DEVELOPING

READING
READINESS
DEVELOPING VISUAL
DISCRIMINATION
This is one of the major objectives of
beginning instruction in reading.
 While maturation cannot be
hastened, visual discrimination can
be sharpened through experience
and practice.
Reading readiness books provide
excellent practice in developing
the ability to make finer and finer
discriminations.
 Teachers may also develop
exercises designed to help
develop the following visual
discrimination skills:
Identifying similar geometric
figures
Identifying geometric figures
with finer discriminations
Finding identical elements at
the beginning of words
Finding identical elements at
the end of words
Identifying letters and small
words
Finding a given letter in
words of a sentence
Identifying common objects
with slight differences
Recognizing similar digits
Recognizing “word families”
RECOGNIZING WORDS
-preparing the child for making very fine
visual discriminations between words
which look very much alike
Examples of readiness experiences
commonly used to help children in word
recognition:

Child’s name
-probably the easiest word to
teach a child
Color names

Matching words with pictures

Objects in classroom
Following directions
 LEFT-TO-RIGHT
SEQUENCE
-teaching the child that the eyes move
from left to right across the page while
reading
Embarking on the next steps in learning to
read without having mastered this
response can develop other serious and
harmful reading habits including reversals,
omissions, losing the place and pointing
with the finger.
Straight lines Zigzag Lines
Curved lines
 REARRANGING THE
PICTURES
This exercise consists of two or more
picture cards which tell a story when
arranged properly from left to right.

Telling the story forces him to progress

from left to right, note details, see
relationships and organize the material in
a logical manner.
The candle is burning.
Mother is baking pies.
 AUDITORY
DISCRIMINATION
-the ability to discriminate between
speech sounds heard in words and the
ability to blend speech sounds
represented by different graphemes in
words which is a prerequisite in
independent reading
Some drills to develop good foundation in
auditory discrimination:

Drill on Initial Letter Sounds

-thinking of any word that begins with the
same sound

Use children’s names

-thinking of other children’s first names
which begins with the sound
Use pictures
-selecting and naming pictures which
begin with the same letter sounds

Similar Sounds at the End of

Words
-thinking of any word that ends with the
same sound/ using words that rhyme

Different Final Sounds in Words

-repeating the word that is different from
the series of words pronounced by the
teacher
Similar Sounding Picture Names
-showing the children a number of
pictured objects whose naming words
contain some identical phonemes

Examples of usable pictures include:

clown cloud stairs stars
swing swan frog flag
bread red king ring
crib bib chick chin
Eye and Ear Training
-usually comes after children have learned
to recognize letters and some words

-may be viewed as moving beyond

readiness activities

Examples:
A. (N-P-B-D)
N M R B P D S C B
B. (flap, cap, tap, went)

clap cap map went

flap clap top want
slap cat tap won’t

C. (jam, land, jump, day)

hand lamp Jane said
any sand came sail
ham fan dump say
Interdependence of Visual and
Auditory Discrimination
Attempting to teach the characteristic
sound of b and d in such words as big-dig,
day-bay, dump-bump, bread-dread
cannot help the child “sound out” words
unless he can instantly recognize the b and
d configurations.
To build upon previous learning, children
should learn to:
1. Focus on sounds which are blended into
whole words.
2. Associate these speech sounds with the
proper graphic representations
 DEVELOPING
LISTENING SKILLS
Listening involves more than being
physically present and immobile while
the teacher is speaking.
 Some learning activities in the school
which depend on listening:
-listening to recordings of stories, poetry
and songs
-listening to music and acting out what the
music suggests
-listening to the teacher read stories
Some exercises which can be used in pre-
reading as well as at higher levels:
Critical listening from which to
draw conclusions
-identifying or drawing a picture of what is
described based on the short descriptive
passages the teacher reads.
Examples:
I grow outdoors.
I have branches and leaves.
Birds sit on my branches and sing.
What am I?
Draw a picture of me.
 People live in me.
I have windows and doors.
I come in many different sizes,
colors and designs.
What am I?
Draw a picture of me.
Story Periods
Following directions
 Finish the story
Once upon a time, Jon went to visit his
grandparents. They lived on a farm. He went
with his parents in their car. When they drove up
to grandfather’s house, a big dog rushed out to
the car and barked at them. The boy and his
parents had never seen this dog before. Father
said, “_________________________________”.
(Child finishes the story)
Complete the sentence
“We went to the theater and ________ a movie.”

“The dog saw a cat and _________ at it.”

What word disagrees with the
picture?
Retell a story.
 Emphasizing expression.
A woman without her man is nothing.
Boys: A woman, without her man, is nothing.
Girls: A woman: without her, man is nothing.
How do you put this together? (angry)
How do you put this together? (confused)
Mary had a little lamb. Mary, not Tom, had the lamb.
Mary had a little lamb. She had it once, but she does
not have it now.
Mary had a little lamb. She had only one lamb, not
two.
Mary had a little lamb. The lamb was little, not big.
Mary had a little lamb. It was a lamb, not a dog.
DEVELOPING LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCES
These tasks involve skills used in reading,
such as perception in noting details and
making comparisons, extending the span
of attention, learning to see relationships
between events and drawing inferences.
Examples:
-coloring, cutting, pasting
-working a jigsaw puzzle
-an excursion to observe animals at a
farm or at a zoo
-listening to musical records
-celebrating birthdays
-bringing pets to the classroom
-listening to the teacher read a story
-gathering leaves, pebbles, seeds, flowers,
shells, etc.
-Discussing the kind of weather
-Growing onions, mongo seeds, sweet
potatoes
-Using a medicine dropper
-Imitating sounds of animals
-Learning what objects float
-Discussing the eating habits of animals
-Taking an excursion to observe different
occupations
-planning a party (experience chart)
-flying a kite
-using a balance scale
-observing animals that can swim
-using an electric fan with a home-made
weather vane
-going on a nature hike
-pouring water from quart jar into funnel
-watching plants grow
-planning an excursion
-using clay, fingerpaints, colored paper,
pictures, objects to express ideas
All of these experiences involve sensory
experiences.
 “Show and Tell”
-bringing something to school
which the child thinks may be
of interest to the group and
telling something about it.
Conversation groups
Discussing Trips and Excursions

Contact with
Books, Stories
and Pictures
The actual handling of books, turning
pages, studying pictures are important part
of readiness for reading.
THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING. 