International TEFL InstituteReading Resources
There are no limits to the resources you could use for your reading lessons. Just always remember to apply a little common sense when deciding what is suitable. The hardest thing to start with is that, as new teachers, you are not yet fully up to speed with being able to look at a text and being able to assess if it will be suitable for a certain level. This will come over time and to start with there are plenty of resources where that has been already done for you.
Where to get suitable texts for reading
The BBC – http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
The BBC has a pretty good program for English learners. On their site, you will find various current news stories delivered through a complete range of media – text, video podcasts. They are great because they have already graded the language in the story to suit a specific level.
One-Stop English http://www.onestopenglish.com/
Whether you decide to pay and become a member or just access the free lessons they offer, this site is fantastic for reading lessons. They take fairly current stories and design a whole lesson around the article whilst making sure the language suits a specific level. Ideal for the lazy teacher and even better as a backup to keep in a file in case something goes wrong in a lesson and you need something to turn to.
Other sources:
Newspapers – obviously broadsheets may have too difficult English and the ”red tops” may be a little sensational for some groups. As a general rule, local newspapers that also try to report on national and international news are pretty middle of the road and a TEFL teacher’s best bet.
Articles – The internet is full of Ezines or article sites. In fact, some of the more popular sites really control the quality of content allowed on them and are a great resource. All you have to do is choose a relevant topic.
Lyrics – there is no better place to practise using very natural language than the lyrics of songs. Be careful on the songs you choose and be aware that you are going to have to explain the odd metaphor or deal with the fact that some songwriters take a lot of artistic licenses, hence the language they use may not always be grammatically correct. But it’s fun and students enjoy it.
Books – If you take your standard Hollywood cop book, then you will usually find that, besides some of the technical terminology, the book is probably readable at the intermediate (B1) level and above.
Penguin publishers http://plrcatalogue.pearson.com// have great books. They basically take the latest book and some of the classics and they change the language to adapt it for the various language levels. So you could be getting your pre-intermediate students to read ‘Crime and Punishment’.
The most important thing is to understand that it is actually only your imagination that is stopping you. Take the time to look on the internet and you will find a whole world of opportunity.
Links:
TEFL Courses & TEFL Training Programmes
TEFL Jobs & English Teaching Positions