iT's books
In First Impressions we take a look at new books, focusing on one particular area of teaching. For this issue we asked publishers to send us samples of new readers. These are our first impressions of the books we received.
The year 2008 is National Year of Reading in the United Kingdom. It's a year-long celebration of reading in all its forms that aims to increase awareness of the many values of reading - anything, anytime, anyplace - for children, adults and families alike.
The beginning of a new academic year is a perfect time to encourage your students to read a book in English, and the best place to start is with an ELT reader.
Choosing a reader
As we discovered when we first looked at readers back in 2006, choosing a reader can be daunting, especially with so many series and titles on offer. Therefore, we offer the following tips to help you choose the right reader.
1.
Decide how you want to use readers. Do you want to create a class library
where students can borrow titles? Or do you want everyone in the class
to read the same book at the same time so you can share the experience
and work with the book in class?
2. Get the grading right. Most ELT publishers produce graded readers, but their grading systems can vary quite widely. Read through one or two sample titles to see how they correspond with your students' level. Some teachers prefer to choose a level that's slightly below the students' own level to make reading non-threatening, while others prefer to make reading more of a challenge so that the students can further develop their reading skills.
3. Check out the glossary. Most readers indicate the number of headwords they include. These are the dictionary headwords that students are expected to know at each level and will range from approximately 200 headwords at elementary level to 3,000 at advanced level. Additional vocabulary is usually highlighted and included in a glossary. When you look at the reader, check to see if the glossary words are highlighted in the text and whether the glossary simply lists the words or includes definitions in English or L1. It often helps to have the glossary on the page along with the reading rather than at the back of the book.
4. Explore the extra features. Most readers include exercises to aid comprehension. These usually consist of tasks to do before and after reading chapters of the book. The answer key is usually available on the Internet along with additional photocopiable material for the teacher who wants to use the book in class.
An audio CD is another valuable resource. This might contain a simple reading of the book or a dramatisation of the story, or it could be an interactive CD-ROM with audio and exercises. After reading the book, students might appreciate being able to listen to the text together.
Before investing in a set of readers, check to see exactly what resources are available and how useful they are.
5. Choose the right category. Readers fall broadly into three categories: original fiction, adaptations of existing works and factual books about specific themes. Remember that, as in the "real world", there are good and not-so-good writers of original fiction. A classic work of fiction might not be result in a classic piece of writing when it is graded and edited to fit the format of a reader; and factual books can go out of date quickly.
6. Consult your students. When you have decided on a series of readers, it's a good idea to ask for your students' help in choosing the titles to order. You can do this together by looking at the publisher's catalogue, or you can create a worksheet based on the book options to find out what kind of book your students would most enjoy reading.
Latest titles
We asked publishers to send us their new titles for 2008; here are our first impressions of the books we received.
Black
Cat publishes several series of readers for different ages, needs
and interests. All of their books look and feel really good. The way
a book feels in your hands can be an important factor, so a publisher
that pays special attention to the quality of paper and illustrations
deserves special mention.
For young learners, Black Cat has an Earlyreads series that includes original stories and traditional tales. New titles include Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Puss in Boots and A Trip to the Safari Park. All of the books have language activities, puzzles and games at the back - all in full colour. A nice feature is the Picture Dictionary that uses the characters and locations from the story in a fun way. Audio versions of the books can be downloaded from the Black Cat website.
For secondary students, Black Cat publishes an Easyread series of non-fiction readers that includes The Story of Football and The Story of Popular Music. The Green Apple series includes adapted classics, original stories and non-fiction readers. Each book starts with information about the author and his/her times, activities for before and after reading a chapter, cross-curricular dossiers and Internet projects.
The latest title we looked at was Alice's Adventure in Wonderland (starter A1/ESO 1). The famous tea party section of the story is followed by a dossier on tea as well as exercises and games. The book comes with a CD-ROM that has the audio as well as lots of interactive exercises, making for a very complete package.
