Teacher reading to kids

Teaching children to read isn’t easy. How do kids actually learn to read?

Teaching kids to read isn’t easy; educators often feel strongly about what they think is the “right” way to teach this essential skill. Though teachers’ approaches may differ, the research is pretty clear on how best to help kids learn to read. Here’s what parents should look for in their children’s classroom.

How do kids actually learn how to read?

Research shows kids learn to read when they are able to identify letters or combinations of letters and connect those letters to sounds. There’s more to it, of course, like attaching meaning to words and phrases, but phonemic awareness (understanding sounds in spoken words) and an understanding of phonics (knowing that letters in print correspond to sounds) are the most basic first steps to becoming a reader.

If children can’t master phonics, they are more likely to struggle to read. That’s why researchers say explicit, systematic instruction in phonics is important: Teachers must lead students step by step through a specific sequence of letters and sounds. Kids who learn how to decode words can then apply that skill to more challenging words and ultimately read with fluency. Some kids may not need much help with phonics, especially as they get older, but experts say phonics instruction can be essential for young children and struggling readers “We don’t know how much phonics each kid needs,” said Anders Rasmussen, principal of Wood Road Elementary School in Ballston Spa, New York, who recently led the transformation of his schools’ reading program to a research-based, structured approach. “But we know no kid is hurt by getting too much of it.”

How should your child’s school teach reading?

Timothy Shanahan, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an expert on reading instruction, said phonics are important in kindergarten through second grade and phonemic awareness should be explicitly taught in kindergarten and first grade. This view has been underscored by experts in recent years as the debate over reading instruction has intensified. But teaching kids how to read should include more than phonics, said Shanahan. They should also be exposed to oral reading, reading comprehension and writing.

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Wiley Blevins, an author and expert on phonics, said a good test parents can use to determine whether a child is receiving research-based reading instruction is to ask their child’s teacher how reading is taught. “They should be able to tell you something more than ‘by reading lots of books’ and ‘developing a love of reading.’ ” Blevins said. Along with time dedicated to teaching phonics, Blevins said children should participate in read-alouds with their teacher to build vocabulary and content knowledge. “These read-alouds must involve interactive conversations to engage students in thinking about the content and using the vocabulary,” he said. “Too often, when time is limited, the daily read-alouds are the first thing left out of the reading time. We undervalue its impact on reading growth and must change that.”

Rasmussen’s school uses a structured approach: Children receive lessons in phonemic awareness, phonics, pre-writing and writing, vocabulary and repeated readings. Research shows this type of “systematic and intensive” approach in several aspects of literacy can turn children who struggle to read into average or above-average readers.

What should schools avoid when teaching reading?

Educators and experts say kids should be encouraged to sound out words, instead of guessing. “We really want to make sure that no kid is guessing,” Rasmussen said. “You really want … your own kid sounding out words and blending words from the earliest level on.” That means children are not told to guess an unfamiliar word by looking at a picture in the book, for example. As children encounter more challenging texts in later grades, avoiding reliance on visual cues also supports fluent reading. “When they get to ninth grade and they have to read “Of Mice and Men,” there are no picture cues,” Rasmussen said.

Related: Teacher Voice: We need phonics, along with other supports, for reading

Blevins and Shanahan caution against organizing books by different reading levels and keeping students at one level until they read with enough fluency to move up to the next level. Although many people may think keeping students at one level will help prevent them from getting frustrated and discouraged by difficult texts, research shows that students actually learn more when they are challenged by reading materials.

Blevins said reliance on “leveled books” can contribute to “a bad habit in readers.” Because students can’t sound out many of the words, they rely on memorizing repeated words and sentence patterns, or on using picture clues to guess words. Rasmussen said making kids stick with one reading level — and, especially, consistently giving some kids texts that are below grade level, rather than giving them supports to bring them to grade level — can also lead to larger gaps in reading ability.

How do I know if a reading curriculum is effective?

Some reading curricula cover more aspects of literacy than others. While almost all programs have some research-based components, the structure of a program can make a big difference, said Rasmussen. Watching children read is the best way to tell if they are receiving proper instruction — explicit, systematic instruction in phonics to establish a foundation for reading, coupled with the use of grade-level texts, offered to all kids.

Parents who are curious about what’s included in the curriculum in their child’s classroom can find sources online, like a chart included in an article by Readingrockets.org which summarizes the various aspects of literacy, including phonics, writing and comprehension strategies, in some of the most popular reading curricula.

Blevins also suggested some questions parents can ask their child’s teacher:

• What is your phonics scope and sequence?

