Sometimes a good thing should be repeated. That's why I thought I would share these three reading help blog posts today. We'd love to hear your comments and ideas to help promote a nation of amazing readers.
Optimal Silent & Oral Reading Rates for Reading Fluency – Grade Reading Levels
Neil J. Anderson, professor of Linguistics and English Language at Brigham Young University, recently presented at the Reading Horizons distributor seminar in Salt Lake City, Utah. He shared some interesting information about how English Language Learners (ELLs) benefit from systematic phonics instruction.
Two of the reasons he cited include the following:
1) reading fluency increases as students learn to decode words; and
2) oral reading improves when students can decode words correctly.
Visit this blog post to access the entire article, Silent Reading Rates and Oral Reading Rates.
What is the “Whole Language” Approach to Teaching Reading?
In the simplest terms, “whole language” is a method of teaching children to read by recognizing words as whole pieces of language. Proponents of the whole language philosophy believe that language should not be broken down into letters and combinations of letters and “decoded.” Instead, they believe that language is a complete system of making meaning, with words functioning in relation to each other in context.
Aside from overlooking spelling and technical mistakes, the whole language approach can also present problems for students with reading difficulties. Students with dyslexia and other language processing disorders need explicit strategies in order to improve their reading skills. These students need to learn word decoding skills such as phonemic awareness and phonics in order to build their reading fluency.
To learn more about what the National Panel on Reading says about whole reading and phonics (or decoding) as reading instruction see this blog in its entirety.
Will an iPad Improve Reading Scores?
Recently sixteen preschool-aged children participated in a four-week pilot program at Calistoga Elementary School in California. The students were given access to iPads along with traditional teaching methods to help build vocabulary and reading comprehension skills.
The goal of the pilot program is to close language and literacy gaps before children enter kindergarten. Research shows that there is often more than a two- to three-year gap between kindergartners who went to preschool and those who did not. A local community group donated the iPads.
The real question remains: What good is the iPad if the right reading skills are not properly taught? Let’s ensure that the integrity of the reading software (or any educational software for that matter) improves more than just a student’s attention span - let’s make certain that it delivers every advantage… proven skills and reading methodology.