Reading

I find that with some longer reading passages, that if you give the students time to read it in class, many of them won't actually do it, or they'll just skim on through and not put any effort into it and won't be able to remember anything. So I will almost always make it into a game, with some reward at the end. I'll give the students some allotted amount of time to read the passage, and then at the end of that time, they will have to close their books. I will ask questions, based upon the reading and the students will put up their hands if they know the answer. I'll usually pick the first person to put up their hand, and also try to get as many students answering as possible. Correct answer=one point. The one or two students with the most points at the end of the class gets a prize/stamp/whatever reward system you have.

The first time, it's usually only the 4 or 5 top students who will read closely enough to be able to participate. But the next time, almost everyone will be reading closely enough to be able to answer questions.