OVERVIEW OF READING
WHAT IS READING?
Reading means many things to many people and has an ever-changing definition. As it is right now, we see reading as “putting the code of our language together in a smooth proficient way that allows the reader to make meaning of the text and build on their own understanding through deep thinking, discussion and writing”.
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Early Literacy Skills include print awareness (concepts of print), letter knowledge (alphabet knowledge), and oral language and are typically learned in the early years.
Print Awareness includes the concepts and structures of text and text features. Importantly, knowing that text carries meaning. Modeling and a large amount of exposure helps here.
Letter Knowledge is the letters, their names, sounds and how to write their symbols. Repetition is the name of this game!
Oral Language is speaking and listening and is the foundation to all literacy. Oral language does not end in early literacy. Giving students the opportunities to talk is critical.
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Phonological Awareness includes the knowledge of the sounds of language and being able to manipulate these sounds. Linking these sounds to the spellings in phonics and applying that to text reading as soon as possible makes it most meaningful.
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Phonics is the relationship between the sounds and their symbols (spellings) of our language. This is the place where the knowledge of the code of our language and the ability to blend that code come together to read words. The code (sound-spellings) and blending those to form words is reading! Text reading is the best practice you can give here in phonics. Read! Read! Read!
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Fluency is reading text so it sounds like talking. It includes three main elements- rate, accuracy, and prosody. When we teach prosody-rate improves, when we teach phonics-accuracy improves. Prosody is the important element for teachers to teach in Fluency. Like phonics, text reading is the best practice for fluency improvement.
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Vocabulary is where we learn the meanings of words. Students not only need to know how to read words, they also need to know what those words mean. Learning word meanings is best done when words come from texts students are reading and engaging students in interactive ways which include reading, writing, and speaking.
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Comprehension, defined VERY simply, is gaining understanding from text using strategies, text structures and our own knowledge. We gain or adjust our own understanding through reading and discussing text. This process requires reading, stopping, thinking, talking, and writing in various ways, with various groupings, and for various purposes. When we are able to read a text and discuss or write deeply about what we have read, we have comprehended it!
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Writing is constructing unique texts from one's understanding and experiences. We use the writing process and text genres to construct these new texts. It is often a long and messy process. When done thoroughly, we go through many versions, with reading, writing, talking, and writing some more as we make changes. Spelling and grammar have meaning within writing these new texts. Although writing is not a reading component, you read to write and write to read!
YOU CAN BE AN EFFECTIVE TEACHER
There are many years of research that guide us to know what is working better than other instructional practices. The bottom line is that EXPLICIT, SYSTEMATIC, LITERACY INSTRUCTION IS EFFECTIVE.
EXPLICIT
When we are explicit in our instruction, we do a good job making what is not known, known. We spend a large amount of our time planning the deep thinking and the ways we will help our students gain that deep thinking for themselves. This deep thinking focus, and “thinking teaching” will help a teacher become more explicit. You find explicit ways to think-aloud your own thinking and provide ways to support them in trying out their own thinking until they are proficient thinkers for themselves!
GRADUAL RELEASE
Gradual release of instruction is critical for explicit instruction. It helps us remember to provide not only the I Do/Model/Think-aloud, but after that, to provide enough guided practice before we have them hold more of the responsibility of the thinking for themselves. Once we have provided the support and opportunities necessary for the learning to take hold, then they can do it independently with proficiency!
SYSTEMATIC
Systematic is the scope and sequence or order in which we teach our content or curriculum. In many cases we follow a Core Reading Program, but even with some programs, we may need to realign the content for a more systematic order. The order that is best for students is one that follows a more simple to more complex build. Things that are needed before you move to other, more difficult, items should be taught first. As you prepare your curriculum, make sure the scope and sequence is systematic and makes sense!
Why should you be implementing RTI/MTSS?
Response to Intervention and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support are models that both provide high quality literacy instruction.
Watch our video to learn more.
“Teaching every component - everyday - in Tier 1, explicitly and systematically with explicitness, allows a teacher to utilize a Tiered system easily.”