Yesterday noon, I had lunch with Angel, Anna, and Mei-yun. We talked about some reading activities. The following are some:
1. Let junior students choose one article they like to read every week and they write their afterthought/reflection in Chinese.
2. Give students the same article to read. The next day they have to take a 5-minute open-book quiz. The quiz contains some reading comprehension questions and vocabulary items.
3. Students get the same article. They are divided into several groups. Each group has to translate a part of the article into Chinese. Then the translations will be put up on the bulletin board. Finally the students take a quiz on the article.
Though these activities are used to ensure most students will read, I still have a dream that one day all students read for pleasure, out of their own will, but not for the test.