Previously I began discussing the last of the primary level reading classroom instruction. The article began focusing on students and teachers in the second and third grade classrooms. I began giving some details on how reading instruction at these levels should appear. Spelling and Writing At this age, students should be participating in many various writing activities. The teacher should encourage students to write for a variety of reasons and in a variety of forms. The children can take part in reports, poetry, creative stories, personal narratives, and more. The teacher should be pointing out spelling patterns and directing students … Continue reading →

I have been placing a major emphasis on reading in last several articles. Reading is a very important aspect of education, especially in the primary years. My last reading articles focused on reading and the kindergarten classroom. I will now turn my attention to the first grade level of reading. At the first grade level students are ready to take part in more intense reading instruction. At this level students and teachers will work with listening and speaking skills, books and print, alphabet, phonics, spelling, writing, vocabulary, and comprehension. Students in the first grade need many opportunities to speak and … Continue reading →

My huge focus thus far for education has been on reading. There is much more to reading and reading instruction than many parents and some teachers realize. Reading is an integral part of a child’s success and education. In previous articles I have described various areas of reading such as phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. I then began taking you for a look into reading at different grade levels. In one of my more recent articles I gave you some insight on how reading should be carried out in the kindergarten classroom. I also began listing some reading skills that … Continue reading →

My last several articles have focused on reading and aspects that go along with reading. I have focused some many articles on this topic because reading is so crucial to a child’s success in life. While many parents work with their child on reading aspects at home, the early years in school is vital to a child’s reading success. So how does a parent know when his or her child is or is not receiving adequate reading instruction at school? My next few articles will help parents determine what skills children should be learning at particular grade levels. The following … Continue reading →

My previous article about vocabulary ended with giving parents and teacher ideas on which types of words should be taught to children. The first type was important words. Important words are words that are essential to helping children understand a passage of text. In addition to important words there are also other words that teachers and parents tune into when teaching vocabulary to children. Useful words: These are words that children are likely to come across often in other passages of text. Teachers and parents should look for words that are not secluded to one body of text. These are … Continue reading →

Previously we have discussed the steps to beginning to read and factors that lead to better readers. However in many cases I will hear parents or teachers complain that the child reads but does not know or cannot answer questions about what has been read. Understanding the text that was read is reading comprehension. Many feel that reading comprehension is something that must come natural to a child. However reading comprehension can also be taught and strengthened through instruction. Research has indentified six areas that can help improve reading comprehension. Monitoring comprehension: In this area students learn to monitor their … Continue reading →

In a previous article I discussed the importance of reading fluency. The article gave insight into how teachers can instruct students on increasing their reading skills. In the article I discussed reading fluency was not best increased through silent and independent reading. What about silent reading? Fluency is better gained from direct contact with a teacher or other adult. However, most teachers feel that silent reading is important for readers. So how should teachers teach fluency but still keep a handle on silent reading? Use silent reading during times of independent class work time but in the place of reading … Continue reading →

Many beginning teachers and parents confuse phonemic awareness and phonics. They often feel that they are one in the same. However, while the two are closely connected, they are different. When teaching phonics there are many different programs and approaches that can be used. Several of the approaches overlap and intertwine with one another. During phonics instruction the teacher focuses more on the relationship between written letters and spoken sounds. Some different approaches include: Synthetic Phonics: In this approach the students are instructed how to change written terms into sounds to form words. Analytic Phonics: In this form of phonics … Continue reading →