Children learn best how to read through repetition and modeling by parents, friends, and

teachers. By pointing, highlighting, rereading, sounding out, and asking questions, children
learn more about words, patterns, context clues, comprehension, and fluency. The more
children read and are read to, the more likely they are to self correct by listening to how they
sound. With beginner readers, it is often helpful to practice in a small group guided by the
teacher. Older students can practice reading strategies more independently.

Two well-known reading instructional methods responsible for controversy over the years
amongst educators are whole language and phonics. Depending on whom you speak with,
both techniques have their advantages and disadvantages. Many schools across the United
States have adopted a somewhat combination of the programs called Balanced Literacy.
Every student learns differently, use what works for the individual child.

SOUND OUT LETTERS, MAKE WORDS - Drawing upon prior knowledge of their spoken
language guide children through sounding out individual letters, then combinations of letters
and finally put those letters together to form words. When instructed using a pattern format
(hat, cat, bat, mat, sat), children begin to recognize the similarities and differences amongst
words.

ACTIVITIES - Write the h, c, b, m, s letters in one color and the -at ending in another color
so the change in words visually pops. Play with letter cutouts to make new words. Find words
in larger words. Take apart words isolating the root and change prefixes and suffixes. Play
Scrabble. Read rhyming books. Make alliterations, word wheels, and word slides. Label
everything in the room and create a word wall with high frequency and sight vocabulary
words to help children develop instant recognition. Clap out and divide syllables. Introduce
the dictionary. Allow children to talk about their discoveries.

FIND WORDS IN STORIES - Watch any student open a book. He/she typically knows how
to hold the book upright and to read from left to right. This is most likely the result of
watching other people read. Children are also apt to recognize a few high frequency words
and will be thrilled to share.

ACTIVITIES - Use the Amelia Bedelia series to point out that words have different meanings
depending on the context. Move on to more activities about homonyms, homographs, and
homophones. Copy sentences onto strips of paper and look at the arrangement of letters,
words, and