The Bridge THE BRIDGE-HELPFUL READING LITERACY STRATEGIES | Page 65

' A N i g h t i n t h e L i b r a r y ' w o r k s h o p s f o r t a c k l i n g r e a d i n g
4. 'A Night in the Library' workshops for tackling reading
appreciation – for learners aged 13 to 17
prepared by Magdalena Bobek, mag. – foreign language teacher, Slovenia
The simple reading strategies presented below are based on practical work carried out with
teenagers of eight different nationalities, from 13 to 17 years of age, during an Erasmus+
student exchange.
The world famous book Matilda by Roald Dahl was chosen as the source for the activities,
because the students from each country all knew something about it, even if not the entire
story. They were required to read the book even though they might have seen the film
beforehand. The aim of the activities was to show students with different linguistic abilities
how reading can be enjoyable as well as educational. It dealt with reading habits, tackling
reading content and making notes.
The students were divided into four mixed ability, mixed nationality groups. The language of
communication was English. The activities were divided into four workshops with an
enjoyable joint activity at the end:
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The Matilda workshop – changing the ending of the story
The Dictionary workshop – expanding vocabulary
The Metaphorical drawings workshop – figurative vs literal meaning
The Telephone dictation workshop – group learning and team work
+ The Treasure Hunt
4.1 The Matilda workshop – changing the ending of the story
Learner audience: students from 13 to 17 years of age
by Jana Špilar Dodič, teacher of Slovenian at lower secondary level, Slovenia and
Lucija Škvarča, teacher at primary level, Slovenia
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