quality of information possessed by the reader.
Some generic lesson endings are :
- Asking the students what was taught and done. This could be written on the board. Students could then give a grade for each lesson part and/or discuss how effective it was taught.
- Reviewing the goals of the lessons
- Having a question and answer session.
Please note: Many teachers often confuse giving homework as a post activity. Procedure based learning cannot be substituted for content. Students need to redigest or synthesize the information again, but in a different less linear perhaps more creatively depending on how well a teacher knows her students.
Graphic Representations and Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers and representations have been found a very helpful tool in helping pupils comprehend a text of any subject and level.
For weaker pupils: the teacher, having introduced organizers previously and having analyzed the text, provides the organizer as a worksheet. The pupils fill in the relevant information either while reading or post reading. If filled out initially during the reading, the post reading activity requires a review and revision of the previous stage.
For stronger pupils: the pupils, who are already familiar with several graphic organizers create their own graphic organizer and fill in the relevant information.
In a mixed ability class the stronger pupils can create the graphic organizer (which should be checked by the teacher) to be filled in by the weaker ones.
Below are two sites with extensive examples of graphic organizers. They provide an explanation regarding the use of each one of them.
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
Additional Post-Reading Activities
Over to You: Your Lesson Plan
Take a look at your lesson plan Is there a natural lead-in to your final (post) activity? How can you supplement you activities? Try to experiment with a new post activity once a week. Note the outcomes. What was successful about it? What could be improved?
There are innumerable possible post reading activities that can be implemented in class. Some activities are for individual work; others for pair or group work. To enrich your repertoire of post reading activities go to the following sites:
Strategies to Use During and After Reading (Laura Robb, Scholastic)
Instructional Strategies (Saskatchewan Education)
Language Arts (Madison Metropolitan School District)
103 Things to do Before/During/After Reading (Jim Burke)
