Effective Strategies for Teaching Reading

Effective reading teachers use direct instructional methods that teach kids the strategies they need for comprehension. Direct instruction is structured with familiar daily routines. Teachers introduce and explain reading strategies and model the correct procedures for using them. Teachers then guide the class in whole and small group lessons in which the students practice what they've learned. The goal of this type of instruction is to help kids know how to apply strategies when reading independently. Effective reading instruction begins with phonics and progresses along a continuum that includes vocabulary and fluency. Proficiency in these areas are essential for achieving comprehension

Phonics

o Reading instruction begins with phonics and phonological awareness, which is emphasized in Kindergarten and first grade. Teachers focus on letter-naming, sound recognition and production, and decoding or sounding out words. Children learn these skills in whole and small-group activities. Kids are often grouped by ability so teachers can target students according to their instructional level. Phonics instruction is usually embedded in teacher-led activities such as read-alouds and guided reading lessons. Students can begin reading simple texts before they have complete phonological knowledge, but mastery of letter sounds and names is essential for fluency and comprehension.

Fluency

o Fluency is the ability to read accurately, with expression, and at a rate of speed appropriate for comprehension. Fluency instruction begins before kids actually begin to read. Teachers model fluent reading practices when they read aloud to the class. Once kids are reading, fluency is reinforced through practice. Children need to read often in a variety of settings. Paired and group reading as well as choral and echo reading help kids improve fluency.Teachers should provide children with many reading opportunities by maintaining a literacy-rich environment throughout the day. Fluency should be implemented across the curriculum so children can apply their skills to non-fiction texts in other subjects.

Comprehension

o Students learn comprehension skills by applying specific strategies before, during and after reading. Teachers introduce and demonstrate these strategies and help kids learn how to determine the appropriate skill for the reading situation. Predicting, questioning, inferring and summarizing are among the most common strategies students learn. Teachers model each strategy while reading aloud to the class. The teacher stops after reading a few pages and shows the class how to apply the strategy by "thinking aloud". In this process, the teacher predicts, infers or asks questions about the passage they just read by talking to herself. Comments include, "I wonder what I would do if this happened to me?" or "I understand why the girl is sad because my best friend moved away too." This allows kids to "hear" the kind of thinking that should occur while they read.

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