A Reading and Writing Program for Today's Students

A Reading and Writing Program for Today's Students

1. children learn to read by reading

   • reading is not simply a matter of acquiring and perfecting skills
     • also requires accumulating
       • vocabulary
       • concepts
       • experiences
       • background knowledge
   • those who read more read better
   • students who read widely and are given some choice in what they read have more favorable attitude toward reading

2. reading should be easy but not too easy

   • students do best with reading materials in which no more than 2 to 5% of the words are difficult for them

3. instruction should be functional and contextual

   • do not teach skills or strategies in isolation
   • students learn better when what they are being taught has immediate value

4. teachers should make connections

   • build a bridge between experiences and what they read
   • help them see how what they know is related to the story or article
   • help students connect new concepts to old concepts

5. teachers should promote independence

   • gradually fade instruction and guidance so that students are applying the skill or strategy on their own

6. teachers should believe that all children can learn to read and write

   • a quality program will prevent most problems

7. the literacy program should be goal oriented and systematic

8. teachers should build students' motivation and sense of competence

   • students perform best when they
     • feel competent
     • view a task as being challenging but doable
     • understand why they are undertaking a task
     • are given choices
     • feel part of the process
     • have interesting materials and activities
   • students respond to knowledge of progress
   • work harder when they see they are impoving
   • energized by praise from
     • teachers
     • parents
     • peers

9. teachers should build students' language proficiency

   • foster language development
   • knowledge of vocabulary has been found to be the key element in comprehension
   • students' listening level has also been found to be closely related to their reading level

10. teachers need to know how students are progressing so that they can give them extra help or change the program if necessary

    • observation can be a powerful assessment tool
    • assessment should be tied to the program's standards and should result in improvement in students' learning