Information about subject help: For students
The resources in this part of the site were created to help grade 6-10 ESL students at Frankfurt International School (FIS) in the work set by their teachers in classes such as English, history and science. Simplified versions of the various texts These texts include novels or short stories in English class and passages from textbooks in history or science class. that students are given to read form a major part of these subject support resources.
Following is the information given to ESL students at FIS before they use the simplified text versions.
An introduction to the simplified versions of your subject texts
Much of your work in your other classes requires you to read and understand literary texts and long passages from the various subject textbooks.
If you want to succeed in these classes and in examinations, it is important that you develop efficient reading skills. In other words, you need to develop the ability to understand the gist If you understand the gist of a text, you understand the most important information the text contains. of a text on first reading and without too much use of your dictionary. For many ESL students this is a very difficult task and they need time and help to master it.
The best type of help with difficult written text is to have some understanding of the content of that text before you start to read. One way to gain this understanding is by first reading a simplified version of the text.
Your ESL teachers have therefore written simplified versions The simplified versions include summaries and paraphrases.
Summaries provide just the gist or most important details of a text. Summaries may be much shorter than the original.
Paraphrases, on the other hand, are detailed line-by-line rewritings of a text.
In general, the English resources are summaries. And the history and science resources are paraphrases. of many of the texts that you are given to read. The simplified versions contain definitions of the most important words In many cases the simplified version is followed by a glossary of and a quiz on the important words.
You are recommended to do the quiz once or twice in order to learn these important words. This will help you in your writing about the topic and in your reading of future texts on similar topics. from the texts, together with sentences exemplifying those words.You should read the simplified versions and make sure that you understand the marked vocabulary before you read the original text. It is also a very good idea to listen to the simplified version if this exists In the case of many literary texts there will also be a link to an audio file of the complete original work. It is a good idea to listen to this while you are reading the original text..
Important: The simplified versions on this website are a preparation to read the original text. They are not an alternative to reading the original text.
It is essential that you read the original text shortly after you have read the simplified version. This is the way to develop your reading proficiency.
One last thing: If you still don't understand the text after rereading the simplified version and reading the original two or three times, ask someone to help you: another student, your subject teacher or your ESL teacher.
Elsewhere on the site is information on other ways to read a difficult text. That page also contains general advice on how to become a better reader.
Finally, be aware that an essential aspect of success in every subject is learning its vocabulary. On the vocabulary index you will find numerous quizzes that can help you learn and test yourself on this necessary vocabulary.