Reading comprehension skills
There are many reading comprehension skills that need to be taught from a young age (pre-school and the early primary years), and which should be constantly developed as the student's reading develops. As students mature and become more sophisticated readers, these skills should be utilised by the student in a subconscious manner.
Word recognition skills are perhaps the most important skills that must be taught to students at a young age. Word recognition refers to the ability of the reader to recognise words in a written text. According to Winch et al (2010) there are two main ways that readers can go about word recognition. One is by 'decoding' the letter-sound relationships in words, the other is by recognising words at sight.
Decoding letter-sound relationships
The decoding of letter-sound relationships is taught to children through the teaching of phonics. Phonics is an education term referring to the relationship between letters and spoken words and requires that learners make meaning of the relationship between 'sound and symbol'. For this to occur, learners need to have some phonemic awareness. If a reader is phonemically aware, they are able to recognise the smallest units of sound in oral language (phonemes), and as such are able to hear, segment, and manipulate sounds of speech. They are able to blend sounds together to create words. For phonics to be taught successfully, readers also need to learn about phonological awareness which refers to larger sections than phonemes, such as syllables.
There are a few different ways that phonics can be taught. One of these, known as phonic analysis, entails analysis of consonants, vowels, blends, digraphs, diphthongs, syllables, morphemes and onset and rime. Another of method of teaching phonics is through phonic synthesis, involves building up words from the sounds within them. It should be noted that the teaching of phonics varies from school to school and there is not simply one correct way of teaching phonics.
Recognising words at sight
Another method of word recognition is by recognising words at sight. This is commonly known as sight word recognition and requires good graphological awareness as well as phonological awareness. The teaching of this method is particularly beneficial as not all words are regular and can be easily decoded. Instead, these words must be memorised by learners and recognised by sight. Some examples of such words would be was, said, talk, come and horse.
Other reading comprehension skills
Aside from word recognition, there are several other comprehension skills that need to be taught to students at a young age. These include skills such as attention, memory, processing speed, visualization and vocabulary development.
There is an innumerous amount of information and resources on the teaching of reading comprehension skills and many of these resources include teaching suggestions, ideas for activities and even whole lesson plans for teaching. While you are beginning your teaching in the middle to upper primary years, it may seem that this information is not quite relevant to your teaching needs. However, students naturally learn at different levels and speeds and as such you will most definitely need to have a good grasp on the teaching and learning of reading comprehension skills and what you can do to facilitate your students learning.
Word recognition skills are perhaps the most important skills that must be taught to students at a young age. Word recognition refers to the ability of the reader to recognise words in a written text. According to Winch et al (2010) there are two main ways that readers can go about word recognition. One is by 'decoding' the letter-sound relationships in words, the other is by recognising words at sight.
Decoding letter-sound relationships
The decoding of letter-sound relationships is taught to children through the teaching of phonics. Phonics is an education term referring to the relationship between letters and spoken words and requires that learners make meaning of the relationship between 'sound and symbol'. For this to occur, learners need to have some phonemic awareness. If a reader is phonemically aware, they are able to recognise the smallest units of sound in oral language (phonemes), and as such are able to hear, segment, and manipulate sounds of speech. They are able to blend sounds together to create words. For phonics to be taught successfully, readers also need to learn about phonological awareness which refers to larger sections than phonemes, such as syllables.
There are a few different ways that phonics can be taught. One of these, known as phonic analysis, entails analysis of consonants, vowels, blends, digraphs, diphthongs, syllables, morphemes and onset and rime. Another of method of teaching phonics is through phonic synthesis, involves building up words from the sounds within them. It should be noted that the teaching of phonics varies from school to school and there is not simply one correct way of teaching phonics.
Recognising words at sight
Another method of word recognition is by recognising words at sight. This is commonly known as sight word recognition and requires good graphological awareness as well as phonological awareness. The teaching of this method is particularly beneficial as not all words are regular and can be easily decoded. Instead, these words must be memorised by learners and recognised by sight. Some examples of such words would be was, said, talk, come and horse.
Other reading comprehension skills
Aside from word recognition, there are several other comprehension skills that need to be taught to students at a young age. These include skills such as attention, memory, processing speed, visualization and vocabulary development.
There is an innumerous amount of information and resources on the teaching of reading comprehension skills and many of these resources include teaching suggestions, ideas for activities and even whole lesson plans for teaching. While you are beginning your teaching in the middle to upper primary years, it may seem that this information is not quite relevant to your teaching needs. However, students naturally learn at different levels and speeds and as such you will most definitely need to have a good grasp on the teaching and learning of reading comprehension skills and what you can do to facilitate your students learning.