Learning about the Reading Process

In order to help students read it's important to understand the way in which reading develops and ways to encourage that process through various activities.

Phonemic Awareness- Understanding phonemes and their sounds. Being able to manipulate the sounds in a word to make a new word. /m/ /a/ /p/ change the /m/ to /t/ and you have /t/ /a/ /p/.

Phonics- Is also about sounds, the sounds are called graphemes and these are the written representation of the sound. For example the long /a/ sound can be represented as /ai/ and /ay/.

Fluency- The way children read, the pace, the rhythm and expression. It is possible for children to have fluency and not have comprehension so along with timed readings teachers and parents should make sure that their students are understanding what they read.

Vocabulary- Is important to understand what you are reading. Most vocabulary is learned through indirect instruction which is by hearing it and seeing it daily in their environments. Some vocabulary however needs to be taught directly and that is what children learn in the classroom.

Comprehension- Is super important because what is the point of reading if you have no clue what you just read. Children need to have comprehension in reading to be good readers. There are different ways to help children achieve comprehension, you can use graphic organizers or simply discuss in detail what the story was about and maybe make a web of your ideas.