ELT365 · Day 163 — Setting context before a text
Idea — Context is the situation around a text: who wrote it, for whom, why, and where it appears. Setting context helps learners engage appropriately and…
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ELT365 · Day 162 — Lead-in activities — switching on the schema
Idea — A lead-in activates what learners already know about a topic before they meet the text. It primes top-down processing, generates interest, and sets context.…
ReadELT365 · Day 161 — Pre-teaching vocabulary — which words to unblock first
Idea — Pre-teach only the vocabulary that would block comprehension — two to four words maximum. Do not pre-teach everything unusual; that removes the inferring work…
ReadELT365 · Day 160 — Intensive reading — reading every word
Idea — Intensive reading means slow, careful reading for full comprehension: every word matters. It is the basis of detailed comprehension tasks and language analysis work.…
ReadELT365 · Day 159 — Skimming — getting the main idea fast
Idea — Skimming means reading quickly for the general idea, not detail. Readers move fast, taking in headings, first sentences, and key words. Not every text…
ReadELT365 · Day 158 — Scanning — finding specific information fast
Idea — Scanning means searching a text for a specific piece of information — a name, a number, a date — without reading everything. It is…
ReadELT365 · Day 157 — The gist task — one question before they read
Idea — A gist task asks for the general idea of a text, not specific detail. Set it before learners read or listen. One question. Whole…
ReadELT365 · Day 156 — Interactive processing — when both work together
Idea — Skilled readers and listeners use top-down and bottom-up processing simultaneously, switching as needed. Teaching both builds real comprehension rather than reliance on one strategy.…
ReadELT365 · Day 155 — Bottom-up processing — building meaning from words
Idea — Bottom-up processing starts with individual sounds or words and builds meaning upward. Learners decode the text piece by piece rather than using context or…
ReadELT365 · Day 154 — Top-down processing — using what you already know
Idea — Top-down processing means using prior knowledge, context, and expectations to predict and understand a text. Learners draw on what they know about the world…
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