Parents are their child’s first and most important teacher. It’s almost impossible to overestimate the tremendous impact parents have on their child’s reading success. Throughout the first years of school, teachers are helping your child develop reading skills that will enable him or her to become a proficient reader. But make no mistake, learning to read takes practice, practice and more … [Read more...]
About Pam Marshall
Pam Marshall is a retired middle school teacher with a M.Ed. in Middle School Science education and is a certified Literacy instructor. Writing is her passion and she currently works as a freelance copywriter delivering compelling sales copy and content for small business owners. She is thrilled to use her writing talents to support her favorite causes, education being chief among them all.
Content Area Reading And The Importance Of Skillful Reading Comprehension
What was the last thing you read before you began reading this article? Was it a chapter in a novel? A recipe? An analytical report? Your favorite blog? Though you probably didn’t realize it, you used a certain reading strategy to gather meaning based on the genre of the text. For instance, reading a novel employees a different skill set than what you may use to read a technical … [Read more...]
Reading Comprehension and Higher Order Thinking Skills
When children first learn to read, much of their effort is focused on decoding and pronouncing each word correctly. While this kind of phonetic interpretation is essential, in order to become proficient readers students have to be able to understand the meaning of what they read. This not only requires comprehension skills but ultimately good thinking skills. As students grow into mature … [Read more...]
Reading Comprehension and Fluency
Though you may not be familiar with the technicalities of reading fluency, you probably know a fluent reader when you hear one. They have the ability to read smoothly, with intonation and expression, and at the same speed you would use when talking. They are a joy to listen to, yet many adults and even more children have yet to become proficient in fluent reading. But that could … [Read more...]
The Importance of Reading Comprehension
Imagine your employer has just handed you an important document to read and tells you he expects a summary of the material on his desk by tomorrow. You take a look and see it is written in a language totally foreign to you. After your initial confusion, you may try to make some sense of it and scan the document. While you may be able to the phonetically decipher the words and sound them out, … [Read more...]
Synonyms and Antonyms
Imagine for a moment how dull the world would be if there were only one word to voice a particular thought. If every person, place, or object could only be expressed with the same word over and over again then reading, writing, and speaking would be extremely boring. Luckily, we have synonyms and antonyms to add spice and flavor to our communication skills. What Are Synonyms? Synonyms are … [Read more...]
Superlative Adverbs
“Of all the girls at the ball, Priscilla was dressed most beautifully.” In the above sentence, most beautifully is an adverb form that describes the verb dressed. I could have simply stated that Priscilla was beautifully dressed or that she was dressed more beautifully than Erica. But since I wanted readers to know that her manner of dress far exceeded any other, I used a special type of … [Read more...]
Superlative Adjectives
“Mom’s apple pie is the best dessert at the party.” The word best in the above sentence is an adjective that describes the word dessert. I could have said that mom’s apple pie is a good dessert or that her pie is better than Aunt Susie’s. Instead, by using the special type of adjective best I was able to let the readers know that mom’s apple pie surpassed all desserts in the group. … [Read more...]
Punctuation
Many people are confident and proficient writers but when it comes to punctuating their prose their self-assuredness starts to crumble. There really isn’t any reason to get all wimpy about it because punctuation isn’t that difficult. Seriously. Don’t let the “Rules of Punctuation” stifle your flow. Here you can develop a feel for how punctuation works. The Period Without question, the … [Read more...]
Proper Adjectives
You’re probably aware that proper nouns are words that name a specific person, object, or place. You probably also know that proper nouns are always capitalized. But did you know that adjectives are sometimes proper, too? Read on to find out more about proper adjectives. What are Proper Adjectives? The vast majority of adjectives are common adjectives just as the majority of nouns are common … [Read more...]
Reflexive Pronouns
“I saw myself reflected in her eyes.” No, the above sentence isn’t a sappy love song lyric. It’s an example of a particular kind of pronoun called a reflexive pronoun. Unfamiliar with reflexive pronouns? Read on to find out all you need to know about them. What Are Reflexive Pronouns? Reflexive pronouns are pronouns that refer back to the subject of the sentence or clause. They either … [Read more...]
Relative Pronouns
Many sentences in the English language are really two clauses linked together. There can be a main clause and a relative clause. Look at these two sentences. This is a cake. Mary baked this cake. We can do a little tweaking and turn the clauses into one sentence. Like this: This is the cake that Mary baked. The clause that Mary baked is called a relative clause and it’s linked to the main … [Read more...]
Indefinite Pronouns
Some pronouns are definite in that they replace a specific noun or another pronoun. But sometimes things aren’t so clear-cut. We don’t need to refer to anything or anyone definite. So what do we do for a pronoun? In those cases we use indefinite pronouns. What are Indefinite Pronouns? As the name suggests indefinite pronouns are pronouns that are not definite in meaning. In other words … [Read more...]
Reciprocal Pronouns
The term “reciprocate” means to give in return. This definition will serve you well as you learn about a type of pronoun called reciprocal pronoun. What Are Reciprocal Pronouns A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun used to identify an action or feeling that is reciprocated. For this reason, it always refers to more than one person. For example, Anne is waving to Sean and Sean is waving to … [Read more...]
Possessive Pronouns
“Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands. —Shakespeare.” In case you’re wondering, we’re not about to delve into a literary discussion on Shakespeare’s Othello. We’re talking about pronouns here, after all. But have a close look at the italicized pronouns in the above quote. Though they look like ordinary possessive pronouns, they are actually a special class called … [Read more...]
