Task-based reading: Child Labour

Child Labour project 

The inspiration for this project came from a music video featuring the band Radiohead. The song is called 'All I need' and it was adapted for a campaign by MTV. Also, from the childlaborphotoproject.

I wanted to create a reading task which was not limited to the page, so I incorporated video, group work, online reading and a group presentation. 

Objectives

- Skimming & Scanning

- Matching text to images

- Online reading
- Research
- Group presentation

Step 1 - Image
Show the students the image below. Ask them what ideas, words or thoughts come to mind.

Step 2 - The Video

Play the video for the class, without introducing the topic.

Step 3 - Discussion
Ask the students some questions about the video, such as:
- How do you feel about it?
- What words come to mind?
- What are the main differences between the two boys?
- What do you think the theme of the video is?


Step 4 - Reading
Hand out the document below to your students. Then ask them to look at the first page which has 3 stories.

Child Labor Lesson by

Step 5 - Matching

The students will have to match the stories above to the picture below. Each story has 2 pictures. There are two pictures which are not needed. 

I usually put the students in groups for this as the reading section can be a little tricky. Just tell your students to look for key words, as that will help them, for example: Rubbish, bricks war etc.

Step 6 - Missing words

On page two of the PDF is a list of sentences. The students have to read the stories again and put the missing sentences in the right places. Again, key words will help them.

Step 7 - Online Research

On the second page of the PDF are a series of questions. guide the students to this website http://www.childlaborphotoproject.org. By reading this website they will be able to find the answers to the questions. 

Images of child labor

Step 8 - Presentation

Put the students into groups and ask them to compare and check their answers. Then, tell the students that they will make a group presentation where EVERY member must speak. They will have to 
- Choose 4 questions to answer;
- Explain why they chose those particular questions;
- Explain what they learned from this activity, individually;
- Give a group opinion on how we can prevent child labour.

Expansion activity
Further activities could include:
- Further research into other child labour projects;
- Write a report on how we can stop child labour;
- Group project to create awareness of child labour;
- Using the video, write a day in the life of each boy.

I really like doing this as a group activity. It allows the students to talk about reading, instead of just answering questions about it. The presentation at the end is just to make sure that they have understood what they have read and not just copied and pasted the answers.

Sometimes my students will read the answer as it is, so I always make sure they have written or speak the answer in their own words. It helps with their summarizing and paraphrasing skills. 

If you have created any other task-based reading skills, please share them.

What reading activities have worked well in your classroom?