GATEWAY TO LIFE SKILLS

GATEWAY TO LIFE SKILLS

LIFE SKILLS OBJECTIVES

■ To understand why reading is

important

■ To learn how to get the reading

habit

■ To recommend and choose a

book to read

KEY CONCEPTS

• non-fiction [n]: There are people who prefer non-fiction, like history

  books or books about real problems and events

• improve [v]: When

  you read English every day, your understanding of the language

  improves.

• literacy [n]: Literacy, the ability to read and write, is an

  essential part of our education

• comprehension [n]: Her listening

  comprehension is very good – she understands nearly everything

  she hears.

1. Work with a partner. Answer the

question.

• Which of these things do you usually

  read?

• novels, non-fiction books, comics,

  magazines, websites, other (specify)?

2. Work in a small group with 3 members. Make a list of how you think reading can be good for

you.

Ex: We'll for me, it can help me learn about different people and countries.

Read the text. How many of your ideas from 2 appear?

4b SPEAKING Work with a partner and discuss these

questions.

• What do you read for pleasure and how often do

  you do it?

• Which benefits of reading in the text are in your

  top three? Why?

• Would you read a book in front of your friends?

• Which of the three writers’ quotations do you

  prefer? Why?

^{5 SPEAKING In James’s video blog, he gives ideas about how to ‘get the reading habit’. Work with a partner. Decide if you think the ideas below are Dos (a good idea to do) or Don’ts (a bad idea to do).}

6

LISTENING

55 Watch the video or listen.

Does James say if the ideas in 5 are Dos

or Don’ts? What other ideas does he

give at the end of the video?

7a. Work with a partner. What do you think of

James’s suggestions? Give each Do or Don’t in 5

a mark from 0 (a bad idea) to 3 (a great idea).

7b. Do you have any other ideas for getting the

reading habit? How do you choose books

to read?

1 Ask your friends and other people for ideas about

what books to read.

2 Let other people decide a book for you to read.

3 Read the back of the book before you begin.

4 Read the first page or two of the book.

5 Choose long books.

6 Stop reading the book if you don’t like it.

7 Start a blog.