Teaching Reading

Teaching Reading

1. Content Question: What are we assessing children for in the initial assessments and how do we decide what they need to work on?

   • Building a relationship with the child allows you to understand where they are coming from and understand their reading and language background
   • Phonological awareness, concepts about print, letter knowledge, word knowledge, and text reading behaviors are skills that we are assessing
   • Praise the partially correct in the beginning stages of assessing, so that the child knows you are interested in their learning process and encouraging them through it
     • Praising the partially correct is always the way to go! by encouraging the students in their progress, we are showing them that we are truly invested in their learning!

2. Teaching and Learning Question: How much struggling is too much struggling for a learning reader?

   • Know the child and their limitations. Know when they get frustrated and how they need to be encouraged
   • Have a relationship with the child so that they feel comfortable with you in their struggling and comfortable enough to ask for help when they need it
   • Praise the partially correct in their struggling. Use phrases that encourage them in their struggling and allow them to know they are doing something right in their decoding

3. Diversity Question: How do I encourage a English Language Learner to step outside their comfort zone and explore reading and the English language?

   • Get to know the child; know where they come from, and their previous experiences with the English language
     • Building a relationship is the first step in any assessment done on a child. Knowing the child and their background is essential to individual teaching
   • Connect the English language with their first language so that they know you are interested and going to help them understand the English language better
     • Becoming familiar with the student and their struggles so that they feel comfortable when working with you. Knowing the student and their abilities as well as what they need to work on is essential to building a strong reading foundations
   • Praise the partially correct and allow them to know that you are noticing their improvement