e. The Stages in Teaching Reading
There are three stages in teaching reading. The first stage is pre-reading activities. The second is the main reading or whist reading activities, and the last
stage is post-reading activities. 1 Pre-reading Activities
According to Durkin 1987: 423, the purposes of the pre-reading activities are to enable the learners to read a selection silently, independently, and also to
interest them in doing the reading activities. There are four things that are necessary to do. There are teaching new vocabulary, providing essential
background information, establishing a purpose s for the reading, and motivating the children to want to do the reading, Durkin, 1987: 423-429.
a Teaching New Vocabulary The purpose of teaching the new vocabulary is to facilitate comprehension
for the students. There are two reasons why children abandon their assignments. The first reason is that they are immature, and the second reason is that they think
that the reading activity is an impossible task, maybe because it is too difficult for them. That is why, before the teacher starts the reading activities, it is better for
them to teach new vocabulary to the learners in order to prepare the students with adequate vocabulary, so that they can do the reading task.
b Providing Essential Background Information After teaching the new vocabulary, the next thing to do is providing
essential background information. The purpose of providing essential background information is to give the students adequate preparation, because teaching new
vocabulary is not enough to prepare the students. The teacher must give some background information of some parts in the reading texts to the students, so that
the students are able to visualize and imagine the real condition, shape, or even taste. This activity will help the students who have problem with the new words.
c Establishing a Purpose s for the Reading The natural way to begin preparing children to read a selection about a
given topic, for example: health, sickness, family, is to find out what the children already know about it. The purpose of knowing the students’ existing knowledge
is to allow the teachers to learn not only what is not known that is important but also what is known that is inaccurate. There are three procedures in knowing the
students existing knowledge, they are: discuss with the students what they know about the topic presented in the materials, have them read the selection in order to
learn what the author says about it and compare the two bodies of information once the reading has been done. After the teachers figuring out what the students
already know, the next thing to do is to establish the purpose s of the reading. d Motivating the Children to Want it Do the Reading
There are four clues that can be used to make the students to be interested in doing the reading activities. They are: children are most interested in what is
little, but not too familiar. It means that children interested in something new which is not too much and complicated, and it is quite strange for them. These
points to value of making explicit what is in a selection that relates to what they know or have experienced. The second, interest in reading a selection is
heightened when children are actively involved in establishing the purpose s for
doing the reading activities. The third, interest is also increased when the teachers display an honest concern for children’s idea and opinions about something that is
in selection. The last is at times, titles and pictures will make the children interested.
2 Whilst Reading Activities Whilst reading is the main part of the reading activities. In this, the
students use all the new vocabulary and background information, so that is why the teachers must make sure that the preparation in the pre-reading activities
allows the students to read the entire selection on their own. The activities in the whilst reading must support the attainment of the
purpose s which has been stated before, and the activities should contain the new vocabulary and background information which are taught before. In the whilst
reading activities, the students do all the reading activities, such as read the text, answering the questions, completing the paragraphs, arranging the paragraphs.
After the students finish the activities the teachers have to make sure that the students have achieved the purpose s of the reading activities.
3 Post-reading Activities There are two things that should be checked in the post reading activities.
They are the new vocabulary, and the realization of the purposes for reading. a Checking on the New Vocabulary
The important of this checking on the new vocabulary is to see whether the students remember the new words that were taught with the whole word
methodology, and to make sure whether the students were able to use some combination of the words contextually and structurally on their own.
b Checking on the Realization of Purposes for Reading The teachers must make sure that the students can accomplish the reading
tasks well and achieve the purpose s in the reading activities, if not the teachers must create new reading texts or even activities that can support the attainment of
the purpose s.
3. The Nature of the Fifth Grade Students of the Elementary Schools
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