The Reading and Training series is for teenagers and adults. These are mostly adapted classics which are graded into six levels. The new title we were sent was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear (step 4 B2.1/bachillerato 2). With 127 pages, this is a substantial reader, but it's packed with illustrations and activities so it's perfect for classroom work or self-study. We particularly liked the picture summary at the end of the book which gets students to put the story in order and then create a graphic novel version by adding speech and thought bubbles.
The
first thing you notice about the Macmillan Readers is that they
look like real books. In many ways, a reader that is black-and-white
and mainly text-based is as close to an authentic reading experience
as your students will get. There are some great titles on offer and,
as we've come to expect from Macmillan, there's very good online backup,
including an extremely informative guide called Using
Graded Readers in the Classroom. There's even a separate site designed
to help students improve their essay writing skills, write about works
of literature, practise listening skills and improve their creative
writing techniques.
The Macmillan Readers are graded in six levels from starter to upper-intermediate. The new titles we looked at were Around the World in Eighty Days (starter), White Fang (elementary), I Robot (pre-intermediate), Touching the Void (intermediate) and Middlemarch (upper-intermediate).
The shorter starter titles are in colour, and Around the World in Eighty Days is retold by our old friends Maria José Lobo and Pepita Subirà, so we know we're in safe hands. The higher-level readers start with notes about the author and the story, as well as the people and places in the story. The actual story is followed by activities to help understanding, exercises and a glossary. Rather than cramming as many words as possible into the glossary, difficult words and phrases are explained in the story or illustrated in the pictures. There are titles in British and American English, and differences in the American English versions are explained in the glossary.
Attractive covers, good use of illustrations and the huge range of titles available in the series make this a great collection for a class library. Some titles come with CDs, while others have accompanying audio you can download.
Helbling
Readers are divided into two series. The Red Series (levels
1-3) is aimed at young teenagers. It includes a selection of adapted
classics and original fiction to get students reading from beginner
level. The Blue Series (levels 4-5) is designed for teenagers
and young adults. These readers are adapted classics and original fiction.
All the readers are in full colour and include attractive illustrations and graphics. Colour is implemented particularly well in the easy-to-use glossary that appears on the page. Books in the Blue Series also include personalised activities throughout the story, which is a nice idea. There's audio on CD that can also be downloaded from the Helbling website. The site is worth a visit as it's extremely user-friendly and informative.
Helbling is now being distributed in Spain by SGEL; new titles available from September are Mowgli's Brothers (level 2), A Christmas Carol (level 3), The Last of the Mohicans (level 4) and Tales of Mystery (level 5).
We got a sneak preview of Tales of Mystery, which manages to cram in three classic Edgar Allan Poe stories into its 108 pages. As the introduction to the book explains, these are examples of short stories in the Gothic tradition, exploring the dark side of human nature and experience: death, ghosts, alienation, depression, madness and desolate settings. Ideal for teenagers!
While
some publishers opt to include as many categories as possible, the Cambridge
English Readers specialise in one particular area: original fiction.
It's not a bad idea when you consider how many types of fiction are
out there: thrillers, ghost stories, science fiction, horror, comedy,
short stories, romance, adventure .... It's also reassuring to know
that all the books in the collection have been written specifically
for English learners and aren't adaptations.
The collection has been graded into seven levels, from starter to advanced. On opening the catalogue, the first title we noticed was Jeremy Harmer's The Double Bass Mystery (level 2 elementary/lower-intermediate), which sounds intriguing. According to the catalogue, "Penny Wade travels to Barcelona to perform in a concert with her orchestra. But the trip is not quite what she imagined. Her double bass goes missing and her boyfriend is acting very strangely ...." Unfortunately this wasn't one of the titles we were sent, so we settled for A Death in Oxford (starter level) by Richard MacAndrew, which also sounded intriguing. It's written in a very natural style and once again there's a good choice of illustrations to aid comprehension. We also looked at Margaret Johnson's Wild Country (lower-intermediate) which is set in France. The series has a very international feel, with stories set in countries on every continent.
