Reading is a fundamental skill that children should acquire in their primary years in order to understand the world around them and pursue further knowledge. The National Council of Teachers of English recommend twelve standards including understanding perspectives, exploring genres, implementing strategies, identifying words, recognizing text features, using communication, conducting research, incorporating resources, respecting diversity, initiating participation, applying skills, and writing in multiple styles. Below are sections on each standard with corresponding strategies that have proven successful for me in classrooms comprised of students with various learning styles and aptitudes.
Let’s begin with identifying words since children must meet this standard to begin reading. Drawing upon prior knowledge of their spoken language guide children through sounding out individual letters, then combinations of letters and finally put those letters together to form words. When instructed using a pattern format (hat, cat, bat, mat, sat), children begin to recognize the similarities and differences amongst words. Write the h, c, b, m, s letters in one color and the -at ending in another color so the change in words visually pops. Play with letter cutouts to make new words. Find words in larger words. Take apart words isolating the root and change prefixes and suffixes. Play Scrabble. Read rhyming books. Make alliterations, word wheels, and word slides. Label everything in the room and create a word wall with high frequency and sight vocabulary words to help children develop instant recognition. Clap out and divide syllables. Introduce the dictionary. Allow children to talk about their discoveries.
Many elementary school children are already familiar with text features. Watch any student open a book. He/she typically knows how to hold the book upright and to read from left to right. This is most likely the result of watching other people read. Build upon this familiarity and explore reading selections in more depth. Sentences can be broken down into parts of speech and read aloud with emphasis based on punctuation. Use the Amelia Bedelia series to point out that words have different meanings depending on the context. Move on to more activities about homonyms, homographs, and homophones. Copy sentences onto strips of paper and look at the arrangement of letters, words, and punctuation. Remove certain letters, words, and punctuation and have children try to fix the sentence. How are the sentences organized in the book? Explain about paragraphs. Write a silly sentence using no capitals, spaces, or punctuation. Students will quickly learn that all are necessary to make reading easier. Look at graphics using non-fiction books. What things do the children notice (side bars, pictures, bold text, italicized text, quotation marks, index, glossary, captions, table of contents)? Have students select a book they like based on how it is organized and share why.
Once students are familiar with sounding out words and how books are organized, they need to implement skills like comprehending, interpreting, evaluating, and appreciating reading selections. Recalling facts of who, what, where, when, why, and how is a skill that can be accomplished by reading small sections at a time, rereading the same story book, writing down important information on post-it notes, summarizing in a notebook, drawing pictures, highlighting, and underlining. Set aside time for students to explain in their own words what is going on in the story. Some activities that demonstrate the ability to interpret are completing summaries, filling in story maps, creating comic strips, and contributing to discussions. Students can show the evaluate skill by writing down questions and answers to questions as follows: What is the purpose of this reading selection? Is the information presented true/false, opinion/fact, or inform/entertain)? Questions also reveal students abilities to appreciate. What did I like or dislike about the story and why? Why should others read the selection? How does it influence me? Is it important? Who is the author’s intended audience?
Through read alouds, discussions and journal writing, give students opportunities to apply skills using language structure and conventions. Provide ample lessons for elementary students to speak, listen, and write so conventions, style, and vocabulary can be practiced in meaningful situations. Begin each morning with a ‘Fix It’. Write an incorrect sentence on the board. Read it aloud incorrectly. Then, have children fix it until it looks and sounds correct. Most students can hear the problems easier than visually notice mistakes. Then, move on to making the sentences more interesting. Nice is not nice! Introduce the thesaurus and put up words all around room that mean the same thing. Explore how using antonyms, punctuation and parts of speech can change the meaning of a sentence. Put words and punctuation on index cards. Shuffle them up and have students make up sentences to share with the class. List the children’s favorite words on a ‘Words that Wow Us!’ bulletin board.
Explore genres separately via “genre study” units. For example if studying poetry, read examples of different types of poems to the children. Provide multiple books demonstrating the poetry genre that students can look through at their leisure. Have them make up their own poems and present to the class. Hang student work and copy for a classroom poetry book. If studying autobiographies, have students write about themselves and compile facts into ‘All About Me’ books. These project ideas can be adjusted to accommodate abilities in the early and upper elementary grades.
