Reading

Learning to read is a critical step in a child's development. Yet 4 out of 10 children will experience problems. The articles below elaborate on the skills needed to become a fluent reader.

Basic Reading Concepts

Phonemic Awareness

Phonics and Word Recognition

Fluency

Vocabulary

Comprehesion

Printable Reading Log for Elementary Grades

A reading log is a great tool that assists teachers, parents and children. As early as first grade, both of my children were required to complete a reading log as part of their homework. As a result, we've created free, printable reading logs ideal for a child in elementary school. Daily … [Read more...] about Printable Reading Log for Elementary Grades

What is Realistic Fiction?

Realistic fiction is a story written about events that did not actually happen but could have happened; the people, events and places may be real. It is a classification of literature containing stories that could actually happen, in a time and setting that is plausible and contains realistic … [Read more...] about What is Realistic Fiction?

Phoneme

It is essential that a child make a connection between letters and sounds; letters represent speech sounds and when combined forms words. Changing the letter results in a different sound and word. Phoneme Definition A phoneme is the smallest identifiable units of sound. When speaking, we … [Read more...] about Phoneme

Kindergarten Word Families

A word family consists of a group of words that share an ending part of a word (rime), e.g. rug, bug & hug. In addition to recognizing rhymes, knowledge of short vowel sounds is crucial when learning to read and spell. Interestingly, short vowel sounds can be the hardest for beginner readers to … [Read more...] about Kindergarten Word Families

Singing Enhances Phonemic Awareness

Singing songs help children improve their ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds that make up a word (commonly referred to as phonemic awareness). Similar to reading nursery rhymes, singing songs assist a child in hearing rhymes. Singing songs can also help a child grasp … [Read more...] about Singing Enhances Phonemic Awareness

Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part IV

Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part IV Phonics relies on letter-sound relationships to teach children to identify words. When teaching phonics begin with the easy relationships and then move along to the more complex letter-sound relationships. For more information about phonics, … [Read more...] about Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part IV

Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part III

Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part III Phonics relies on letter-sound relationships to teach children to identify words. When teaching phonics a methodical and explicit approach is recommended, begin with the easier relationships and then gradually progress to the more complex letter-sound … [Read more...] about Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part III

Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part II

Phonics teaches children to identify relationships between letters and sounds which aids in indentifying words. When teaching phonics a methodical and explicit approach works best. Begin with the simple relationships – ones a child can easily understand and gradually move along the continuum to … [Read more...] about Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part II

Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part I

Phonics instruction uses sound-symbol relationships to help a child identify unknown words. The English language uses 26 letters to represent approximately forty-four sounds with over one hundred letter arrangements - ways to spell these sounds. It’s quite easy to see how a child could quickly … [Read more...] about Sequence of Phonics Instruction – Part I