Emma Durham
Using Nearpod to teach reading skills to Foundations students. Students read a text (or part thereof) and are provided with questions that intend to probe a student's comprehension of the text content. Students are initially asked to analyse the question prior to discussing. Students are provided with immediate feedback on the validity of their response. Responses are visible only to the teacher enabling the teacher to observe student understanding and progress with the concepts but does not put a weaker student under pressure in front of his or her peers.
Name of Method: | Using Nearpod and CBB for Reading Comprehension |
Author: | Emma Durham |
Apps / Tools used: | Nearpod app, Oxford reading app, Creative Book Builder (CBB) app |
Difficulty of Use (1-5): 1 = easy | 2 |
Subject: | ESL |
Level: | 2 |
21st Century Literacies: | Basic Literacy, Critical Literacy, |
Blooms Understandings: | Understanding, Applying |
Gardiners Multiple Intelligences: | Linguistic |
Teaching and Learning Methods: | Concept Testing, Peer-to-peer Instruction |
Activity Time: | 2 hours |
Short Description: | Using Nearpod to teach reading skills to Foundations' students. Students read a text (or part thereof) and are provided with questions that intend to probe a student's comprehension of the text content. Students are initially asked to analyse the question (what is being asked) alone and then in pairs prior to discussing which is the correct response and why. Subsequently, once all answers have been submitted, students are provided with immediate feedback on the validity of their response. Responses are visible only to the teacher so that student confidentiality of preserved. This enables the teacher to observe student understanding and progress with the concepts or language being tested but does not put a weaker student under pressure in front of his peers. |
Lesson Plan: | 1. Pre-teach vocabulary (using Oxford app). 2. Open Nearpod. 3. Preview - predict reading text using images / whole class discussion reinforcing new vocabulary. 4. Read text in paragraphs - questions and answers follow the text. Each paragraph is discussed before moving on to the next part of the text to confirm understanding. 5. A series of general questions / polls / short answer questions conclude. 6. Students write a summary of the text in Creative Book Builder based on the reading questions / discussions |
Other Notes: | The teacher immediately knows whether to explain further or move on (when 100% of responses are correct) creating a greater level of classroom efficiency. The immediacy of seeing responses and receiving an explanation when necessary greatly enhanced students learning as they still felt connected to the task or content when the information was given. Nearpod has a number of response system features - including an anonymous poll option - which facilitates greater inclusivity in the class as they enable students to try answering difficult questions (privately from peers if they wish) or give their opinion freely - again, something they may not feel comfortable doing by a visible show of hands, for example. Nearpod worked well for a variety of different reading lesson presentations - for example with text as a whole for easier texts or in chunks for more complex ones. |
Resources: | NearPod App Store Link: Creative Book Builder (CBB) App Store Link: |