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READING COMPREHENSION (FAMILY MEMBERS) FOR BEGINNERS
This is a reading comprehension lesson about family members. The link to the worksheet in PDF format is at the end of this page. The lesson is designed for beginners and starts by preparing the students for the reading activity: family member vocabulary is reviewed and predictions are made about the text. At the while-reading stage, the students are asked to scan the text for specific information. Finally, at the post-reading stage, students make connections between the text and their lives. They are invited to draw their family tree and write a paragraph to describe it.
- Objectives/Standards: Making predictions, making connections (between the text and students’ lives), scanning for specific information
- Level: beginners
- Materials: sheets of paper and pens, pictures (family tree)
- Timing: 50 minutes
Download this reading comprehension about family worksheet below:
1. Pre-reading
Lead-in
Before asking the students to read the text, start with preparing for the reading comprehension activity:
- First, review the family vocabulary using a picture.
- Then, guide students to make predictions about the text.
Vocabulary review
Describe the picture:
Father, mother, wife, husband, son, daughter, brother, sister….
Predicting:
Ask the students to look at the title and the picture and answer this exercise:
The text is about:
- Football
- Family members
- Work
- Marriage
Then invite them to read the text quickly to check their answer:
I Love Them All!
Hi! I’m Laura and this is my family. I am 14 years old and I’m from England. I live with my mother, father, sister, and brother. My mum’s name is Susan. She is 40 years old. My dad’s name is Richard. He is from Scotland and he is 42. My brother’s name is Mark and he’s 8 years old. My sister’s name is Sara. She is 11 years old. I have got two cats: Milly and Woody.
My grandparents live in Manchester, my grandfather’s name is Peter and my grandmother’s name is Marie. We visit them during the summer vacation. My uncle Harry is married to my aunt Lorena. She is Spanish. Their children’s names are Leila and Santiago.
2. While reading
In the while-reading stage, students will be invited to read for specific information as well as other comprehension tasks:
- The first task consists of scanning the text to identify the names of each family member.
- Then the students do a true/false exercise.
- Finally, they will answer specific questions to check their comprehension.
1: Read the text and write the names of Laura’s family members under the pictures.
2: Read the text again and write “true” or “false”, then correct the false statements
- Laura’s mother is 42 years old.
…. - Harry is from Scotland.
… - Laura’s cousins’ names are Harry and Lorena.
…
3: Answer the following questions from the text (use short answers).
- Is Laura fifteen years old?
… - Are Milly and Woody Laura’s dogs?
… - Is Mark Santiago’s cousin?
… - Are Peter and Marie Laura’s grandparents?
…
3. Post-reading
At the post-reading stage, students are encouraged to draw their family tree and write a paragraph describing it.
4: Draw your family tree
5: Write a paragraph about your family based on your family tree and present it to your classmates.
Reading Comprehension about family members worksheet (PDF)
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