As teachers, we have little say about pre-reading activities when it comes to our pupils' individual silent reading. But when it comes to reading identical copies of a book or other text together in class, we're able to control these more. Why should we provide these activities though? Isn't it more natural to simply dive into a book together and discuss certain themes that arise as we go along? Research shows that when pupils engage in reading, their enjoyment in the reading process increases.
In general, teachers use pre-reading activities to:
For dynamic pre-reading ideas, see: Pre-Reading Activities
The reasons we require pupils to respond to the material they've read are much more obvious. After all, if they can respond to reading in oral or written forms, we, their teachers, can check if they've understood what they've read and of course, require them to actually communicate what they've read in an understandable and effective manner.
Post-reading activities help us check if our pupils have succeeded to:
For dynamic post-reading ideas, see: Post-Reading Activities