Coaching Word Recognition

As a mother I find myself telling my children to "sound it out" all of the time. But there are better ways and more detailed techniques to help a beginning reader identify a word.

• Teach children to recognize R controlled vowels.

• Break a word into smaller parts.

• Cue students to recognize letters as either long or hard.

• Ask children to build on word recognition skills by using simple questions. How are you going to figure that out? What can you do?

The article by Kathleen Clark states that to coach word recognition effectively one must be aware of educational resources that explicitly state different word recognition coaching techniques. Our textbook is a great resource but where can I go to locate more? Also how do I keep my children from becoming frustrated with reading because they have to take the time to stop and use techniques to figure out a word. My son and daughter both become impatient with this process quickly. They are eager to get on with the story and not have it be interrupted.

Letting Go of "Letter of the Week"

Teachers can use students prior knowledge of letters to help them decode words they can't read.

1) Are the beginning letters in the word similar to anything they are already familiar with? What about chunks of letters within the word? Or, letters at the end of the word?

By looking for familiar letter associations like the letters in their classmates names or products they use at home, students become much more active participants in the reading process and they feel more confident.

Teachers can use daily journals and any form of writing to help encourage children to be writers themselves.

2) Teach students that any form of writing is acceptable and then begin to build through encouragement and editing for proper writing practice.

When children aren't made to feel that their journal entries are inadequate because they are incorrect then their excitement and enthusiasm for writing can begin to blossom. The editing process won't become painfully hard work. Self expression is natural for children. All that a teacher needs to do is guide them gently along.

Teacher Tipster cracks me up and has some great tips as well. You can check him out on my Education Pinterest board and also on youtube.com.

Unique Literacy Histories

The goal is to teach children to read. When teachers recognize that children have already been exposed to words they can use this to their advantage by finding out what kind of experiences the children have had. What kind of questions should a teacher ask her students to really understand the students unique literacy histories?
Idea: Compile a "class book" of files where you keep a record of each of the children's interests, experiences and development throughout the school year. Not only will this knowledge be something you can refer to when creating discussion groups but it can also help you individualize print rich environments. I love how our textbook recommends making each student the king or queen for the day and using their names and interests to help develop fluency and phonemic awareness!

The 6 T's

Richard Allington's article, "What I've Learned About Effective Reading Instruction" (2002), writes about exemplary teachers and what characteristics make up the composition of such exemplary teachers. The article covers time, texts, teaching, talk, tasks and testing. It began with the notion that the teaching profession is no different then any other. The teaching profession requires "expertise" just as any other profession. The article ends with the notion that professionals do not act and react to a strict day to day, hour to hour, activity by activity, "script." The great professionals of the world can operate and achieve results by following their own "script" because life is unique. People are unique. Experiences are unique. Reactions and problem solving techniques must be unique. Professionals in the teaching field recognize aspects of each of these six "T's" that Allington refers to and incorporates them into their teaching methods. The only discussion question I have is, why on earth is this not already common sense?

1) TIME: Effective teachers fill the majority of their time in the classroom with reading and writing activities.
2) TEXTS: Motivation to read is dramatically influenced by the childs reading success. Reading activities should be specialized to reflect the different needs of each student.
3) TEACHING: Assignment and assessment is not active teaching.
4) TALK: Classroom talk should be personalized and engaged upon often with an emphasis on independent thought.
5) TASKS: Assignments span longer periods of time.
6) TESTING: Assigning grades includes a rubric of effort, ability and progress.