Pre-Reading

Pre-Reading Activities

Pre-reading activities are important in preparing students for learning. A careful choice of strategies can trigger a thirst for knowledge among the learners hence easing the teacher's work. They stimulate student's brain thus ensuring their alertness during the reading session. Some of the reading activities for the first chapter of Americans at War (Ambrose, 1997, p. 1-5) include the following:

Vocabulary Brainstorming

This is a common strategy usable before and after a reading session. Students are encouraged to brainstorm their historical knowledge to spot key vocabularies by a quick scan through the passage. Alternatively, the teacher can list some vocabularies found in the passage and encourage the students to locate them during the reading session. Each student is handed a chart containing alphabetical letters. Then, they instructed to note down distinctive phrases or words regarding the Civil War topic in the passage. The activity can be executed in groups or individually.

Given the limited time, the strategy can be modified by instructing the learners to pick the initials of their names for a brainstorm. Notably, the students can employ the chart used during this pre-reading as a vocabulary resource in preparation for tests.

Anticipation Guide

The teacher can use the anticipation guide before, after, and during the reading of Civil War passage. It is particularly important for the session because it assists the students in recalling their knowledge on the factors that triggered civil wars, problems faced by the fighters and the collaborations forged during the fight.

Anticipation guide presents an opportunity for the teacher to engage with the students for an interactive learning session. By asking students to agree to disagree, they are empowered to think critically and to gradually build their interest in history. Furthermore, an experienced tutor can encourage students to launch a defense of personal opinions through oral or written communication. In fact, many learners will voluntarily revisit the anticipation guide based on the class discussion and the passage reading. Most importantly, this strategy is adaptable to back-to-back activity.

Back-to-Back Activity

The strategy obligates the teacher to develop more than five general statements about Civil War in America. Examples of such statements can range from the negative outcomes of the war and the conditions endured by survivors in the affected regions. Thereafter, he/she partners the students and instructs them to stand up while facing the backs of each other in a linear formation. The teacher should then read his statements aloud as the learners show ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’.  The gesture symbolizes their agreement or disagreement with the teacher’s statements. Next, students at the back are asked to turn and face their peers in front. Those that both disagreed or agreed can ‘high-five’ each other as they are given a moment to explain their choices. For the remaining statements, teachers can instruct a repetition of the strategy.   

Summary and Analysis

Pre-reading activities provide a platform for the students and the teacher to interact freely and share knowledge. In fact, it is the most effective strategy that instills practical skills and encouraging student’s communication. History sessions can be lengthy uninteresting especially if the teacher lacks personal touch with the students. Anticipation guide and back-to-back activity, for example, creates a strong bond between the teacher and students while simplifying the passage-reading session.

References

Ambrose, S. E. (1997). Americans at War. Mississippi: Univ. Press of Mississippi. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=ojd102U_99IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=american+war+history&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=american%20war%20history&f=false