Teaching Beginning Reading
Step #2 Understand How Reading Works
Estimated time to complete this step: 48 minutes
Reading and the Brain
To make sense of the reading process and why certain instructional practices are considered aligned with the Science of Reading, we are going to learn about the brain and the neurological processes which are foundational for reading. Please watch this short video.
Video:
Defining Guide Video Series: Michelle Elia Explains How Reading is Processed in the Brain (October 14, 2022)
Language and Reading
Understanding how the English language and its variations work is vital in achieving reading success. By familiarizing yourself with terms like phonemes, graphemes, morphemes, segmenting, blending, and decodable text, as well as gaining a grasp of handwriting fundamentals, you will become an effective guide for your students.
The Simple View of Reading
The Simple View of Reading was a theory originally described by Gough and Tumner in 1986 to explain Reading Comprehension (RC). What they found was that Decoding (D) multiplied by Oral Language Comprehension (LC) equals Reading Comprehension (RC). Though I initially understood what D x LC = RC meant, it took me several months to fully appreciate the profundity of this equation and how much it would influence my approach to children learning to read. The basic formula has been updated, separately by Nell Duke and Mark Seidenberg, and others, but the Simple View of Reading still provides an indispensable entrée into reading science. You may want to watch this a couple of times to understand it; when you do, you will never look at the act of reading the same way. Also, please do not do other activities while listening to this one! Grab a cup of coffee or tea or your favorite beverage. Relax for the next 11 minutes. Allow it to sink in fully. You will want to share this video!
Video:
The Simple View of Reading
Linda Farrell, M.Ed (September 3, 2019)
Scarborough’s Reading Rope
In 2001, Hollis Scarborough developed an infographic of a Reading Rope to more fully elucidate the concept of the Simple View of Reading. Please watch this short video to better understand the various strands necessary for reading comprehension.
Video:
SoR: Scarborough’s Rope
Grand Canyon University (December 22, 2022)
The Sounds of Speech
Understanding the relationship between speech sounds (phonemes) and the 1–4 letter combinations (graphemes) in English that represent the phonemes is important. You also need to know how to properly position your lips and tongue to pronounce the phonemes without adding an unhelpful “uh” sound to the end of the phoneme. You may want to look in a small mirror to practice using this device with your students. Speech pathologists are increasingly recognized as key players in literacy programs because they know speech and language inside and out. Listen and watch speech pathologist Yvette Manns of Rollins Center for Language and Literacy properly model the sounds of American English.
Video:
44 Phonemes
Yvette Manns of Cox Campus/Rollins Center for Language and Literacy
List:
The 44 Phonemes in English
Familiarize yourself with the phoneme list of the 44 phonemes of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet from The Reading Well, a virtual well of dyslexia resources.
Teaching Beginning Readers
Now that you know your phoneme from your grapheme and have taken the Simple View of Reading to heart, please sit down and take a few minutes to learn about the pros and cons of various common reading instruction strategies from Marnie Ginsberg of Reading Simplified. Marnie demonstrates segmenting, blending, and the “blend as you read” technique. Beginning words are often referred to as VC (Vowel-Consonant), CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant), or CVCC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Consonant) words. Continuant consonants such as m and s are good for a child to learn at first because they can be stretched out, making it easier for a child to blend them into words. Combined with a short a sound and a t, a child can sound out am, at, Sam, sat, or mat and blend the sounds of these VC and CVC words together with success. No wonder many of the reading programs introduce these same letters early on.
Watch several short videos on segmenting and blending techniques.
Video:
3 Common Mistakes When Teaching Reading – and 1 Strategy to Teach Instead
Marnie Ginsberg
Video:
Blend as You Read
Marnie Ginsberg
Before any tutoring happens, it is helpful to get to know your students a bit and put them at ease. Any information on how the student performed on a standardized test may be interesting, but this often does not reveal where you should start. It is more helpful to assess the student’s knowledge and abilities quickly. You can learn how to do this in a more formalized training program. Contemplate the Simple View of Reading and how it might fit into your assessment. An astute teacher or speech pathologist usually has a good feel for what a student needs, so it’s ideal if you can work together as a team.
Evolving Resources for Reading Success
We strongly believe in staying up-to-date with the latest reading research and incorporating valuable user feedback to continuously improve our resources. Our goal is to adapt and evolve, ensuring that we provide effective teaching methods for everyone to learn how to read.
If you have a source with excellent information about reading, please share it with us!