The books start with some information about the characters and setting. There's no glossary or exercises in the book itself, but there are photocopiable worksheets and lesson plans for every title available at the website, where there's also a test to find the right level for your students, sample chapters and author interviews. There's a teacher's guide that includes practical advice on how to use readers. All the titles have audio and are available as e-books. Selected titles are also available as audio books from www.audible.com and iTunes.
Audio books and e-books ... what next? No doubt they'll soon be packaging readers with DVDs. What? They already are?
According
to Heinle Cengage, its Footprint Reading Library is "the
first non-fiction reading series for English language learners to present
real-world stories in three formats: print, audio and video." The
video material is from National Geographic, so you know the kind of
themes to expect. The stories are grouped into five areas: incredible
animals, fascinating places, remarkable people, exciting activities
and amazing science.
The interesting thing about this series of readers is its focus on the language of various online and print formats including newspapers, magazines, journals and websites. This is all about reading and using the language to learn more about the world and to look at information in different formats such as photo captions, charts, tables and graphs.
The titles we looked at were Taiko Master and Puffin Rescue (pre-intermediate/A2) and One Boy's Journey (intermediate/B1). The titles are set up to work like this: first students read the book. There are pre- and post-reading tasks and lots of background information for the theme of the book. After becoming familiar with the text, students are encouraged to listen to the audio recording. Once they have read and listened to the book, they're ready to watch the video that inspired the reader. Some of the language in the video is different from the actual reader, but optional subtitles can aid comprehension of the authentic reports and interviews.
There are currently 100 readers divided into eight levels. It sounds like a lot of material, but these are quite short readers (around 24 pages); the videos are short as well, so they're very accessible for teachers and students. The books are in full colour with good visuals. There's a teaching guide for each level that includes lesson plans and worksheets for both the reader and the video.
For
those of you who feel your students would prefer to watch the new season
of Lost rather than a National Geographic report, there are the
Scholastic ELT Readers. These specialise in contemporary film
and TV adaptations targeted at teenagers. Their new titles include Spooky
Skaters (starter), Mr Bean's Holiday (level 1/elementary),
The Golden Compass (level 2/pre-intermediate) and The Lost
Chronicles (level 3/intermediate).
We have a soft spot for the Scholastic readers because our editor once wrote one. Apart from that, they also look fantastic, making great use of colour visuals. All the readers start by looking at the settings and characters. After the story there are a series of fact files and self-study activities, plus a list of new words. Most readers come with an audio recording.
Pearson
Longman's Penguin Readers also include a lot of film and TV titles.
The series has recently been updated with a new look and lots of new
titles. The titles we were sent included The Pearl Girl (easystarts),
Kylie Minogue (level 1), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's
Chest (level 3) and Tears of the Giraffe (level 4). From
Kylie to Botswana's first female private detective, there's lots to
choose from.
The first reader we opened was the Kylie Minogue profile, which is one of the Penguin Active Reading titles. All of the books in this series come with a CD-ROM that includes interactive exercises and the audio recording. It was refreshing to open a reader about Kylie that didn't avoid tackling certain issues. In fact, it starts from the point in her life when she discovered she had cancer. All the books look very good, feel good and are definitely worth checking out.
Finally,
there's the Oxford Bookworms Library New Edition. It sounds impressive
and the catalogue looks impressive, boasting "stunning new covers
... new world stories ... fully updated fact files ... updated tests
... updated teacher's CD-ROM (all the material you need on one CD)"
and much more!
The Oxford readers come in seven levels. A rather neat table shows how Oxford teachers can use certain readers in conjunction with their coursebooks. The new fact files are non-fiction books that cover topics such as Rainforests (stage 2), Information Technology (stage 3) and The History of the English Language (stage 4). World Stories is a new collection of short stories from around the world.
Apart from the Bookworms collection, Oxford also published Dominoes, a series of readers with integrated activities, designed for individual study or for reading practice in class. The collection is in four levels. Fans of Wallace and Gromit will be happy to know there's even a reader based on A Close Shave. As you'd expect, the visuals and activities are excellent. There's even a specially adapted version of the film available separately.
One of the best ways to choose a reader is to visit the publisher's website and find out what they have to say about their readers.
Heinle Cengage Footprint Reading Library