IELTS Reading homework instructions and reflection
Follow the instructions here to make IELTS Reading useful in two ways and stages:
do exam-style timed IELTS Reading practice
make sure that you learn from the timed practice, from the text, and from the questions
Details to write down (following the detailed instructions on the next page below)
Before reading the text and questions
Number of questions: _________________________________________________
Time limit for timed reading practice (= no of questions x 1.33 minutes): _________min
Will look at the questions __________________________________ looking at the text (write “before” or “after” in the gap)
Starting time (on clock or stopwatch, e.g. “17:51:00” or “00:00:00”): _____:_____:_____
Timed exam Reading practice
Ending timed practice time (e.g. 18:08:30): _____:_____:_____
After timed exam Reading practice
Was there enough time to find all the answers? _______________________________ (“Yes”, “No”, “Nearly”, “Nowhere near”, etc)
Difficulties (wrong answers, timing problems, unknown vocabulary, bad tactics, etc) _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
Language from the text and/ or questions that you want to learn __________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
How you plan to learn that language/ have started to learn that language ___________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
What you could do differently the next time you do timed IELTS Reading practice _____
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
In the next class
Compare the notes above, then ask your teacher about any subjects which came up or which you still have doubts about.
Detailed stages
Follow all thirteen steps here each time that you do exam-style IELTS Reading at home for homework, making relevant notes on the page above as you do so.
At home
Before reading the text and questions
Without reading the text or questions, find out how many questions there are and write it above.
Write down the time limit (from what your teacher tells you, or by calculating number of questions multiplied by one minute and twenty seconds = e.g. 17.5 min for 13 questions).
Decide if you will look at the questions first or look at the text first (based on what you discussed in class, what will be quicker, wanting to try a new approach, etc) and write it above.
Start your timer or write down the starting time above.
Timed exam Reading practice
Ignore any lead-in tasks/ warm up tasks/ extra tasks that come with the text (in the textbook, etc). Do all of the exam-style tasks under exam conditions (no breaks, no help such as dictionaries, etc). Write down answers to all of the questions within the time limit, including guessing if you don’t know or are running out of time, and double-checking if you finish early (e.g. making sure other options are impossible if you have two minutes left).
After timed exam Reading practice
Before you check your answers, read more slowly and carefully with a dictionary etc to help, and see if you want to change any of your answers, making any changes in red pen (to remember what you could do within the time limit).
Check your answers with the answer key.
Read again to find answers you missed or were just lucky to guess correctly.
Write details of your difficulties above.
Look up all unknown words etc, decide which you want to learn, transfer them to a way of memorising language (a flashcard app, etc), then write details of that above.
Think about what you could do differently next time you do IELTS Reading in this way (how you could read more quickly, how to avoid traps/ tricks, etc)
In the next class
Compare your notes with a classmate.
Ask your teacher about any questions you still can’t find the right answer for in the text, alternative answers which you still think are possible, vocabulary you don’t understand in this context, different tactics to use, ways of learning the language, etc.
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