Adapting the textbook

Penny Ur2015

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Why adapt?

• To increase learning value• To make more interesting• To suit our own teaching style• For the sake of variety• For fun; because we feel like it!

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How?

We can write or find new texts or tasks……But we don’t have to.

We can vary the way we treat textbook material…… without much further preparation

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This presentation

1. Adapting reading texts

2. Adapting grammar and vocabulary exercises

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1. Reading texts

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Aspects that can be adapted

1. The way we present or ‘mediate’ the text

2. The tasks we do on them

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1. Presentation / Mediating

• Quantity: How many times will we read the text?

• Interaction pattern: full-class / individual / pair or group

• Reading technique: silent / aloud• Quantity: all in one ‘go’ / bit by bit.• Place: in class / at home

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a) Quantity

Usually – at least three times, in different ways. Why?Sometimes fewer? Why?

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b) Interaction pattern

First reading• usually full-class (direct teacher support)• an easy text: students can read individually,

or help each other in pairs / groupsSecond / later readings• individual / pair / full class

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c) Silent or aloud

First reading• Recommended: teacher reads aloud, students

follow• If easy: silent• Don’t ask students to read aloud new textSecond / later readings• Mostly silent (faster, easier)• Rehearsed student reading (‘Reader’s Theater’)

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d) Quantity

If short, then all in one goIf long then usually bit by bitBUT An exciting story? A relatively easy text?

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e) Place

First reading• Usually in class (teacher support)• Pre-read for homework? – limited tasks.Later readings• Some in class some at home

How do you make sure they do the reading at home?

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Comprehension tasks

1. Comprehension questions2. ‘Alternative’ tasks involving comprehension

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Problems with comprehension questions

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They may not check comprehension

The textThe changks voz blunging frewly nedeng the brudegan. Some changks vos unred, but the other changks vos unredder. They vos all polket and rather chiglop, so they did not mekle the spuler. A few were unstametick.The comprehension questionsWhat were the changks doing?How were they blunging?Where were they blunging?In what ways were the changks the same and in what ways were they different?Were any changks unstametick?

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What can you do about this?

• Use different wording• Ask students to answer about underlying

meanings, not the actual text.

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Example

Mr Smith asked his wife for assistance, and she agreed.Bad question: Who did Mr Smith ask for assistance? Better questions: Who did Mr Smith get to help him?Was Mr Smith married?

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Problems with comprehension questions

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They are boring.

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What can we do about it?

Use a variety of tasks that involve comprehension……Provided that these are ones that are quick and easy to prepare and do.

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Shortening

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Shorten the text

• Delete words from the text, without altering the basic meaning.

(or phrases or full sentences)

• Summarize in English(with a specific word-limit)

• Summarize in L1.• Do a Dicto-gloss• Compose a new title (and subtitle).• Make brief notes / headings.

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Lengthening

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Expand the text without altering the basic meaning

• Add single words / phrases/• Add sentences.• Add margin notes (explanations,

comments).• Add an ending/ continuation.• Add a preface.

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Comparison

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Compare this text with another

• Compare this text to one we’ve studied before. OR• Compare two texts in the same unit.• What are some differences in general?• What are some similarities in general? Or: • Compare specific aspects:

- the main characters (in stories)- the structure of the text

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Selection

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Select bits out of the text

• Choose the most important sentence in the text.

• Choose the ten words and phrases that are most essential for understanding the main message.

• Find all the words that relate to (a topic). • Find the sentence the teacher reads out.• Find the sentence whose translation the

teacher reads out.

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Transformation

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Represent in some other format or style

• Translate.• Rewrite in simple English for a less advanced

learner.• Convert to a power-point presentation.• Imagine the text is a book: draw a cover

illustration.• Rewrite as a different genre (as an email, a

poem, a newspaper report…).• Write in a different style (very informal or very

formal).

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Personal responses

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Respond to the text in some personal way

• Say what you admire, or dislike, about a character (in a story)

• What would you like to say to a character in the story?

• What does the text remind you of, from your own experience?

• What would you like to ask the author?

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2. Grammar and vocabulary exercises

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Main aims

1. To increase quantity of learning2. To add interest and enjoyment (for

students and teacher) 3. To create learning opportunities for different levels: individualization

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The techniques

1. Change interaction type (frontal? group? individual?)

2. Change instructions 3. Delete bits in order to add more ‘open-

ended’ responses 4. Personalize 5. Recycle in different ways 6. Add, extend, vary

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Change interaction type

Normally: ‘IRF’Other possibilities:• Do it individually, then quick check• Individually, then share, then check• Do it in pairs, then quick check• Do for homework, then quick check

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Change instructions

First: Read quietly through the exercise, or read through with the teacher, without actually doing it. Then: • ‘Do at least seven items, more if you can’• ‘Do as much as you can in X minutes’• ‘Start wherever you like’• ‘Do whichever five items you like (then

more, if you finish)’

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Delete bits to ‘open-end’

Can be done mainly with ‘gapfills’ But also with matching exercises and multiple-choice The result: more learning, more interesting, more individualized.

