developing reading
Reading, or more precisely reading comprehension, is the ability to derive meaning, from written context. The major difference between the written and the spoken word is not what is being communicated, but how the communication is taking place, by eye rather than ear.
Simply, reading is dependent on two major cognitive capabilities. The first is comprehension, the ability to understand language. The second is decoding, the ability to derive a words phonological representation. Decoding skills allow the reader, through print, to retrieve the meaning of words known and organized through the learning of spoken language. The combination of decoding and comprehension skills leads to language comprehension to take place via the printed word. (Winch & Holliday, 2010, pp. 32-36)
Learning to read, specifically learning to decode, is the conscious understanding of the phonological awareness which in turn the use of oracy supports the development of learning how to read. Reading aloud and learning to fully understand what is being said when you read, aids this transition. (Kirkland & Patterson, 2005)
Phonological Awareness helps to determine reading achievement. A child's early phonological skills will help predict how well they will be able to read especially when they encounter difficulties in phonological awareness.
Phonological awareness specifically aides the child or student in: (Winch & Holliday, 2010, pp. 63-64)
- The ability to break down words into syllables or beats. This in turn helps the students decode words.
- The ability to recognize and generate words that rhyme will also helps students use known words to read new words.
- The ability to recognize and generate words that start and end with the same sound. This in turn helps student’s associate sounds with the letter that represents them.
- The ability to blend sounds into words helps students sound out words on their own.
- The ability to segment words into sounds in turn helps students with spelling.
- The ability to move sounds around to create new words also helps students decode words.
The following YouTube video explains in more detail the concept of and importance of phonological awareness. It also gives some suggestions for informal assessments to try with students.
Simply, reading is dependent on two major cognitive capabilities. The first is comprehension, the ability to understand language. The second is decoding, the ability to derive a words phonological representation. Decoding skills allow the reader, through print, to retrieve the meaning of words known and organized through the learning of spoken language. The combination of decoding and comprehension skills leads to language comprehension to take place via the printed word. (Winch & Holliday, 2010, pp. 32-36)
Learning to read, specifically learning to decode, is the conscious understanding of the phonological awareness which in turn the use of oracy supports the development of learning how to read. Reading aloud and learning to fully understand what is being said when you read, aids this transition. (Kirkland & Patterson, 2005)
Phonological Awareness helps to determine reading achievement. A child's early phonological skills will help predict how well they will be able to read especially when they encounter difficulties in phonological awareness.
Phonological awareness specifically aides the child or student in: (Winch & Holliday, 2010, pp. 63-64)
- The ability to break down words into syllables or beats. This in turn helps the students decode words.
- The ability to recognize and generate words that rhyme will also helps students use known words to read new words.
- The ability to recognize and generate words that start and end with the same sound. This in turn helps student’s associate sounds with the letter that represents them.
- The ability to blend sounds into words helps students sound out words on their own.
- The ability to segment words into sounds in turn helps students with spelling.
- The ability to move sounds around to create new words also helps students decode words.
The following YouTube video explains in more detail the concept of and importance of phonological awareness. It also gives some suggestions for informal assessments to try with students.
Reading for the second language learner involves transferring skills from the first language to the second as well as becoming familiar with: (Leow, 1998)
- New set of sounds and sound groupings which differ from the first language
- New intonation patterns and their meanings
- New vocabulary
- New patterns of stress and pause
- New sets of culturally-specific knowledge, values and behaviours
- New grammar conventions such as different word order in sentences
- New print conventions such as reading from left to right
Extensive reading VS Intensive Reading
Extensive reading
- Teacher encourages students to choose for themselves what they read
- Students do it for pleasure
Intensive Reading
- Often teacher chooses
- For pleasure and language development
- Designed to enable students to develop specific receptive skills
- Includes reading comprehension, read and retell, the cloze procedure and running records.
Effective reading teaching strategies
- Shared (or modelled) reading
- Guided reading
- Independent reading
- Reading aloud by the teacher or as a class
- Group and independent activities or clinic groups
The following YouTube videos explains in more detail the concept of and importance effective reading teaching strategies.
- New set of sounds and sound groupings which differ from the first language
- New intonation patterns and their meanings
- New vocabulary
- New patterns of stress and pause
- New sets of culturally-specific knowledge, values and behaviours
- New grammar conventions such as different word order in sentences
- New print conventions such as reading from left to right
Extensive reading VS Intensive Reading
Extensive reading
- Teacher encourages students to choose for themselves what they read
- Students do it for pleasure
Intensive Reading
- Often teacher chooses
- For pleasure and language development
- Designed to enable students to develop specific receptive skills
- Includes reading comprehension, read and retell, the cloze procedure and running records.
