The Literacy Annex

I must say that children are amazing little people because they often learn to read at a very young age. This is amazing because of everything that needs to be in place for them to do so. It has been determined that there are 9 aspects of reading that allow a person to read the words on the page and understand what is being said. These aspects or skills cover everything from being able to understand that we read from left to right to understanding that letters make different sounds in different words. Isn't it unbelievable that a five year old can figure all of this out? Well, let's start by looking at the two most basic aspects of reading that we need to consider when teaching someone to read. You'll note that they deal with vision, hearing and perception. I always make sure that a child has no vision or hearing difficulties prior to teaching them to read. I have found that some children needed glasses but it was not diagnosed and that was what was preventing them from

I know this may sound like a silly question but it really is the key to helping someone (of any age), learn to read. So... ask yourself the question: What is reading? In order to answer the question, sit down and think about exactly what you are doing when you are reading a book, a note, an email, a grocery list, a document or any other type of printed word. If you really think about it, you are using your own background information (pragmatic cueing system)  to help you to read the words. You are also using your understanding of how the language is put together to form complete thoughts and sentences (syntactic cueing system). You are using your own knowledge of the sounds letters make to form words (graphophonic cueing system) or you may have already memorized hundreds or thousands of whole words; and lastly you are using your understanding of the context of the language and the meaning of various words (semantic cueing system) to understand the message of the text. Right? Oka

The Language Experience Approach, yes I know it's a long name, is one of the most natural and most enjoyable ways of learning to read. You don't need anything but a stimulus item such as a picture, a book, a tennis shoe or a toy to get started. It's a way to use your child's own language to begin to learn to read and write. Below is a set of directions to get you started. Remember, this is a way to teach reading that costs no money at all and it works! The language experience approach is a strategy that is used to develop oral, written and reading vocabulary. It is easy to use and doesn’t require any special books or materials. Below is a condensed set of directions for using LEA: 1.       Select something to grab the child’s attention such as a picture from a magazine, poster, object, story, song, poem, or video clip that relates to the topic under study or just relates to the child’s interests. 2.    Spend time talking about the stimulus item in great d

In school-language, onsets and rimes make up a big part of many words. Children are taught to use onsets and rimes as they begin to learn to read and write small words. Below you'll see what they are and just how simple they are to teach. If you are home schooling your children or just supplementing their kindergarten, first, or second grade instruction, you'll find these to be quite valuable. Check it out! Onsets and Rimes Working with onsets and rimes allows children to learn to break words apart and put them back together. It also shows them how to substitute different onsets and rimes to make new words. This is a great way to teach word families and help them to see patterns within words. For example, in the word “dog”, the consonant “d” is the onset and “og” is the rime.   You can then make word tiles containing various onsets (consonants) and different rimes so that your children can learn to manipulate the sounds to form new words. Below is a list of some of the comm

Below you'll find a step-by-step set of directions for using reader's theater. It can be used with any book or poem or you can even make up your own scripts. I've also added a quick rhyme that I turned into a script so you can see just how easy it is to create. This script is a fun one because you can actually also use it when jumping rope with your child. Yes, I know, you may not jump rope but it is a great way to exercise the body and the mind. Enjoy! Reader’s Theater   1.     Select a text to convert to a script or use a pre-made script. When working with heterogeneous groups you will be able to assign the reading parts based on the skill levels of the students. Generally you will want groups of no more than five. 2.    Once a script has been selected and the reading parts have been assigned, read the entire script to the students using the appropriate intonation. 3.    Locate difficult vocabulary within the text and reread the sentences that contain th

Reading really can be a natural process if you begin to immerse your child in language from the time he or she makes an entrance into the world. (I am going to use the female pronoun here just to be concise but this goes for boys and girls!) By singing songs to your child, talking to her in the car, the grocery store and just about anywhere you go- your child will begin to develop the foundation for learning to read and write well. I know this first step sounds really simple, and guess what?? It is! I have raised two readers of my own and now have a five year old grandson who is also a reader. If that doesn't sound like a very good set of credentials, I've also been a teacher and teacher educator since 1987 and my doctorate is in this field. I will say that you don't need a college degree to teach your child to read; you just need the right tools and a fun spirit. So.... let's get this blog started and talk to each other about literacy- and I do mean talk because ha