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Personalize

Ask student to alter (some of) the sentences to make ones that are true for them.

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Recycle in different ways

1. We’ve done it orally in class: now do it for homework and get it all right!

2. Simply do again a week later in class: can you get them all right?

3. Immediately after: close your books. How many of the items can you recall from memory?(Full-class brainstorm; or individual then sharing then full class)

4. Redo in any of the ways we’ve already mentioned (open-ended, personalized etc.).

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Add / Extend / Vary

1. Add more items to the ones we already have in the exercise.

2. Suggest more words or phrases that could be added to the item:at the end?in the middle?at the beginning?anywhere?

3. Suggest words that might be changed

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In general…

We’ll often do the exercise as it stands first, then introduce a variation. But always just to do as it stands is to miss opportunities for more learning, more interest, more fun…

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Don’t just let the textbook use you! YOU use the textbook For YOUR teaching, for YOUR students.

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Thank you for your attention!

pennyur@gmail.com

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Circle the correct answers1. I like my room to be…

a. honest b. neat and tidy c. patient2. My father drinks milk that’s only one ….. He’s on a diet.

a. manager b. customer c. percent3. We are …. Beyoncé’s music. We listen to it all the time.

a. crazy about b. ashamed of c. worried about4. Ben’s father works in a … that makes cars.

a. factory b. library c. headline5. It was a nice day so we … to go on a picnic.

a. ignored b. realized c. decided6. My mother … every month.

a. takes a wrong turn b. pays the bills c. gets on my nerves

Navigator Practice Book p.28

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Circle the correct answers1. I like my room to be…

a. honest b. neat and tidy c. patient2. My father drinks milk that’s only one ….. He’s on a diet.

a. manager b. customer c. percent3. We are …. Beyoncé’s music. We listen to it all the time.

a. crazy about b. ashamed of c. worried about4. Ben’s father works in a … that makes cars.

a. factory b. library c. headline5. It was a nice day so we … to go on a picnic.

a. ignored b. realized c. decided6. My mother … every month.

a. takes a wrong turn b. pays the bills c. gets on my nerves

Navigator Practice Book p.28

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My ideas• Choose one of the wrong options, and make it right (i.e.

invent a sentence where it would be the right answer)e.g. 1. I like my friends to be… honest

• Change each ‘stem’, (add, change, or delete a word).e.g. 2. We are all crazy about …

• Change the sentences so it’s true about you or someone you know.e.g. 3. I drink milk that is 3 per cent, I’m not on a diet.

• Delete everything after the first 3-4-5 words, finish any way you like.e.g. 4. Ben’s father works in an office

• Invent new sentences (true for you) that contextualize any of the items in the optionse.g. 5. I decided to visit my grandmother yesterday.

•

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Choose the word which is closest in meaning to the word in bold

1. commitment a. promise b. competition2. positive a. optimistic b. possible3. education a. experiment b. learning4. role a. job b. topic5. individual a. people b. person6. opportunity a. chance b. door7. society a. customer b. community8. service a. help b. hear

That’s Right (Practice book, p.51)

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Choose the word which is closest in meaning to the word in bold

1. utilize a. use b. over-exploit2. opt a. be optimistic b. choose3. competence a. income b. ability4. restrict a. limit b. be strict5. mandatory a. compulsory b. command6. severe a. cutting b. very bad7. deteriorate a. get better b. get worse8. straightforward a. simple b. ahead

That’s Right (Practice book, p.51)

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Complete the tableBase form Past simple Base form Past simple

1. get got 7. reply

2. know 8. eat

3. make 9. borrow

4. love 10. carry

5. buy 11. manage

6. deliver 12. take

Navigator Practice Book p.20

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Complete the phrases

1. You must _________.2. Don’t forget a _________.3. You need to _________.4. You should eat _________. 5. not so _________!6. Eat _________.

7. Enjoy _________.8. Well _________!9. ride _________.10. sleep _________.11. one _________12. a book _________.

point healthy food better done a bike late change water bottle cover do sports the weekend good

Cool Workbook p.67

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Option 1: delete the ‘bank’

1. You must _________.2. Don’t forget a _________.3. You need to _________.4. You should eat _________. 5. Not so _________!6. Eat _________.

