LEARNING TO READ
Mary-Anne Jasinski, Elementary Principal

Children are not born good readers; reading has to be taught, and learning to read is one of the most difficult tasks young children face. Some children learn to read quickly with apparent ease, but many struggle and progress slowly. When children are learning multiple languages or are developing early literacy skills in a language that is different from their home language, learning to read is even more difficult because the development of language is an essential precursor to reading.

Reading begins long before children enter school. Children who are frequently exposed to literacy experiences in their first few years of life have an edge in vocabulary development and increased understanding of print and literacy concepts.  Participation in play activities that support the development of “priming skills” such as paying attention, organizing, concentrating and remembering also prepare children to attend to text.

The importance of phoneme awareness and good phonics skills is well known. The development of speed and automaticity in reading, reading comprehension strategies and semantic and syntactic knowledge are also very important and these skills take longer and are more difficult to learn. Many children have well developed decoding and word- recognition abilities, but have difficulties understanding what they read.

The 7 essential skills of good readers (Buel, 2008) include the following:

1. Good readers make connections with what they are reading and prior knowledge.
2. Good readers ask good questions about what they are reading.
3. Good readers use both images provided by the text and mental images generated by the reader to support their understanding of what they are reading.
4. Good readers make inferences based on the information they are reading.
5. Good readers are able to determine the importance of the range of information within the text they are reading.
6. Good readers can synthesize and summarize the information they are reading.
7. Good readers are able to monitor their own understanding of what they are reading.

At TIS

Kindergarten teachers focus on developing priming skills and early literacy skills including listening and speaking, vocabulary development, letter recognition, matching letter sounds and symbols, sorting and sequencing, asking and answering questions, playing with words, and helping children to express their thoughts on stories they hear and share their own exciting stories and experiences.

• In grades 1-6 we assess, teach, adjust, re-teach and provide feedback about children’s reading daily.
• Reading assessments are completed regularly using several tools, including PM Benchmarks, Jerry John’s and the STAR assessment.
• We use the Scholastic Literacy Place program in language arts.  Each month we focus on particular reading strategies in each grade.
• THRASS is our phonics and spelling development program.
• Guided reading is an essential component of our reading program. Students in Grades 1-2 have a short guided reading period daily, and Grades 3-6 do a minimum of 3 guided reading blocks a week.
• Accelerated Reader program is used daily.
• RAZ-KIDS interactive e-books are used in some classrooms.
• All teachers teach reading skills in all subjects.

How Parents Can Help

1. Volunteer in the classroom. Programs like guided reading involve small groups and before, during and after reading tasks. Volunteers are very welcome at TIS to support guided reading and individual reading opportunities.

2. Visit the library after school to choose books with your child.

3. Read with your child every day. Talk about what they have read.

4. Homework time is more successful with guidance and support from parents. Have your child read an assignment to you, read it to them, or share the reading.

5. Point out text in the environment and support your child to read it. In Macau it can be difficult to locate English text – search for it!

6. Older readers often prefer to read silently. Ask them questions about their reading, or have them summarize and state the most important message in a passage or paragraph.

7. Be patient with your child’s attempts and provide assistance after they have made a good effort to read a word or passage.

8. Celebrate your child’s efforts to learn to read and their achievements along the way.

9. Talk to your child’s teacher for more ideas about supporting reading at home.

Children learn to read by reading. For beginner readers, every step is a conscious process that has to be learned. Eventually and with a great deal of practice, reading becomes an automatic process in which several skills are used at the same time in order to bring meaning to a text. All children need a complete and balanced reading program in the company of their peers, and the support of their teachers and parents as they learn to read.