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

People think close family members smell worse compared to the smell of strangers, according to recent research. And there is an interesting reason for this.

Most studies about recognizing human smells (odors) looked at mothers and their newborn babies. The studies found that they recognized each other’s odors soon after birth. However, a team of researchers wanted to know how well other family members could recognize the smell of each other.

Twenty-five families with at least two children between 6 and 15 years old volunteered for the study. The participants were given special T-shirts and soap that had no odors. They slept in the T-shirts for three nights. Each morning, they put the T-shirts in special bags and then washed themselves with only the special odorless soap (in other words, soap that has no smell).

Next, researchers asked everyone to sniff with their nose two T-shirts. One of the shirts was worn by a family member and the other by someone they didn’t know and was not a relative. The researchers asked mothers and fathers if they could identify which shirt was their children’s, and asked children if they could tell which was their parents’ or siblings’. In addition, they asked which odor they preferred.

Here are the results: (See complete article below.)

For background information about these articles and for suggestions for how to use them with your students, see  • Introducing “Short, High-Interest Readings”  Also, I’ll be adding more of these articles in the right-hand column: ESL Reading> Short, High Interest Articles for Extensive Readings

Here is the 9th article. You can download the article for your students by clicking on the link at the end. Also included are three optional exercises: True-False Questions; Paraphrasing Exercise; Reflection Exercise.

Continue reading →

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

¹ Imagine that you and your friends have just arrived at a popular restaurant.  Unfortunately, you are told by the hostess that you’ll need to wait in line for about 30 minutes to get a table because there are many other customers who had arrived before you.  After about 10 minutes, a man and woman arrive and talk to the hostess.  You notice that he secretly hands her some money.  Immediately, she takes them to a table.  Most of us would feel that this was unfair and will feel resentful toward the hostess.

² Some researchers have recently become interested in finding out if the idea of unfairness is a unique emotion only felt by people or is it also experienced by animals.  A study looked at how dogs react when a second dog is rewarded in an unequal way for doing the same trick.  The researchers shook hands with two dogs, and the dogs were happy to do that whether they got a reward or not.

³ Next, they asked the dogs to “shake hands” and gave one a reward of a tasty sausage, and the other one a dull piece of bread when they did. Interestingly, the dogs didn’t seem to notice the difference and continued to follow the command and shook hands even though one got a tastier reward than the other. (See complete article below.)

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(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.

Continue reading →