Use all of your students’ senses
Talk about it, read about it, do it! Be creative.
Vary your reading materials
Choose different kinds of materials, based on your students’ interests. Consider novels, magazines, poetry, non‐fiction books and online materials. Vary the purpose of the reading too.
Choosing books for young readers
- Alphabet books
- Picture books – the illustrations help tell the story.
- Funny books or scary books
- Books with rhyming words – reading and listening to rhymes helps children learn about the connections between words.
- Books with characters from various cultures – children need to see themselves - and other cultures! - in the books they read.
- Books with repetition – repetition makes books easier to read.
- Books based on a television series – children love to read books with familiar characters, such as Arthur or The Magic School Bus.
- Your favourite children’s books – students are often interested in knowing what their tutors read as children.
Hobbies and games
- Play word games, for example, Scrabble, Boggle, hangman, concentration, crossword puzzles or word searches.
- Do crafts. List materials and write instructions. Then make the crafts together.
- Read magazines, including comic books. Collect and read sports cards.
- Write your own stories. Keep a journal.
Life skills
- Order from menus. Read and write recipes. Create shopping lists.
- Look up something in the Yellow Pages.
- Compile a personal address/telephone book.