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

What matters more when choosing a reading passage for ESL students: the vocabulary level, or how much they actually care about the topic?

The science is in, and the answer might surprise you. A group of researchers investigated what helps students remember what they read. They discovered that how interested a student is in a topic is 30 times more important than the “readability” level of the passage.

When we capture their interest, we unlock their learning.

That is the driving force behind this series of Short, High-Interest Articles for Extensive Reading. My goal is simple: to motivate students to want to read by focusing on captivating, real-world topics. Because interest trumps difficulty, these articles have been used successfully with students across many different reading-skill levels.

Where to Find Them

This post includes the first article. As of 5/25/2016, I have posted 17 articles and have a lineup of over 20 more that I’ll be sharing regularly. You can always access the growing collection in the right-hand column under:

👉 ESL Reading > Short, High-Interest Articles for Extensive Readings

Four Ways to Use These Materials

Every teacher’s classroom is different, so these articles are designed to be flexible. Here are a few ways you can integrate them:

• Pure Extensive Reading: Make them available for students who simply want to read more for pleasure.
• Quick Comprehension Check: Assign the brief True/False questions included at the end of each article.
• Skill Building: Have students complete the short Paraphrasing Exercise.
• Critical Thinking: Prompt deeper reflection with the brief Reflection Exercise at the close of the piece.

Start Reading Today!

Below is the very first article in the series. You can also download a clean, ready-to-print PDF handout for your students using the link at the bottom of this post.

For More Happiness Keep Your Good News Secret for a While

¹ You just received a letter in the mail from a college that you most hope to attend.  The letter will inform you whether or not you have been accepted. Nervously, you open the envelope. The letter begins, “It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been accepted to our college.” You smile with great happiness. Immediately, you want to share this great news with your family and best friends. But wait. To really feel this joy, research says you should keep this news to yourself for a few minutes.

² In a series of experiments, researchers gave subjects happy news. In one experiment, subjects worked in two-person teams. Each team competed in a math competition set up by the researchers. At the end of the competition, researchers called one teammate from each team to tell them they had won. Some subjects were told they could share the news with their teammate right away. Other subjects were told to wait about 30 minutes before sharing the news. During the next week, researchers called the subjects several times to measure how happy they felt. The subjects who waited before sharing the news reported much higher levels of happiness during the week than the subjects who shared it right away.

³ This experiment, and others like it, show a simple strategy we can use to increase our happiness. This does not mean we should keep our happy news a secret forever. It means that it might be a good idea to take a moment to enjoy good news by ourselves before we share it with others.

Here is the link to the article and exercises that you can use with your students: Why we should wait to tell good news High Interest Article

David Kehe
Faculty Emeritus

*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.