“If research-based, the curriculum must have a clearly defined phonics scope and sequence that serves as the spine of the instruction. ” Blevins said.

• Do you have decodable readers (short books with words composed of the letters and sounds students are learning) to practice phonics?

“If no decodable or phonics readers are used, students are unlikely to get the amount of practice and application to get to mastery so they can then transfer these skills to all reading and writing experiences,” Blevins said. “If teachers say they are using leveled books, ask how many words can students sound out based on the phonics skills (teachers) have taught … Can these words be fully sounded out based on the phonics skills you taught or are children only using pieces of the word? They should be fully sounding out the words — not using just the first or first and last letters and guessing at the rest.”

• What are you doing to build students’ vocabulary and background knowledge? How frequent is this instruction? How much time is spent each day doing this?

“It should be a lot,” Blevins said, “and much of it happens during read-alouds, especially informational texts, and science and social studies lessons. ”

• Is the research used to support your reading curriculum just about the actual materials, or does it draw from a larger body of research on how children learn to read? How does it connect to the science of reading?

Teachers should be able to answer these questions, said Blevins.

What should I do if my child isn’t progressing in reading?

When a child isn’t progressing, Blevins said, the key is to find out why. “Is it a learning challenge or is your child a curriculum casualty? This is a tough one.” Blevins suggested that parents of kindergarteners and first graders ask their child’s school to test the child’s phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency.

Parents of older children should ask for a test of vocabulary. “These tests will locate some underlying issues as to why your child is struggling reading and understanding what they read,” Blevins said. “Once underlying issues are found, they can be systematically addressed. ”

“We don’t know how much phonics each kid needs. But we know no kid is hurt by getting too much of it.”

Anders Rasmussen, principal of Wood Road Elementary School in Ballston Spa, New York

Rasmussen recommended parents work with their school if they are concerned about their children’s progress. By sitting and reading with their children, parents can see the kind of literacy instruction the kids are receiving. If children are trying to guess based on pictures, parents can talk to teachers about increasing phonics instruction.

“Teachers aren’t there doing necessarily bad things or disadvantaging kids purposefully or willfully,” Rasmussen said. “You have many great reading teachers using some effective strategies and some ineffective strategies.”

What can parents do at home to help their children learn to read?

Parents want to help their kids learn how to read but don’t want to push them to the point where they hate reading. “Parents at home can fall into the trap of thinking this is about drilling their kid,” said Cindy Jiban, a former educator and current principal academic lead at NWEA, a research-based non-profit focused on assessments and professional learning opportunities. “This is unfortunate,” Jiban said. “It sets up a parent-child interaction that makes it, ‘Ugh, there’s this thing that’s not fun.’” Instead, Jiban advises making decoding playful. Here are some ideas:

• Challenge kids to find everything in the house that starts with a specific sound.
• Stretch out one word in a sentence. Ask your child to “pass the salt” but say the individual sounds in the word “salt” instead of the word itself.
• Ask your child to figure out what every family member’s name would be if it started with a “b” sound.
• Sing that annoying “Banana fana fo fanna song.” Jiban said that kind of playful activity can actually help a kid think about the sounds that correspond with letters even if they’re not looking at a letter right in front of them.
• Read your child’s favorite book over and over again. For books that children know well, Jiban suggests that children use their finger to follow along as each word is read. Parents can do the same, or come up with another strategy to help kids follow which words they’re reading on a page.

Giving a child diverse experiences that seem to have nothing to do with reading can also help a child’s reading ability. By having a variety of experiences, Rasmussen said, children will be able to apply their own knowledge to better comprehend texts about various topics.

This story about teaching children to read was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.

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10 Easy Steps to Teach Kids to Read

Teachers want their students to be successful in life, and one of the most important things for a child’s future is literacy. Reading is the foundation for all learning, and kids must learn how to read as early as possible. But teaching kids to read can be a daunting task – especially if you don’t know where to start.

Don’t worry, though! We’ve got you covered. This blog post will outline ten simple steps to help teachers teach kids to read. But first, let’s take a look at why reading is so essential.

Take me straight to the 10 easy steps!

Related Reading: Best Teaching Strategies for 2022

Reading is one of the essential skills a person can possess. It is necessary for success in school, and it is a prerequisite for many careers. In addition, reading allows people to learn about new things, explore other cultures, and understand the world around them.

So, how can teachers help their children become readers? Let’s discuss some fantastic techniques!

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds in words. This is an essential skill for reading, and it can be taught very early on. In fact, many schools start teaching phonemic awareness as early as kindergarten.

