Family Routines: Synergy of Skills for Building Fluency

The importance of stories:

Stories help us understand the language. 

Stories help us imagine a situation and feel it as real. 

In the stories about the Miller family, you can find situations that can help you learn grammar and vocabulary. 

You can also practice all your skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking. 

The synergy of skills:

This is how efficient language learners naturally reinforce input (what they read and listen) and how they can remember vocabulary and grammar easily.

The skills reinforce one another. 

For example: reading helps learning vocabulary. When you know more vocabulary, you can improve your listening comprehension. 

When you write vocabulary or ideas in English, you can remember things better.

When you read aloud, or when you speak about an idea you increase your capacity to recall information.

Same text, different skills equals deeper learning.

When you read, then listen and then write a text, you encounter the same language in different modes. This practice increases repetition, which helps you learn new vocabulary. This practice also helps you build fluency,

Reading + Synery Skills

Your goal os to explore the same story in different ways. You can choose  one or more exercises from the list. These are small combinations that can bring you big progress. 

You can repeat the same story with a different combination. In this way, your skills will grow faster -- together.

1. Reading + Listening

You can read while you listen to the audio. 

This exercise trains your brain to connect spelling, sound and rhythm. 

This exercise is great for fluency and pronunciation.

2. Reading + Writing

You can write a summary of 3-5 sentences. This exercise will help you transform the reading into active language. 

Writing helps you learn spelling and punctuation, too.

3. Reading + Speaking

You can read aloud. This improves pronunciation, rhythm and confidence. 

You can use a timer to read a second time faster.

4. Reading + Vocabulary Building

You can choose a few words (3 to 5) and make personal example sentences. 

When you use the new words to tell your own story, you can remember words more easily.

5. Reading + Grammar

Read the text carefully and mark sentence patterns you see repeated.

This exercise helps your brain learn through repetition.

6. Reading + Reflection

After reading, write what you learn from the story.

This exercise supports autonomy and metacognition.

Here is the list of the stories:

Click on the title to go to the exercises.

1. Morning Rush: The Millar family gets ready for school and work.

2. Making Breakfast: Mrs. Miller prepares breakfast for her family.

3. My Brother's Day: What a brother does from morning to night.

4. Afternoon Chores: How a daughter helps her mother in the kitchen.

5. Homework Time: Two siblings doing their homework after school.

6. Family Dinner: What the family eats and talks about at the table.

7. Getting Ready for Bed: The two siblings’ bedtime routine.

8. A Quiet Sunday: A relaxed day at home with the family.

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