7. Enjoy _________.8. Well _________!9. Ride _________.10. Sleep _________.11. one _________12. a book _________.

point healthy food better done a bike late change water bottle cover do sports the weekend good

Cool Workbook p.67

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Option 1: delete the ‘bank’

1. You must _________.2. Don’t forget a _________.3. You need to _________.4. You should eat _________. 5. Not so _________!6. Eat _________.

7. Enjoy _________.8. Well _________!9. Ride _________.10. Sleep _________.11. one _________12. a book _________.

Cool Workbook p.67

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Option 2: Delete the sentences

1. You must _________.2. Don’t forget a _________.3. You need to _________.4. You should eat _________. 5. not so _________!6. Eat _________.

7. Enjoy _________.8. Well _________!9. ride _________.10. sleep _________.11. one _________12. a book _________.

point healthy food better done a bike late change water bottle cover do sports the weekend good

Cool Workbook p.67

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Option 2: Delete the sentencespoint healthy food better done a bike late change water

bottle cover do sports the weekend good

Cool Workbook p.67

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and then: there are lots of things you can do with the target items!

Make up sentences including at least one of the items that are true (for you)Make up sentences that are falseMake up sentences with at least two of the itemsMake up questions to which one of the items is an answer

point healthy food better done a bike late change water bottle cover do sports the weekend good

Cool Workbook p.67

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Match A to B

1. hard2. too3. all right4. a bit of5. it’s clear6. in a few minutes7. have to

a. just a littleb. mustc. difficultd. we understande. OKf. soong. also

Cool! Workbook p. 204

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Option 1: Delete one of the columns

1. hard2. too3. all right4. a bit of5. it’s clear6. in a few minutes7. have to

a. just a littleb. mustc. difficultd. we understande. OKf. soong. also

Cool! Workbook p. 204

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Option 1: Delete one of the columns

1. hard2. too3. all right4. a bit of5. it’s clear6. in a few minutes7. have to

Cool! Workbook p. 204

Option 2: Find a sentence that links different items from the lists

1. hard2. too3. all right4. a bit of5. it’s clear6. in a few minutes7. have to

a. just a littleb. mustc. difficultd. we understande. OKf. soong. also

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Cool! Workbook p. 204

1-d: It’s hard, but we understand it.6 – b: You must be ready in a few minutes.

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Underline the time expression in each sentence. Then circle the correct answer.

1. They made / make a reservation online three hours ago.2. The movie started five minutes ago. We miss/missed the

beginning.3. Do you write / Did you write an email to James yesterday?4. She didn’t / doesn’t have pizza for supper last night. She had /

have a hamburger.5. The child drops / dropped her cookie a minute ago, and the dog eat

/ ate it. 6. I began / begin to watch the program last night, but I didn’t like it. 7. He knows / knew all the answers to the quiz yesterday. 8. My brother and I go out / went out to dinner last night. Then I

sleep / slept late.

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Variation: use the same verbs and time expressions, but you can change anything else: make a sentence that is true for you or someone you know.

1. They made / make a reservation online three hours ago.2. The movie started five minutes ago. We miss/missed the

beginning.3. Do you write / Did you write an email to James yesterday?4. She didn’t / doesn’t have pizza for supper last night. She had /

have a hamburger.5. The child drops / dropped her cookie a minute ago, and the dog

eat / ate it. 6. I began / begin to watch the program last night, but I didn’t like it. 7. He knows / knew all the answers to the quiz yesterday. 8. My brother and I go out / went out to dinner last night. Then I

sleep / slept late.

v

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Circle the correct answer1. People sometimes … clothes on the Internet.

a. buy b. buys2. Where … that tourist come from?

a. do b. does3. It … about four hours to fly from Tel Aviv to Paris.

a. take b. takes4. Children sometimes … to be kings and queens.

a. pretend b. pretends5. You … to get a new passport every year.

a. don’t need b. doesn’t need6. My neighbor is a pilot. He often … to the U.S.

a. fly b. flies7. My little sister … safe in the dark.

a. don’t feel b. doesn’t feel

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Dicto-glossTell student the title and general topic of the passage.Read out (students read along, or just listen: depends if you want to focus on listening or reading comprehension).Second reading: Students note down key words / phrases.In groups, students attempt to reconstruct the text, as near as they can.Students share their results Show / read the original text again, students improve their versions.Show / read the original text again. Discuss differences between the text and what the students wrote: what did they forget?