There are several activities that teachers can use to help kids develop phonemic awareness. For example, teachers can have students clap out the sounds in words, identify and spell rhyming words, and segment words into individual sounds.

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Sight words are the most common words in the English language, and they must be learned to read fluently. Teaching sight words can be tricky because there is no one set way to do it. However, there are a few general tips that teachers can follow.

One of the best ways to teach sight words is to use flashcards. Flashcards allow students to see and say the word several times, which helps them learn it better. In addition, teachers can use games and activities to help students learn sight words.

Letter sounds are the individual sounds that letters make. Teaching letter sounds is another essential step in teaching kids to read. This can be done in various ways, but one of the most effective methods is to use flashcards.

Teachers can also use songs and rhymes to help students learn letter sounds. Songs and rhymes are fun to learn, and they allow students to remember information better.

Word families are groups of words that have the same ending letter sound. Teaching word families is a great way to help kids learn new words. In addition, it helps them understand how words are related to each other.

There are several ways that teachers can teach word families. One way is to use flashcards. Another way is to use word family charts. Charts allow students to see how the different words are related to each other.

Stories are a great way to teach kids to read. They provide contextual clues and help kids understand what they are reading. In addition, stories are fun and exciting, which helps kids stay engaged in the learning process.

One of the best ways to get kids interested in reading is to make it fun. Try different activities such as reading aloud, reading together, and reading challenges.

In addition, let kids read books they are interested in and provide various reading materials such as magazines, comics, and books. There are also different reading games offered by SplashLearn that can make reading more fun for kids.

Kids learn to read best when they are allowed to practice and experiment independently. Encourage your child to read independently by setting aside time each day to read and provide various materials. Be sure to praise your child for their efforts and successes, no matter how small.

One of the most important things you can do as a parent is to help your child understand what they are reading. This can be done by asking questions about the text, discussing the characters and plot, and connecting what is read to the child’s own experiences.

Related Reading: Benefits of Reading Aloud in Classrooms 

Context clues are words or phrases in a text that help explain the meaning of unknown words. Teaching kids to use context clues is an essential step in reading comprehension.

There are several ways that teachers can help students learn how to use context clues. One way is to provide them with a list of context clue words. Another way is to use word maps. Word maps help students see how the different parts of a word are related to each other.

It is crucial to monitor your child’s reading progress and make sure they are making adequate progress. One way to do this is to keep track of what words your child can read and what words they are still working on. In addition, be sure to ask your child questions about the text they are reading to check their comprehension.

With these ten simple steps, you can help kids become a reader in no time! Reading is an essential life skill, and with the right tools and techniques, you can make sure your child masters it. Be sure to praise your students for their efforts and successes, and don’t forget to have fun while reading together!

Related Reading: How to Build Effective Project-Based Learning Plans for Classrooms

How can I help my students understand what they are reading?

One of the best ways to help kids understand what they are reading is to discuss the text with them. Ask questions about the characters and plot, and connect what is read to the child’s own experiences. In addition, please provide them with a list of context clue words.

When do you consider a child to be a reader?

There is no one answer to this question, as reading proficiency varies from child to child. However, a good rule of thumb is to consider a child to be a reader when they are able to read fluently and understand what they are reading.

How can poems entice reluctant readers?

Poems can be a great way to get reluctant readers interested in reading. One way to do this is to read the poem aloud and have students follow along. In addition, ask questions about the poem to help students understand it better. Finally, connect the poem to the child’s own experiences.

What are some reading strategies that can help my students?

There are a variety of reading strategies that can help students become better readers. Some strategies include using context clues, asking questions about the text, and monitoring reading progress. In addition, teachers can use word maps to help students see how the different parts of a word are related to each other.

How can phonological awareness help children become better readers?

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and identify the individual sounds that makeup words. Teaching phonological awareness is an essential step in reading instruction. There are a variety of ways that teachers can help students learn about phonology. One way is to provide students with word cards. Another way is to use phonemic cueing.

What should I do if my students are struggling with reading?

If your students are struggling with reading, it is important to find out the root of the problem. One way to do this is by using a reading assessment. Once the problem has been identified, teachers can provide students with the appropriate interventions. In addition, it is important to monitor the child’s progress and make sure they are making adequate progress.

Is silent reading better for students than reading aloud?

Some students prefer silent reading, while others prefer reading aloud. It is important to allow students to choose the type of reading that works best for them. However, teachers need to provide both types of reading so that all students have the opportunity to experience both.

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A teacher reads a book to children in a kindergarten class. Stock Photo No. 18784689, photographer Sergey Novikov / Photo Bank Lori

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