Korean Job Discussion Forums

Badmojo · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 5:58 pm Post subject: Reading textbooks

Good morning all.

I have a couple of classes at my hagwon that can't read at all. The book says, "Yes, it is", and the students can't read it. So I've decided the first order of business is to teach them how to read, but I don't know a good book that will help me do that. Does anyone have any experience teaching students to read and which book is suitable or did you use? Thank you.

MissT · Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: Korea

Maybe start with a good set of phonics flash cards.
I had a few classes where the students couldn't read at all. I had to start with basic phonics, and then moved to putting the sounds together. After they mastered the sounds of the alphabet as well as the most common double vowel and consonant sounds, we could move on to the reading book. I made a game of it i.e. boys vs. girls for saying the letter, the sound, and the name of the picture on the one side of the card (cat, dog, apple��).
By the way how old are your students?

Badmojo · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 6:34 pm Post subject:

MissT · Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: Korea

Your students are a little older than mine. I think the oldest student in my phonics/reading class was 9 in Korean years.
Review and re-reviewing is really helpful for the students. As you know some students will 'get it' right away while others take a bit longer, so all that reviewing can be a bit boring. It's pretty important to mix it up a bit by making a game of it, and maybe some songs or other games. My students favorite game was "point to the... (teacher, desk, window, girl, boy...)." They also liked a spelling game, boys vs. girls, where one student comes to the front to write the spelling for a word you give them i.e. desk, dog... Smile

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

There are some good materials at EnchantedLearning.com, too. Downloads for pictures and nursery rhymes.

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

AlphaPhonics was the BEST phonics book I've ever used. It teaches straight phonics in a logical way. (Not "c" is for "cat"..."c" is also for "circus"! (different sound!))

I checked Whatthebook and they have it.

You can add a lot of phonics games:

Two teams: 1 kid from each team comes to the board. You say the sound...they write it. First one to write the correct sound gets 2 points. 1 point for the other kid if they get the right letter(s).

Swat: Two teams. 1 kid from each team comes to the board with 1 flyswatter each (2 different colors are best). You say the sound. First one to swat gets a point.

Bingo: Prepare cards with the sounds you want to review, and small pieces of paper to cover the letters. Sometimes say the sound. Sometimes say the letter.

Teaching phonics CAN be boring...but it is SO necessary! Even at uni level, I can tell which kids had a good grounding in phonics and which ones haven't.

Badmojo · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 5:28 am Post subject:

Ajuma, is this the book you're talking about?

I looked around on the web and it seems there's some sort of complete kit that comes with this series, but it's too expensive. Could I get by with just the teacher's book, student book, and flashcards?

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

Yep! That's the book! The whole kit is WAY too expensive! Just get the teachers book and photocopy or use whatever you need. If you go to http://www.amazon.com you can "look inside the book" and it will give you an idea of what is taught.

Badmojo · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:11 am Post subject: