Teaching Reading Skills
1) Read aloud to students as much as possible.
Reading aloud to students frequently will increase their skills in reading fluency and comprehension. It exposes them to vocabulary and helps them to interiorize language structures that they'll apply to their own reading. Reading aloud is additionally an excellent way to get students calmed down before a transition in lessons. select fascinating, age-appropriate books to read to students. Younger students (kindergarten-2nd grade) can get pleasure from stories with colorful photos. As students move through the elementary grades, you'll select longer chapter books that are centered around their interests. As students begin to develop reading fluency, encourage them to read aloud in class too.
2) Teach phonics and decoding.
Letter-to-sound recognition is a crucial skill to learn for beginning and struggling readers. Accurate and fluent word recognition depends on phonics knowledge. The younger grades in particular (2nd grade and below) can benefit from regular reviews on phonics and practicing the sounds that each letter can make.Learning the rules of certain letter combinations in English (for instance “ea” usually sounds like long “ee”) is also highly beneficial for beginning readers, after the basic alphabet sounds are learned.By the end of 2nd grade, students should be able to decode almost any unfamiliar word in their texts so they can attend to uncovering the meaning of the word.
3) Teach target sight words.
Sight words are the most commonly occurring words in children’s books by reading level. Words like “to,” “and,” and “it” occur in preschool level books, and move up to words like “never,” “better,” and “laugh” in 3rd grade level books. What is known as Dolch word list outlines the 220 most commonly occurring words in children’s literature.Teach sight words with pictures. Many learners think in pictures, and whether we realize it or not, we often visualize what we are learning to help solidify the information in our memories.Practice listening to, saying, and repeating the sight words. Have students listen to sight words while you show them the words on flash cards. Have them repeat the words after you.Review current sight words in books, music, and games. Exposing students to sight words as many times as possible and in many contexts will help them to really learn them.
4 ) Have books of interest available for independent reading.
The best way to promote independent reading is to have a classroom library (or use the school library regularly) that has many books on varied topics. There are countless lists of popular, current, age-appropriate children’s literature available through schools, bookstores, and on the web.Offer time for silent reading in class for students to read a book of their choice. In the older grades (starting in 2nd or 3rd grade) incorporate a reading log with short written book reports for each book that they finish during the independent sessions.
5) Plan units that incorporate all aspects of the language arts together.
Reading, writing, speaking, and listening do not each exist in a vacuum within a thriving language arts classroom. Books are read together and talked about, and writing assignments are created based on the reading, and then writing assignments are read aloud and talked about. Plan units that incorporate all the skills and assignments that build off of each other.
Part Two of Four:
Executing Writing Lessons
1) Make daily time for writing.
It is recommended that students are allowed at least one hour for writing each day. This hour can be split up in other content area classes too (science and social studies), but much of the time will be in language arts class. Stress the importance of writing by giving students time every day to write.Time for writing can range from short journal prompts in the beginning of class, to time in class to work on longer assignments and projects.Time for writing can include free writing, or can be targeted for learning specific skills (handwriting, spelling, grammar). The most important part is that students are writing every day.
It is recommended that students are allowed at least one hour for writing each day. This hour can be split up in other content area classes too (science and social studies), but much of the time will be in language arts class. Stress the importance of writing by giving students time every day to write.Time for writing can range from short journal prompts in the beginning of class, to time in class to work on longer assignments and projects.Time for writing can include free writing, or can be targeted for learning specific skills (handwriting, spelling, grammar). The most important part is that students are writing every day.
2) Create interesting, varied assignments.
Especially for longer assignments or projects, offer students choices for prompts. If the class is writing about a certain book, provide a number of prompts about different characters or plot points for them to choose from, or allow them to modify one of your prompts. Students will be more engaged with their writing and will want to produce good writing if they care about their topic.
3) Teach authentic spelling and grammar lessons.
One of the best ways to teach spelling and grammar is to use student writing as examples. After students turn in a piece of writing, make notes to yourself about the most common mistakes that you see. Create a lesson based on correcting this type of mistake, and use the student writing as the examples in your direct instruction (students should remain anonymous of course; you can type the incorrect sentences out on your own document, pulling from several students’ examples). Share the examples and correct the mistakes together on the board or projector, discussing why the mistakes are mistakes.
4) Share your own writing.
Modeling writing is a great way to increase student confidence in their own writing. You can draft shorter pieces of writing out loud in front of them, or write a longer piece similar to something they are working on and then share it with them. Students will enjoy hearing you share your writing and discussing it afterward.
5) Provide opportunity to give and receive feedback.
Students want to know about what others think of their writing. They need to know whether their writing is accurately and appropriately conveying its message. Teachers should provide oral and written feedback through comments and rubrics because this is an important part of the writing process for students. Students should also have the chance to peer review their classmates’ work. Creating a peer review sheet for students to fill out as they read a classmate’s work is a good way to keep them focused on what to look for during peer review sessions.[9]
Part Three of Four:
Using Accountable Talk in the Classroom
1) Be a guiding facilitator.
Speaking and listening is an important part of not only language arts classes, but also other content area classes. However, opening up discussions to be more than the typical call-and-response method (teacher asks a question, one student responds) is important to practice particularly in language arts class.The best advice on guiding facilitation is to ask open-ended questions to which the asker doesn’t necessarily know the answerStudents should be encouraged to talk to each other, to know that there is not one particular correct answer, and to use text-based evidence when making statements about literature.It should be made clear to students that the purpose of class discussions is not to find out that they have all the right answers, but to explore the themes and aspects of the literature together.
Speaking and listening is an important part of not only language arts classes, but also other content area classes. However, opening up discussions to be more than the typical call-and-response method (teacher asks a question, one student responds) is important to practice particularly in language arts class.The best advice on guiding facilitation is to ask open-ended questions to which the asker doesn’t necessarily know the answerStudents should be encouraged to talk to each other, to know that there is not one particular correct answer, and to use text-based evidence when making statements about literature.It should be made clear to students that the purpose of class discussions is not to find out that they have all the right answers, but to explore the themes and aspects of the literature together.
2) Ask the right questions.
As a guiding facilitator, your job is to present students not only with basic comprehension questions, but also with complex, higher-order thinking questions that get them involved in the text. This can be done even in the early grades after reading a book. Questions beginning with, “Why does the author believe that ___?” and “What have you encountered that makes you think about ___?” are some starter recommendations.Keep discussions going. Ask students to build on what someone else said, or prompt them by saying “Tell me more about that.”Ask students to consider different perspectives on their statements, convince the class they are right, make predictions about what could happen next in the story, compare how their thoughts are the same or different from others, and summarize what they’ve learned from the discussion.Avoid trick questions, sarcasm, questions with obvious answers, yes-or-no questions, asking multiple questions before allowing time for response, and inadequate wait time (3-5 seconds) before changing the question or asking it again.
3) Post rules for classroom discussion.
Younger students will need some guidance on respectful discussion. Have the class make the rules together, using examples like “Stay respectful,” “Listen to others’ opinions,” “Look at who is speaking,” and “Piggyback off others’ ideas.” Post the rules in a visible place in the room and remind students of the rules before starting a discussion.[12]
Part Four of Four:
Developing Classroom Community
1) Make lessons for different learning styles.
Children (as well as adults) learn in many different ways: there are visual learners (people who learn best seeing things written down or with pictures and diagrams), auditory learners (people who learn best by hearing people talk), and kinesthetic learners (people who learn best through movement and by doing a task). There are also people who have strengths in spatial concepts, music, and interpersonal skills.Find out where your students’ strengths lie by having them take a learning style inventory in the beginning of the year.Try to use as many possible models of teaching to cover all bases. Use visuals, lectures, activities, music, group projects, etc. to accommodate the various learning styles of your students.
2) Create a safe space.
Students need to feel safe physically and emotionally in order to learn. They need to know that you will not tolerate fighting, bullying, or any other disrespect of students. All student deserve equal chances to learn, and learning cannot be disrupted by negative energy. Model respect for your students, and teach them to show respect to one another.
3) Plan group activities and assignments.
Give students opportunities to work with one another on projects. Sometimes students will not want to work with other particular students. Encourage them to treat everyone with respect and let them know that it is good practice to work with students they may not get along with, because in the real world they will have to work with all different people. Try to bridge gaps and work out issues that students have with one another by helping them find common ground with each other.
Source: wikipedia with some extracts on my own.