Some bookstores and libraries have entire sections dedicated to multicultural literature. If not, look through the school’s curriculum and see how this topic of respecting diversity can be intertwined into perhaps a social studies lesson on community and/or culture. Students can do a project on their ethnic background and share with the class information on languages, dialects, and geographic regions. Host a multicultural festival right in the classroom. Some students may even want to wear traditional clothing. If children do not have access to an entire outfit, they could make one on poster board paper to hang on the front of their bodies.
Introduce libraries, databases, and computers to students. Show them how to use each resource. If possible, plan field trips and let children work in groups helping each other navigate helpful tools. Children love to show each other what they know. Many schools have access to computers that will read text to children. There are also software programs that provide practice pronouncing letters and words as well as making sentences. Incorporating these resources is a wonderful way to help struggling and advancing students as all can be modified according to ability.
Early elementary students may still be at a stage where they see the world from only their point of view. The idea that other people have different perspectives can be explored by looking at conflict, one is sure to arise. Each student will give a different story because they come from different perspectives. When this happens, take advantage of the ‘teachable moment’. Share with children primary and secondary stories. Tell them about an event you attended and then read them an article from the newspaper on the event. Ask them, “How is my version different?”
Differing points of view can also be addressed playing the telephone game, conducting debates, and putting themselves in someone else’s shoes. Use the example of birds and squirrels. Many people get upset when squirrels eat the birdseed. Tell the story of the backyard conflict from a squirrel perspective.
Encourage elementary students to read silently and aloud. Give them varied opportunities to explore reading in formal and informal settings. Praise children when they actively point out literacy skills and strategies. Let students brainstorm literacy activities requiring them to bring a project from beginning to end trying to incorporate all the reading skills to make the process meaningful for children.
The project can include gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing information. Have children declare the purpose of their writing project. Who is their intended audience? Early elementary students can write directly in their journals and should include illustrations, but upper elementary students should follow a more formal research process. They should use different colored note cards for different categories. This strategy will enable them to shuffle note cards into an appropriate order (beginning, middle, end). It will be easier to notice if any information missing. Make an outline. Write out a rough draft. Is who, what where, when, why, and how answered? Conference with students to see what skills they have mastered and what skills still require additional instruction.
Allow for informal and formal writing assignments. Make sure children understand that not every written piece goes to a final draft. It is important for children to get their ideas down and focus on conventions at a later time. Provide assignments and activities that require students to write in multiple styles – narrative, expository, and persuasive. Celebrate the written work by letting them read their writing aloud.
Through class discussions, model for students how to properly share information with language. Explain how to give and receive constructive criticism. Review with children why feedback and communication with other individuals is important.
Unfortunately, school districts often require teachers to adhere to one specific reading curriculum, but creative educators figure out ways to integrate strategies that work best for their students. Two well-known reading instructional methods responsible for controversy over the years amongst educators are whole language and phonics. Depending on whom you speak with, both techniques have their advantages and disadvantages. Many schools across the United States have adopted a somewhat combination of the programs called Balanced Literacy.
I simply use whatever strategies work because research indicates that if the ‘language neurons’ do not fire, they will eventually deactivate making it quite difficult for individuals to acquire effective reading skills. Since children learn by doing, they should use language often in many different ways. Elementary students should practice reading strategies daily in school and at home. A teacher or adult should model reading skills for children. Then, let them practice, practice, practice!
For more information, visit the many websites that offer tips, practice, and/or reading selections for elementary school students. Jan Brett, a renowned children’s author, has activities on her site that mainly revolve around animals which always seem to fascinate children. At American Folklore children can read tales from different states and regions around the world. Wired for Books provides stories ranging from The Tale of Peter Rabbit to Alice in Wonderland. Pictures and audio are available. Scholastic Kids has book clubs to join, games to play, and a spot to search for authors and books. Girls will enjoy checking out sites geared just towards them like American Girl and New Moon. For trivia, jokes, and news around the world, children should visit OwlKids. Newspaper type sites include Sports Illustrated for Kids, Time for Kids, and Kind News. Children will learn about athletes, local and world news, and compassion towards animals. All animal lovers should check out the National Wildlife Federation page for kids complete with games, stories, activities, and magazine suggestions. Parents, need more ideas? Visit the International Reading Association frequented by literacy professionals, Reading Rockets for articles written for families, and LD Online for information on learning disabilities.
