sports – Focus on Reading

Created by: Kim Mestl

Title of novel: El Escape

Author of novel: A.C. Quintero

Level: Level 3 +

Brief summary of the novel: A group of 3 teenage boys have bonded together due to similar bad family experiences. They frequently go to the park to skateboard, watch youtube videos. They use an old bookstore as their “Hideout” one day they stumble upon an incident.

Topics: sports, friendship

Themes: family

Pre-reading activities:

Three pictures or objects about things that are in the book, put students in groups and have them come up with how these objects are connected and what role do they play in the book.
Pick a sentence from the book, give it to a group and they must form sentences using 3 words from the original sentence.
The teacher picks 15-20 new vocabulary words from the chapter(s), the students take a strip of paper numbered 1-5 and put 1 of the words in that number space. Then while reading as they hear a word they tear off that word, you can only tear off the word if it is on the edge. (ex. If their #3 word is the 1st they hear they cannot tear it off)

Enrichment activities while reading:

Have students read a chapter on their own, pick 2 scenes out of the chapter and make a drawing to represent this. Then as a class the teacher reads the chapter and as their scene takes place the students put their drawings in order of the events taking place.
Show realia from the culture (country) that your book takes place in.

Post-reading activities:

Have kids write a summary of chapter or book with an exact number of words they have to use in the target language.
¿Quién soy? Similar to the dating game, assign “main characters to 3-5 students, the other students must ask questions to solve the mystery character.

Created by: Rosa Zimmerman

Title of novel: La Llorona de Mazatlán

Author of novel: Katie A. Baker

Level: Level 3

Brief summary of the novel : A seventeen-year-old girl wants to go to a soccer camp in Mazatlan, Mexico. She applies for the camp but has not asked for permission to go. She is accepted into the camp.

Topics: Soccer, traveling by yourself,

Themes: Dealing with a different culture,

Pre-reading activities: Show a map of México and where Mazatlan is.

Pre-teach vocabulary.

Three pictures or objects that go with the book and make a connection of all three things and what role they have in the book.

Soccer rules and talk about World Cup.

Play song of La Llorona

Pick a sentence from the book and have students create their own sentence using some of the words from the given sentence.

Word bingo using a strip of paper.

Enrichment activities while reading:

Word bingo using a strip of paper.

Show realia from the culture you are reading about the things students are reading in the book.

Create a timeline of a chapter. Assign a chapter for students to read and have students illustrate their favorite part or scenes with action. The next day the teacher reads the chapter and students put up their illustration in the order it is read.

Post-reading activities:

Summarize the chapter or book in exactly a # of words (according to a rolled diced) in the target language.

Quién soy (similar to the dating game) students have to ask questions about the mystery character to see who they are.

Chain game – After reading a chapter, ask students to get in a circle and recall a detail of the book, the next student mentions the detail of the previous student and adds another detail and it goes like that until all students have mentioned the detail.

Making their own test. Give students the text and they write their own comprehension question.