(This posting includes a handout LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

Beginning with this post, I plan to share short, high-interest articles that you can use with your ESL students for extensive reading. I’ll be adding them to the right-hand column: Categories > Reading > Short, high interest articles.

The driving force behind these articles: I wanted to motivate students to want to read. By focusing on high-interest topics no matter what the subject area, I believe that I’ve accomplished that goal.

In addition, these have been successfully used these with students at many different reading-skill levels. There is a research-based reason why this has been possible. A group of researchers investigated the factors that helped students remember what they had been reading. They found that how interesting the students were in reading the passage was thirty times more important than how “readable” the passage was.

Options for using these materials with students.

• You can make these available to students who would just like to read more.
• You can assign the brief True-False Comprehension Questions that are included at the end of the articles.
• You can assign the short Paraphrasing Exercise that is also included.
• You can have students write the brief Reflection Exercise, also at the end.

Here is the first article. You can download the article for your students by clicking on the link at the end. 

For More Happiness Keep Your Good News Secret for a While

¹ You just received a letter in the mail from a college that has been your first choice to attend.  The letter will inform you whether or not you have been accepted. Nervously, you open the envelop. The letter begins, “It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been accepted to our college.” You smile hugely with overwhelming happiness. Immediately, you want to share this great news with your family and best friends. But wait. To really experience this feeling of joy, according to research, you should keep this news to yourself for several minutes.

² In a series of experiments, participants were given happy news. For example, participants in two-person teams competed in a pretend math competition. At the end of the competition, researchers contacted one of the teammates to tell him/her that thei team had won. Some of the subjects were told that they could tell their teammate immediately, and others were told to wait about 30 minutes before sharing the good news. Several times during the next week, researchers contacted the subjects to measure how happy they were. They found that the subject who delayed sharing the news reported much higher levels of happiness during the week than those who shared it immediately.

³ This and similar experiments show a simple strategy we can use to increase our happiness. This does not mean that we should not share our happy news with other people. It means that it could be a good idea to take a moment or two to enjoy the good news before sharing it.

Here is the link: Why we should wait to tell good news High Interest Article

David Kehe

*About the free-download materials. During my 40 years of teaching ESL, I have had many colleagues who were very generous with their time, advice and materials. These downloads are my way of paying it forward.