Super Easy Reading for ESL Beginners: "He is a Bus Driver"

Details

Activity Description

In this activity, students listen to and read along with a short story about a bus driver written in the simple present tense and complete a variety of practice activities including a crossword puzzle, cloze task, sentence scramble, and dictation.

Preparation

1. Teach the meaning and simple present tense of the verbs in the story: be, drive, pick up, and take.
2. Find an image of a bus driver (Visit Google , select "Images" and search for "school bus driver clip art"). Save the link to this image for use in the activity.

How-To

1. Display the image of the school bus driver using the digital projector. Ask students to tell you what they see (bus, bus driver, students, children, etc.). Lead a brief discussion about what a school bus driver does. Write these words/phrases on the board or use a word processing document.
2. Project the story on the screen using the digital projector (use the Example Web Site above) and play the audio. Discuss any unknown words as a class. Play again and have the students listen while reading silently. Play a third time and have students read aloud with the audio.
3. Direct students to the Example Web Site (above). Have students work on the crossword, cloze, sentences, and dictation activities independently. Circulate the room to monitor progress and help as needed.

Teacher Tips

• Students should be familiar with basic computer usage and Web site navigation before engaging in this activity.
• The first time you use this Web site, you may want to demonstrate how to use and navigate this site as the advertisements can be very distracting. Teaching your students about ads and how to avoid them is a critical skill today.

More Ways

• This site offers 100 stories for low-level students. Topics include household chores, driving/DMV, jobs/professions, daily routines, and hobbies, to name a few. Incorporate stories that fit with your class themes/topics and grammar points.

Program Areas

• ESL: English as a Second Language

Levels

• Beginning Literacy
• Beginning Low

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