Early Reading

Taken from SPELD SA Newsletter, Autumn 2003

Explicit teaching strategies and adjustments

Developing phonic skills and word family knowledge

• Revise knowledge of names and sounds of the letters of the alphabet
• Lead students through a structured phonics program
• Use fingers to count when listening for sounds
• Work with word families (eg, cat, bat, fat etc) so student can "hear" and "see" how groups of words share a particular sound/letter pattern
• Practice breaking words into syllables, eg, win/dow
• Practice reading word endings as a whole unit eg, /i/n/g/ as "ing"
• Highlight syllables and word endings so a student sees them as a unit
• Teach students to "sound out" words they want to spell and identify the number of sounds in the word. Ask them to check that they have a letter or letter combination for each sound. Ensure pronunciation is correct.
• Engage as many senses as possible. For example, a student may:
  • Hear and say a word containing a new sound
  • See the word in print and study the distinguishing features or "tricky bits"
  • Trace over the word while saying it
  • Write the word from memory
  • Think of words which contain the sound being learned
  • Draw a picture and write a cue word on the back of a card with the sound on the front, eg, "ow" with "cow" and a picture.
  • Engage in games and activities based around the sound
  • Practice reading and spelling words with the nominated sound until the knowledge becomes automatic

Developing reading skills

Individually

• Choose phonics-based books with controlled vocabulary at an appropriate level
• Preview vocabulary used in text
• Read a page with the student, discuss meaning, and ask them to practice alone
• Label objects and storage containers in the room
• Set manageable goals for accuracy and speed

Whole class

• Before reading to students, provide background so students can relate what they hear to something they know
• When reading to the class, read reflectively
• Discuss word meanings, content, relevance to real life
• Discuss characters, problems and events
• Invite students to suggest solutions to the problem, what will happen next
• Provide brief review before continuing reading
• Teach visualisation skills (creating a mental movie) to help with comprehension and visual imagination (see "Visualising and Verbalising" by Nanci Bell)
• Teach skimming, scanning skills
• Frequently model how you would:
  • Identify the main point
  • Recognise supporting detail
  • Note sequence

Reading and spelling high-frequency words

• Start with words such as "the, and, me" and high-interest words such as the names of family members and things of personal interest
• To help with reading, play matching games (using cards), Bingo, and the Memory game. A computer program, Dingo Bingo, covers the first 240 high-frequency words.
• Work through a list of high-frequency words, eg, the Bedrock Sight Vocabulary

To help with spelling, try the following:

• Hear, trace and say, imagine and say, look and say, write and say, check
• Look and say, write and say the letter names, and look and say
• Practice writing the words in as many different settings as possible, eg, sand, whiteboard, chalk, plastic letters, large crayons, big textas
• Practice sky writing to reinforce spelling and writing patterns through motor memory
• Identify and highlight the parts of the word which the student finds difficult
• Develop mnemonics, eg, to remember the spelling of "said', refer to the first letter of each word in the sentence "Small Ants In Danger", and draw a picture to go with the sentence.

 Developing written language skills

• Provide a scribe when possible so the student can concentrate on their ideas
• Provide genre structures and model how to use them, eg, for narrative, procedure
• Brainstorm vocabulary and write on the board
• Provide sentence starters, topic sentences for paragraphs
• Encourage the use of a word processor

Developing handwriting skills

• Teach correct sitting position, book/paper position, pencil grip; monitor and praise correct behaviours
• Teach correct letter formation, monitor; provide one-to-one guidance if necessary
• Teach cursive; because pen stays on the page, motor memory helps with memorisation of letter combinations
• Practice writing patterns, letter formation in a range of settings, eg, sand, whiteboard, chalk, plastic letters, large crayons, big textas