EWAS Programs
The Reading Express
The Reading Express is EWAS's unique program to teach pupils aged 6-10 to read English. The program continues the work of Bobby English and the Bears and serves as a stand-alone course for pupils who have not yet learned to read English either in the public schools or in private lessons. It is suitable as the continuation of other beginning level spoken English courses as well. The Reading Express teaches the four basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Synopsis of The Reading Express
The Reading Express tells the story of a day five friends spend at the amusement park. The friends are Bill, Michael and Cindy Green and Sue and Sammy Lee.
The first chapter introduces the five friends. Bill and Sue are in their mid to late teens, Michael is around 13 years of age, Cindy is nine or 10 and Sammy is seven or eight.
The children arrive at the amusement park at the beginning of the second chapter. They want to go on The Reading Express, the fastest ride. But the line is very, very long. They decide to go on another ride and come back to The Reading Express later. They ride The Giant Wheel.
In the third through the sixth chapters, the Greens and the Lees have snacks, pass by The Reading Express where the line is still too long, go on The Bumper Cars, watch a parade with a band and jugglers and clowns, eat lunch and go on The Fun House boat ride.
In the seventh chapter, the friends try their luck at games of chance, throwing darts at balloons, tossing rings on bottles, spinning a wheel of fortune and throwing balls at numbered holes.
Then in Chapter 8 the Greens and the Lees go on a special merry-go-round, all of them imagining themselves on exciting adventures: one as an astronaut in a spaceship; another as a racing car driver; another as a pioneer in a wagon train; another on safari riding an elephant and searching for a lost city; and still another as a test pilot in a new jet plane.
The ninth chapter takes the friends to a water show. And finally the tenth and final chapter takes them back to The Reading Express. The line is not so long any more. They love the ride! The story ends with the friends deciding to go on The Reading Express again!
The amusement park setting places the Greens and the Lees in an environment most pupils recognize from their own experience. This brings the story to life for them, promotes their easy identification with the characters and, most significantly, enhances their learning-to-read experience.
Topics
The amusement park and all the rides in it; snacks; a parade; lunching on fast food; a spooky boat ride; games of chance; a water show; The Reading Express which is a roller coaster.
Language & Grammar
NOTE: We do not teach grammar descriptively. We teach and practice the grammar of everyday speech, including informal speech patterns common among native speakers. We continue with the grammar points practiced in our earlier programs, In the Land of the Bears, Bobby English in the Land of the Bears and Together in the Land of the Bears. And we teach beginning reading in a most special way, incorporating color-coded vowels, EWAS reading strips and many and varied fun-to-do reading games and exercises.
