Welcome Get ESL Members and Non-members alike. This is day
number 09 of the current Reading Course Session.
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The Get ESL Reading Course
Reading is a critical skill needed by second language students for TOEFL, academic, and business success. Extensive reading (reading large amounts of English only texts for periods of at least 30 minutes or more) will provide you the means for developing the background knowledge necessary for more speculative thinking, which will ultimately help you to be a better reader of English.
As such, this intermediate to advanced English reading
course will give you practice with extensive reading in order to improve your
reading proficiency. Additionally, you will also practice timing and concentration,
two important skills for reading comprehension. This will be accomplished through
skill-building reading comprehension exercises. Mastering the objectives
set out for this course will help you to comprehend written English more fluently
whether you are reading for pleasure, whether you are reading for your job,
or whether you are reading for a college class.
Course Overview
Aimed at improving your reading proficiency in English, this course consists
of: four tests (a pre-test, a post-test and two practice tests)
and twenty six daily lessons.
Course Schedule and Description of Lessons
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Day 1
- Diagnostic pre-test
- Extensive reading of novel; Read
assigned section of Online novel
Day 2
- Reading for main ideas: Scan a reading passage
and answer questions about the controlling idea.
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read
assigned section of Online novel
Day 3
- Reading for stated details: Scan a reading passage
and answer detail questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read
assigned section of Online novel
Day 4
- Reading for unstated details: Scan a reading passage
and answer unstated detail questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read
two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read
assigned section of Online novel
Day 5
- Reading for vocabulary: Scan a reading passage
and answer vocabulary questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section
of Online novel
Day 6
- Reading for implied details: Scan a reading passage
and answer implied detail questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section
of Online novel
Day 7
- Understanding transitions in a reading passage:
Scan a reading passage and answer transition questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 8
- Assigned readings: John Adams and Photosynthesis
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 9
- Assigned readings: Politeness Strategies
and Legalities of Gay and Lesbian Marriage
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section
of Online novel
Day 10
- Assigned readings: How an Airplane Flies
and How to Improve your Memory
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 11
- Assigned readings: Nature’s Time Machine - Ice
Cores and Multiple Personality Disorder
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 12
- Assigned readings: Brain Cancer and Firefighters
and The Musician Quincy Jones
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 13
- Assigned readings: The Writer Maya Angelou
and The Sun
- Read two multi-paragraph passages.
- Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary, implied detail, and transition
questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 14
- Assigned readings: SQ3R Reading Method and
Avalanches
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
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Day 15
Day 16
- Assigned readings: The Writer Miguel Cervantes
and The Benefits of Getting a BA in Sociology
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 17
- Assigned readings: Autism and Diamonds
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 18
- Assigned readings: Aluminum and Psychics
- Read two multi-paragraph passages.;Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 19
- Assigned readings: Black Holes and Doing
Warm-ups
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 20
- Assigned readings: Landslides and History
of Death Valley
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 21
- Assigned readings: The Musician Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart andWind Energy
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 22
- Assigned readings: The Planet Mercury and
Rhinoceros Beetle
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 23
- Assigned readings: Citistates and John
Glenn: An American Hero
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 24
- Assigned readings: History of Wrestling and
Women Workers during WWII
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer main idea, detail, vocabulary,
implied detail, and transition questions
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 25
- Assigned readings: The Origin of Language
and The Platypus
- Read two multi-paragraph passages; Answer
main idea, detail, vocabulary, implied detail, and transition questions
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 26
- Assigned readings: The Origin of Meteorites
and Professor Fujita: The Forecaster of Tornadoes
- Speed reading and comprehension exercise: Read two timed reading passages
- Extensive reading of novel; Read assigned section of Online novel
Day 27
Day 28
Day 29
Day 30
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Tests
By taking the 25 question diagnostic pre-test, you will be able to pinpoint
your reading weaknesses. It is recommended that you spend extra time on those
areas of the course indicated by the diagnostic test.
Furthermore, upon completion of the course, you will take a 25 question post-test
which will help you to see if you have mastered the course material.
Lastly, you will take two 25 question practice tests. Your goal is to have
a 90% mastery on the post-test and practice tests. Additionally, you will take
a midterm and final exam, both of which will test your comprehension of the
novel assigned for this course.
Course Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course,
you will:
1. Learn effective reading habits:
- While reading, you will learn to avoid translating
all the words from English into your own language.
- In order to understand what you read, you will learn
not use the dictionary to look up all the words you don’t understand.
- In order to read well, you will realize that you do
not need to understand all the words in a reading passage.
- In order to concentrate well when reading, you will
develop a faster reading speed while retaining 60-80% comprehension.
2. Read a complete novel during which you
will
- Keep a journal summarizing what you have read.
- Compile a vocabulary list of new words that you review
regularly.
- Complete a midterm and final exam testing comprehension
of the novel.
3. Read a variety of academic reading passages (i.e., biology,
environmental science, fire science, geology, history, linguistics, literature,
music, physical geography, physical education, physics, psychology, sociology,
and
study skills) in which you answer the following type of
questions:
4. Complete a timed diagnostic test, a post-test,
and two practice tests.
5. Use the context to guess the meaning of unfamiliar
vocabulary words in a reading passage.
6. Scan reading passages quickly to find information.
7. Read critically by recognizing the meaning that
is implied through the context of a reading, as well as the overt information
or content.
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