This is a new series of blog posts for teachers looking to become materials writers. It aims to help future writers explore topics and issues in writing, encourage deeper insight into the content of published materials, and promote a principled approach to materials development.
Think…
- What does it really mean to ‘personalise’ materials for a learner?
- In what ways could you personalise a text?
- How can you help young learners make connections between a text and their existing knowledge/experiences?
Text to…
Analyse
Analyse some existing published materials for young learners. Focus specifically on the reading texts and lesson stages around these. Consider the following:
To what extent are the learners encouraged to
- connect the text content to their own life experiences?
- connect the text to other texts they have read?
- connect the text to (past) world events that the learner might know about?
- connect the text to current world events?
(Choosing topics for published resources that remain current can be tough – this is worth thinking about for the task)
Task
Plan a resource that encourages young learners to connect to the content of a reading text in a variety of ways. You may wish to create a graphic organiser activity or some other visual response to promote engagement.
Alternatively, you may choose to adapt/enhance an existing resource from the materials you analysed.
Categories: General, materials writing, teacher development
ELT Planning 
It’s great to see you’re using the graphic organisers! I’ve found this becomes a common phrase I use now “well done for making connections to something we’ve read in class before” or “ well done for making a connection to a real life experience”. My students are getting much better at recognising when they make connections too and see there are links in what they’ve done!
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