Teaching Kids to Read – Insider Tips from Teachers
One of the essential skills we teach to kindergarteners is reading! So many great ideas come up in the Simply Kinder Teacher Facebook Group that we thought it would be great to put together some insider tips to teach kids to read!
Ms. Resto says: “Daily, daily, daily chances to read a variety of texts, leveled, fiction, nonfiction, free choice, buddy reading, just right! Children need the opportunity to love reading!”
Ms. Haroldsen says: “Make reading a central part of the classroom and something all students look forward to. I demonstrate my love of books to my students daily and strive to make them love books as much as I do. Books are all over the classroom and available to my students frequently throughout the day. We practice strategies in small groups, but real improvement comes when they get to read one-on-one with me. They read a leveled book to me and then take it home to read with mom/dad. They then bring it back and read it to me again so I can see how much they improved. They LOVE the one-on-one attention!! They also get to read out loud to their classmates later in the year when they have gained the confidence to do so.”
Mrs. Bryant says: “In the primary grades a strong foundation in phonemic and phonological awareness, along with print concepts. Once a book is in their hands, do they have chunking, decoding, blending, and segmenting strategies under their belt. If the reader is struggling, where is their struggle?”
Ms. Price says: “Talking with the children and reinfording that they possess the power to decode and figure out words. We kiss our pointer finger to give it magic powers to sound out words. We turn our blenders on and add sounds together slowly and then faster to smooth out words. We use pictures to help with words. We have to practice our sight words over and over cause we have to just know them on sight. Confidence and that the child has the power to do it – so very important!”
Ms. Cary says: “Modeling what you expect to see! This means pointing when you read, using expression, changing your voice for punctuation, etc. Also, during this whole group time, let your students see you as a learner. Show them that not only do learners point, they use strategies to help them. Get stuck on a word, sound it out, use the pictures, wtc. I have actually used a touch light during readers workshop and in guided reading when I’m modeling thinking. When I read, I turn it off. When I think, I turn it on. This shows students that it’s ok to feel frustrated. It’s ok to use the pictures. It’s ok to think it through.”
Ms. Mason says: “Its important to integrate reading and word study. In word study, the kiddos are learning the foundational skills of how words are made. It leads to higher accuracy and impacts fluency and comprehension. If a reader is focusing the whole read on what the word is/taking time to employ accuracy strategies, they can’t focus on what the story is about and retell.”
Ms. Cahill says: “Model good reading strategies, so kids understand the process. We use our witch pointer fingers to track the words. (Kids love this!) We always make predictions and take a picture walk before opening the book. This gets kids talking about the vocabulary in the book.”
Ms. Shaffer says: “Books should be high interest, and at their level. I love when kids start learning their sight words because you can see the light bulb go off. Before guided reading, I model a reading strategy like looking at the picture and matching it to the word. In guided reading, I have my kids pointing to each word, looking at the pictures, noticing the beginning sound of tricky words, and blending the word together.”
Ms. Kibler says: “Tracking print, lots of clear photos to start. One sentence per page to start. Model reading every time you read to them including strategies like thinking aloud, predicting, stating problems and solutions, and making it fun! I use witch fingers to track print and read in Oct. something new every month!”
Ms. Johnson says: “When practicing with voice print match, tell them that the words are the boss. You cannot change them. Helps with accuracy at the lower DRA levels where substitutions prevent progress. Substituting a for the does not change the meaning, but it IS an undetected miscue.”
Ms. Brouttier says: “When we read together, our decodables, whole class, the kids and I sit on the perimeter of our carpet and we all get comfy. Some lay on bellies, some on knees – even I’m down there. We track, we read, we re-read for treats, and talk about what we are reading. Reading should be enjoyable and so, I make sure my babies are comfy yet on task.”
Ms. Windrem says: “Make sure they know all the necessary pre-reading skills first!”
Ms. Messick says: “Consistency-you have to read every day. Picture walk through the story and connect it to key words-it helps them to understand that the words and pics go together to make meaning.”
Mrs. Armstrong says: “I let my beginning readers know it’s ok to go slow and read carefully. Sometimes they think good readers must read fast. I teach them that first, they need to be careful readers, and later they will learn to read faster. They often need the “ok” to take things slow!”
Ms. Davis says: “Placing dots or a symbol under each word in a text helps students learn where a word begins and ends and also helps with one-to-one correspondence. Also, use fun reading pointers to encourage students to read!”