Tips
Reading – Quick Notes and Tips.
Reading development, the early years
1.- Pre-reading stage
- Encourage reading interest with enjoyable experiences, with emphasis on oral expression. This way, you will ensure ss are socially, mentally, emotionally and physically ready to learn to read.
- Oral expression is the focus of instruction, and its development comes out of it.
- Tell short stories to catch ss’ attention and collect phrases and vocabulary.
- Draw pictures or look at photographs to analyse the images.
- Use songs to arrive to a certain grammar, vocabulary or sound point.
2.-Beginning reading
- Make sure ss recognize image and meaning, then go over units and meaning, after that you can go over connecting words and the meaning they take when so.
- Remember to keep instruction and fun balanced.
- Provide ss with lots of modeling.
- Remember that ss feel good about themselves when they can share something they have just learned.
- Mastering the alphabet is crucial, then the more words they can learn the better.
3.- Developing fluency
- Identify and work on words ss can pronounce well.
- Teach ss to identify and understand meaning by considering clues from context.
- Try to match the contents of the lesson to ss real life; it’s for instilling pride of who they are.
4.- Increase reading ability and interest
- Make connections of familiar words with unfamiliar ones.
- Set up a routine to foster reading habits.
- Have in handy plenty of reading options, so that ss can hunt for the ones which look appealing to them.
5.- Enhancing and refining reading skills
- Start to get ss working out main ideas.
- Put the ideas into different scenarios, so ss can develop arguments and support those based on the information in the texts they read – make sure those scenarios can be explored by using previous knowledge.
- Try to get ss using knowledge from reading experience to add to their self-expression.
N’Namdi, K. (2005). Guide to Teaching Reading at the Primary School Level. France: UNESCO.
Enhancing and refining reading skills
Reading comprehension requires pupils to be able to use the language of a text to understand and explain the meaning. Pupils learn how to identify the main ideas in a text and how to analyze and apply the information that they have learned from a text. They are able to develop arguments and support those arguments based on information in the text, other sources of information or previous knowledge. At this stage, there should be more emphasis on non-fiction materials, such a diagrams, maps or encyclopaedias.
The ultimate goal is for pupils to be able to read a text and comprehend its meaning. It is expected that pupils will have a facility with words that aid in communication, the form of communication they use with others and in selfexpression.
Examples of activities:
1.- Creating a board game
2.- Research paper (at level)
N’Namdi, K. (2005). Guide to Teaching Reading at the Primary School Level. France: UNESCO.