Effective reading teaching strategies
- Shared (or modelled) reading
- Guided reading
- Independent reading
- Reading aloud by the teacher or as a class
- Group and independent activities or clinic groups
The following YouTube videos explains in more detail the concept of and importance effective reading teaching strategies.
Extensive reading promotes the development of students’ word recognition and improves students overall reading skills due to the fact that students are engage readers. Engaged readers are interested in what they are reading therefore are motivated to read more and are more than likely able to be reflective about text.
Extensive reading tasks:
- Report back what they have read outside of the classroom
- Do a re-tell of a book every 2 weeks which is also a time for sharing and checking comprehension
- Short book reviews
- Vote for the best book read during the term
Intensive reading strategies:
- Prediction such as true or false including read aloud
- Scanning such as timed scanning exercises
- Skimming such as timed skimming exercises
- Comprehension questions such as who, what, why, where, how.
- Matching activties
- Cloze activities
- Guessing unknown words
- Understanding main ideas Identifying implied main idea
- Inferring
- Pre-reading and comprehension exercises
- Identifying different types of text
- Identifying words from context, identifying main idea and comprehension
Teacher’s roles in reading
- Need to create interest in the topic and tasks
- Organiser
- Observer
- Feedback organiser
- Prompter
- Motivator
- Story teller
Recommended Books and Articles for further reading and ideas...
Timed Scanning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/techniques/scanning/quiz.shtml
Three graduated exercises in scanning, each consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions.
Timed skimming exercises
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/techniques/skimming/quiz.shtml
Three graduated exercises in skimming, each consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions.
Prereading and comprehension exercises
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/490/reading/
Several passages for practising pre-reading and comprehension.
Identifying different types of text
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/typesoftext/quiz.shtml
Students are quizzed on recognising difference types of text: persuasive, informative, descriptive, instructive
Identifying implied main idea
http://a-s.clayton.edu/cfrank/TenStepsImpliedMainIdeasTest.htm
Five short passages where students have to identify the implied main idea - multi-choice.
Identifying words from context, main ideas and comprehension
http://college.cengage.com/devenglish/resources/reading_ace/students/index.html
Practice tests, each with two texts testing guessing words from context, establishing the main idea, and general comprehension.
Bialystok, E. (1997). Effects of bilingualism and bi-literacy on children's emerging concepts of print. Developmental Psychology, 33(3), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science
References
Leow, R. P. (1998). The Effects of Amount and Types of Exposure on Adult Learners L2 Development in SLA. The Modern Language Journal, 82, 49-68.
Winch, G., & Holliday, M. (2010). Literacy: Reading, Writing and Children's Literature (4th ed.). Oxford Press.
Extensive reading tasks:
- Report back what they have read outside of the classroom
- Do a re-tell of a book every 2 weeks which is also a time for sharing and checking comprehension
- Short book reviews
- Vote for the best book read during the term
Intensive reading strategies:
- Prediction such as true or false including read aloud
- Scanning such as timed scanning exercises
- Skimming such as timed skimming exercises
- Comprehension questions such as who, what, why, where, how.
- Matching activties
- Cloze activities
- Guessing unknown words
- Understanding main ideas Identifying implied main idea
- Inferring
- Pre-reading and comprehension exercises
- Identifying different types of text
- Identifying words from context, identifying main idea and comprehension
Teacher’s roles in reading
- Need to create interest in the topic and tasks
- Organiser
- Observer
- Feedback organiser
- Prompter
- Motivator
- Story teller
Recommended Books and Articles for further reading and ideas...
Timed Scanning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/techniques/scanning/quiz.shtml
Three graduated exercises in scanning, each consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions.
Timed skimming exercises
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/techniques/skimming/quiz.shtml
Three graduated exercises in skimming, each consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions.
Prereading and comprehension exercises
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/490/reading/
Several passages for practising pre-reading and comprehension.
Identifying different types of text
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/reading/typesoftext/quiz.shtml
Students are quizzed on recognising difference types of text: persuasive, informative, descriptive, instructive
Identifying implied main idea
http://a-s.clayton.edu/cfrank/TenStepsImpliedMainIdeasTest.htm
Five short passages where students have to identify the implied main idea - multi-choice.
Identifying words from context, main ideas and comprehension
http://college.cengage.com/devenglish/resources/reading_ace/students/index.html
Practice tests, each with two texts testing guessing words from context, establishing the main idea, and general comprehension.
Bialystok, E. (1997). Effects of bilingualism and bi-literacy on children's emerging concepts of print. Developmental Psychology, 33(3), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science
References
Leow, R. P. (1998). The Effects of Amount and Types of Exposure on Adult Learners L2 Development in SLA. The Modern Language Journal, 82, 49-68.
Winch, G., & Holliday, M. (2010). Literacy: Reading, Writing and Children's Literature (4th ed.). Oxford Press.