How to Help Kids With Reading Skills
Reading skills include the ability to read the words on the page, comprehend the words, and read the words smoothly or fluently. All three of these aspects of reading are connected and the end goal is comprehension. Teachers who are looking to improve reading skills need to focus on phonics (ability to read the actual words on the page), fluency (the ability to read quickly and smoothly) and comprehension (the ability to understand the words).
Things You'll Need
- Fry's Fluency Phrases on Index cards
- Mm, MMM fluency conversation script
- Blank index card
Instructions
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Teach phonics basics. If the child is third grade or younger, starting with phonics instruction will provide a solid foundation for reading.
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Listen to the child read. A teacher can learn a lot about what reading skills to focus on by simply listening to the child read. Some things to listen for include:
1. Choppy reading, indicating a fluency problem.
2. Difficulty with parts of a word - for example, children may struggle with the middle of long words, or consistently misread the end of a word, indicating that the child is not reading all the way through each word.
3. Does the child have trouble reading with inflection?
4. Does the child use a finger to keep his place on the page? -
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Address specific reading problems identified through listening. For example:
1. If the child is reading choppy, introduce index cards with Fry's fluency phrases. Time the child as he reads all of the cards and challenge him to improve his time.
2. If the child has difficulty reading part of a word, focus on that specific phonics skill (for example, vowel digraphs, suffixes, etc.)
3. Teach inflection using a mm, mmmm conversation. (see Free Fluency Exercise in resources for an example conversation) Proper inflection will help improve reading fluency.
4. If the child uses a finger to keep place on the page, have him use a blank index card to underline the words he is reading instead. -
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Improve reading fluency. Improving reading fluency is an important aspect of improving reading skills because, according to 321Learn, "the student who reads more fluency...will have better comprehension". To improve fluency, have the student re-read familiar books, practice inflection and avoid using a finger to keep his place in the text.
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Focus on reading comprehension. When reading with the child, ask who, what, where, when, why and how questions. Attempt to ask at least one question per page, and direct the child to the portion of the text that answers the question.
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Tips & Warnings
When the child does not know a word, encourage him to try before telling him what it is.
Improving reading skills takes a lot of patience.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit reading image by max blain from Fotolia.com
