ELABORATED READER SERIES: BREAKING THROUGH THE PLATEAU

A new kind of reader for B1+ language learners, or reading authentic stories, with a few helpful hints

I’m often asked the same question: What can I read in my spare time? Language learners are looking for an authentic story, or a ‘real’ one, as they put it.

As a teacher, and a language learner myself, I completely see where this question comes from. I’d say there’s no better sign of breaking through the plateau than being able to read (or, better yet, genuinely enjoy) stories written not as exercises, but for the reason we actually read. Pleasure.

Yet pleasure is a balancing act. Partly, it’s the learner’s mindset and readiness to connect with the book. And partly, it’s their language level: enough comprehension to follow the plot (more or less), and enough ease to catch not just what’s happening, but the vibe. You know the feeling: you read the first paragraph, then the second, and then realise that the story makes sense, technically, but the best of it is slipping away between the lines.

The traditional answer is the graded reader. Graded readers do what they promise: they make stories comprehensible. Some are good, some are not so good, but even the best lose something along the way. The writer’s voice, the rhythm, the pleasure of the original. The intensive reading format itself, with its pre- and post-reading activities and comprehension questions, shifts the focus from pleasure to proof: reading not for the joy of the story, but to prove that you’ve understood it all.

So the question I kept asking was: what if we didn’t have to choose between authentic and accessible?

That question led to the Elaborated Reader series.

These are ‘real’ classic stories, exactly as they were written, not simplified, not abridged, not tidied up. Instead, I borrowed an idea from Mike Long’s work on elaborated input: keep the original language intact, and build comprehension support into the story itself. An in-line gloss here, a phrase quietly expanding a sentence there, small images, and the learner can keep moving through the text without breaking the flow.

These are made for B1+ learners, the ones who’ve outgrown simplified textbook stories.

There are no pre-reading or post-reading activities, no comprehension questions at the end. What happens after the story is entirely up to the learner.

Each book in the series comes with the elaborated story itself, a maze (or Story Path) and its solution, and a Reading Journal with a guide on how to make the most of the story (for those who’d like to do a bit of intensive reading).

The books are available as PDF files, and soon as paperbacks.

I also built the Reading Room to showcase the stories and the suggested reading workflow. Here’s a short tour (if you don’t see the video below, please refresh the window, tech happens).

A very brief how-to

The process is much the same whether you read in paper form or on the platform. The platform just adds a few extras, like listening to a selected phrase or sentence. The best approach would probably be to combine both.

– Choose a story: Enter the Library and pick from five stories currently available, including three episodes of The Man of Means by Wodehouse, plus a few by Saki and O. Henry.

– Unlock the story: Every story has a portion unlocked from the start, so you can tell if it’s ‘your’ book before committing. You can unlock it from the card to get an access code, which also lets you download the PDF, so you can pick whichever mode suits you. Teachers can share the code so students start reading right away.

– Just read: No stopping, no dictionaries. Just you and the story, with quiet hints in italics and small images built in to keep you moving.

At the end, there’s a maze built from phrases and words in the story. It’s not a test, just one way of noticing what stayed with you. Complete it or don’t. It doubles as a glossary in disguise and can scaffold retelling the story, if you’d like.

Or simply stop there.

Or if you want to go back in and work with the language a bit more, there’s a second read (this time, intensive reading), but led by you. Use four highlighters (or use various shapes or lines, if you can’t use colours) and mark whatever catches your eye.

I use four categories: Mine it, Steal it, Look it up, and Figure it out. These are the same four I’ve used with students for years. Well, they used to just be colour names (or just lines in the absence of highlighters), but what’s innovation without a fancier name? In a nutshell:

Mine it – a word or phrase worth digging into. Maybe it repeated a few times, or just looks interesting, or you know it but aren’t sure how to say it.
Steal it – a phrase or sentence you want to make your own.
Look it up – cultural things: a reference, a name, a historical moment that opens the story up once you get it.
Figure it out – anything unclear. Could be irony, could be an idiom, could just be that you’re tired.

Less is more here. I usually start with marking what is unclear, then add a word or two for mining, or a cultural reference. Eight to ten highlights is the sweet spot.

Every highlight lands in the Reading Journal as a small task: look up a word’s forms, write a sentence, search a reference, or just write your best guess.

When you’re done, download the Journal or back up your highlights. We don’t store your data, so it’s gone once you clear your cache or switch devices.

Best approach: read in waves. First time, just for pleasure, or with a touch of intensive reading if you’re in the mood. Then come back, maybe in a week, maybe a month, and read it again. There’s almost always something new the second time round. (True, of course, only if you connected with the story.)

Curious? Come and have a look.

Follow the link below to visit the Reading Room, where The Toys of Peace by Saki is currently unlocked for all ELTcation subscribers.