reading skills

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Home : 2002 : November : 2

reading skills
By Cathy-Dee

Your's is a very good question and asked I'm sure by all of us at one point or another. Even after teaching grade 1 now for 8 years I still ask myself similar questions to make sure I'm doing my best for my students.

There
is no way we can cover every skill when it comes to reading, so we usually concentrate on certain areas and every year the students will pick up more and more. I firmly believe we do not teach children to read, instead we give them as many tools as we can and they learn to read, but reading is very intrinsic and there are no specific steps you can teach that will guarantee reading

success. So the more you can cover and the more variety in lessons you can offer the more likely you will help all your students become good readers by the end of the year.

I do believe that there is a place for phonics, a place for comprehension, a place for listening, etc., and within 4-blocks you usually do have a place for these. When you are doing reading with small groups you probably want to focus on strategies the students can use to help them with their reading. What words do they know, how do they deal with unknown words, using pictures to help them read, asking questions about new vocabulary and also about the stories in general. Helping the students to think beyond the story.

I often teach lessons with what I find in the books - if the book introduces a blend or compound words or a form of punctuation I'll point it out to the students and we may even discuss it further from there.

Ask them about the story, the characters, the setting. Sometimes we will just read the title of a story and then discuss what we think the story will be about. You can do this as well when you read to your students.

To help me keep focused I also use phonic songs that incorporate all the consonants, the vowels and many of the blends. This way I know I've touched on most at least once or twice over the year. Some of course we touch on many more times.

When we move into writing I spend more time with word endings - ing, ed, etc., as they begin to use them in their writing.

And while 4-blocks is a good system for time-management (making sure you cover all the different components) there are many other good programs and resources out there and most can be incorporated under the 4-blocks model. Often when we first start out and have a model to work with we get the feeling that this is the only model we can use and 4-blocks sometimes is used that way. So don't be afraid to bring in other methods you have seen, research other ways to do reading groups, etc., Many can be added or modified to what you are presently doing to make your program that much stronger.

And you will find your students will begin to just take off at some point - I usually find the most growth in my students from the beginning of January to March - they just blossom during those months.

And if you have the opportunity see if you can visit a couple of other grade 1 classes in your area who are also using the 4-blocks method. By being able to sit in on another class you will be better able to see how you are doing with the program in your class, plus pick up some hints and ideas you can use as well.