As you learn more about reading development and instruction you may come upon two terms that look quite similar: phonological awareness and phonemic awareness. While the two are often used interchangeably there are slight distinctions between them. … [Read more...]
Effective Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary
Because vocabulary knowledge is critical to reading comprehension, it is important that those working with young readers help foster their development of a large “word bank” and effective vocabulary learning strategies. There are several effective explicit (intentional, planned instruction) and implicit (spontaneous instruction as a child comes to new words in a text) strategies that adults … [Read more...]
Effective Strategies for Teaching Phonemic Awareness
Because phonemic awareness is a necessary pre-requisite to reading, it is important that it is included in early reading or pre-reading instruction. While there are many ways to teach, the following proven strategies should be considered when teaching phonemic awareness to young children. Timing and Grouping Phonemic awareness should be a priority in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and early … [Read more...]
Best Practices in Phonics Instruction
Phonics instruction has become the most controversial of all areas of reading education over the last ten years. Once the only aspect of reading instruction, it has now become one of five important components of reading education … [Read more...]
Reading Fluency and Instruction
As the importance of fluency in reading ability has been recognized more educators are including a fluency component in their reading education programs. There are a number of best practices for helping children develop reading fluency. … [Read more...]
The Relationship Between Reading and Writing
For many years reading and writing were (and sometimes still are) taught separately. Though the two have almost always been taught by the same person (the English/Language Arts teacher) during the Language Arts period or block, educators rarely made explicit connections between the two for their students. … [Read more...]
Strategies to Help Engage Reluctant Readers in Reading
Every parent and teacher wants their children to be avid readers. Because we know the benefits of reading we want our children to embrace it as we have. While a good many children do become excited and engaged in reading (especially in the primary grades), some are reluctant and disinterested. While a child may not show a natural interest in reading, this does not mean that he cannot become a … [Read more...]
What is Reading Comprehension?
Apple banana blue walk tree happy sing. Surely you were able to read each of the words in that sentence and understand what they meant independently. An apple is a fruit that is usually round and red, green or yellow. A banana is another fruit that is yellow. Blue is a color…and so on and so forth. However, when you look at the sentence as a whole, does it make sense? Probably not. This nonsense … [Read more...]
Fostering Reading Comprehension and Retention
One of the most complex mental activities we can engage in is reading. When you look at brain scans taken while the subjects are reading you see many of the areas of the brain lit up with activity. As we read we are simultaneously using our knowledge of sound segments (phonemes) and the connection between sound and letters (phonics) to make meaning of the text (reading comprehension). This last … [Read more...]
What are Sight Words?
Successful readers use a number of tools to help them understand texts. One of the most effective and powerful reading tools that parents and teachers can help children develop is sight word recognition. … [Read more...]
Online Dolch Reading Games & Activities
There are many excellent resources on the Internet for helping children learn to read. Among these are a number of high quality sites devoted to interactive sight word practice and instruction. … [Read more...]
Benefits of Teaching Sight Words
All parents and teachers want their children to be good readers. With so many different approaches to reading instruction choosing strategies and activities to help them develop into strong, confident readers is difficult. To compound the situation today’s kids, parents and teachers are all busy! … [Read more...]
Teaching Kindergarten Reading Comprehension
Beginning reading instruction is an essential part of the kindergarten classroom. Though some students enter school with some basic reading skills, this is a prime period in the children’s development to build the foundation for reading. Kindergarten teachers and parents should focus on all three of the pillars of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics and reading comprehension. This article … [Read more...]
Grade Level Application of Dolch Sight Words
While Dolch created specific lists of sight words to learn at each grade level, each Dolch word list is only meant to provide parents and teachers with a road map and sequence for helping children acquire the words that they will encounter most frequently in their reading. Each list is merely a recommendation. If a child masters all of the words on the grade level list before the end of the school … [Read more...]
