USING THE DONKEYOTI READERS LESSON PLANS

The challenge in teaching reading to either native or nonnative speakers is a multi faceted task because there are so many different learning styles, level of proficiency and different intelligences at play in the teaching and learning process. The reading process needs to be richly endowed with auditory, visual, kinesthetic and social learning modes.

Donkeyoti Readers are clearly including the visual learner who can glean much of the story from the illustrations. The accompanying lesson plans have additional aids that appeal to tactile,. kinesthetic and social interactive learners.

I have gained a great deal from using the very simple process of PRE

READING, WHILE READING and POST READING. One of my professors in

graduate school insisted that students should not be left in the dark about what the teacher

plans to teach whether it be one lesson plan, a unit or the whole course for the semester.

The same is true of reading. 'Preparing the student for reading can guarantee more

success. Through pictures, looking at words and word phrases, discussing the possible

story line and predicting which is a powerful tool for developing critical thinking. The

stage has been set and there is no mystery as far as what is expected in terms of analyzing the story. The process encourages the student to begin to approach reading in a metacognitive way with questions like the following internalized.

o What words do I recognize right away?

o What keywords do I see that were given at the beginning? o What can I predict may happen?

With this kind of brain training in place, the student can flow more easily into the WHILE READING phase where auditory skills combine with visual aids and the teacher's use of kinesthetic movement or TPR to convey what the text is describing. TPR

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(total physical response)( http://www.everythingesl.netllessons/tpr.php) is an excellent tool that the teacher may have already begun to introduce in the Pre Reading section. Now it is repeated with more familiarity. It is akin to charades or mime and provides another way for the brain to hook up to the word and remember it-a mnemonic device. Repetition is key and this first while reading section is one of many, but now comes the POST READING that is again a metacognitive training ground for the student. Here such strategies as the KWL can be most beneficial in summarizing what the student knows, what they still don't know or didn't know and what they need to learn or have learned.

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The KWL strategy serves several purposes:

Elicits students' prior knowledge of the topic of the text.
Sets a purpose for reading.
Helps students to monitor their comprehension.
Allows students to assess their comprehension of the text.
Provides an opportunity for students to expand ideas beyond the text.

What do they still not understand? Would they like to make a new ending to the story? What helped them to learn new vocabulary and phrases? Was it the pictures, the movement or the actual story telling or some combination of these? Where does the student want to go with this story? Write one of their own (hopefully)? Find a related topic?

It is important that anyone reading this know that there are a myriad of strategies out there in the world of education now and what I am suggesting is simply a jumping off point for sparking the teacher or parent to use the Donkeyoti Readers with various lessons that suit their learning style.
Charts can be very helpful for monitoring how students are doing with their writing. This is simply a variation and again can be adapted to any age group and proficiency.

It is considered essential now to teach more with the 4 language skills working in concert almost from the beginning of reading readiness whether it be in L 1 or L2. That is why the Donkeyoti Readers are an excellent source as they provide a template of an 8 page story or journal for students. In using the above chart, the student can embark on first choosing a topic, then, assessing his/her knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and spelling. Next, there would come the unfolding of the story through pictures and sentence building and finally, the student could read their story and examine what they have learned with the teacher's input. Again, this can all be modi tied to a story with only four panels or a -

journal. The main object is language exposure in both reading and writing accompanied by speaking about and listening to and finally thinking over what works. what doesn't work and what still needs attention. .

I am hoping that this cover letter to the lesson plans will be of help to whomever wants to use them. It is my profound belief that every teacher and parent has their own unique teaching style and given the opportunity to experiment, borrow, practice and enjoy, he or she will be very effective. The main thing is to read, read, read.

Sample of Lesson Plan:

DONKEYOTI LEARNS TO READ LESSON PLAN

This booklet lends itself to the building of vocabulary, and the reading can be approached at many different levels.

Pre-Reading

Page 1:
Discuss what may be going on in the picture. Discuss the word reading.

Act out the action reading. Then act out having a hard time reading such as stumbling with the words, mispronouncing, skipping and stopping altogether. .

Page 2:
"tried" is a very important vocabulary word that occurs often in spoken language as well as written. One way to approach it is to use TPR- movement that reaches but doesn't quite grasp an object- movement that "tries" to lift something heavy but can't quite do it. Do not explore the irregularity of the past tense of try at the beginning.
Nothing is a negative concept that also can be acted out.

This didn't work, this didn't work and this didn't work. Nothing worked. Further association with other negative word concepts such as nobody, no one might come up.

Page 3:
This page is definitely a vocabulary and pronunciation lesson. The wh words and how can be chanted over and over. The understanding of their concept will take time, but they need to be committed to memory, and the meaning will unfold quickly enough.

Who are you? Who is he? Who am I?
What is this? What time is it? What is she reading?
When is the next class? When will we meet? When will he be here? Where is the next class? Where will we meet? Where will he go? Why are you here? Why is she reading? Why did he leave?
How did she get here? How do I open this? How are you?

Page 4:
Awareness of language is all around us-on bulletin boards, signs, newspaper stands, grocery items-words, words, words everywhere.
Have students keep a journal and bring 2-5 new words (depending on age and proficiency) twice a week or on some kind of regular schedule to get them in the habit of looking and being aware of the richness of language all around.

Page 5:
Singing songs is one of the best, most enjoyable ways to learn a language. "You are my sunshine" provides many different possibilities for mini lessons in language acquisition.

You are my friend. You are my sunshine. You are my teacher.

You are my only brother. You are my only mother. You are my only sunshine.
You make me happy. You make me sad. You make me mad. This is fairly advanced.

Don't dwell on it too much at first. Concentrate on describing emotions.
When skies are blue, sunny, grey, rainy, windy, dark. (This could be a mini lesson on weather)
You'll (you will lesson on contraction) never (another negative concept that goes with nothing, nobody and no one.
Don't (do not contraction lesson-one of the auxiliary verbs -"do, be, have" and it is being used an imperative command). Lots of sign language, TPR can be used with don't

Don't do that! Don't cross the street! Don't talk! Don't be late!

Page 6:
Three words that are advanced and included deliberately to stretch students beyond their level for a moment are consistently, constantly and confidently, Con means with. These words are good as a chanting pronunciation exercise.
Act out consistent-as unchanging. Act out confident-sure, knowing, then constant as the same, very similar to consistent-continuous.

Use the act of sitting in a chair or the act of breathing.
The use of the adverbial ending ly can be used to strengthen the student's understanding of adverbs as noun modifiers,

She reads softly. He reads quietly. They read loudly. We read rapidly- I read fluently.

Always ask students how they are doing with their reading. Help them to be aware and meta-cognitive about their process. What are they doing to try to decipher the meaning
of the vocabulary and the syntax? Are they reading one word at a time or are they several words at a time?

o What words do I recognize right away?
o What keywords do I see that were given at the beginning? o What can I predict may happen?