Pair work is the way to go for a successful class. Most activities in the class aim at one thing - reduce the amount of TTT (Teacher Talking Time). A reading text can be turned into a pair work activity if you just ask two students to read the text one sentence each and take turns to finish the whole text. I found this very helpful especially with low level students.

After reading the text and recycling it in class, ask them to work in pairs and close the book and tell their pairs what the story was about. This is good for speaking activities. They will enjoy working together because the listener can help the speaker if he/she gets stuck with their choice of words. Comprehension questions on the text can be done in pair work.

Don't move around in class and ask questions. Instead give the students some questions printed on a sheet and they can ask and answer questions together. You will have everyone involved in class. This will mean you will be focusing on presenting the next activity. See you next time in a new blog. 

Ibrahim Mohamed

Melbourne, Australia