Today is rung 4 of 10 on this topic
Reading volume and academic vocabulary
Can do: Reads widely outside assigned texts and deliberately collects academic vocabulary.
Why it matters
Reading volume drops off a cliff at fourteen, exactly when vocabulary demands rise. It's the quietest cause of a stalled English grade.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Only reads what's assigned, and vocabulary growth stops entirely.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"What have you read this month that nobody made you read?"
Solid looks like: Something real — a book, long articles, quality journalism.
The full activity for this topic · 20 minutes
Twenty Minutes, Their Choice
- 1Let the choice be entirely theirs, including formats you'd rather they didn't pick.
- 2Twenty minutes, phone in another room.
- 3Keep a vocabulary list of words met in the wild, with the sentence they appeared in.
- 4Once a week, use three of them in conversation deliberately.
- 5Read something demanding alongside them and talk about it as equals.
If it's too hard
Ten minutes, and audiobooks fully count.
If it's too easy
Read one book outside their comfort zone per term and write a short response.
Say this
"You pick. I genuinely don't mind what it is — I mind that you're reading something."