1.
Pre-reading
2.
Reading
3.
Post-reading
1. The pre-reading stage: This is the
phase that helps raise the reader’s interest in the text they are going to
read. It is the right moment to revise previous knowledge and state prerequisites.
The former are acquired in the environment students grow in, while the latter
give us a formal education, such as: vocabulary, notions of the reality and the
use of language. Moreover, this is an opportunity to motivate and generate
curiosity.
Specific pre-reading skills are
developed through activities such as:
& Denotative
and connotative analysis of the images attached to the text. Denotative
analysis invites the reader to observe and describe the graphics exactly as
they are, while the connotative one implies interpreting them in a creative
manner.
& Activation
of the previous knowledge: ask yourself what you know about the topic and what
you can connect it to.
& Elaboration
of predictions about the content, starting from the factors that draw your
attention: title, the year the text was published, author, graphical elements,
keywords, prologue, bibliography etc.
& Defining
the purpose of reading: recreation,
practical application, finding
information, critical evaluation.
2. The reading stage: This is the stage when you perform the actual
reading of the text, which involves the mechanical aspects as well as text
comprehension. The level of comprehension that you will reach depends a lot on
the skills you demonstrate during the stage. This is the moment to put the
emphasis on the global image that words, phrases and sentences create, avoiding
syllabic reading and reading aloud.
Activities for this stage depend on
the type of text you are reading.
3. The post-reading stage: For this stage, we propose activities
that show how much the reader understood from the text. The type of questions
that will be asked determine the target level of comprehension.
The post-reading stage is ideal for group
work, since this way, students can compare their interpretations with their
classmates’, and build the meaning of the read texts from different points of
view.
The activities proposed for this
stage must be varied and creative, to stimulate a positive attitude on the
students’ side.
