Helping Primary Grade Beginning Readers Solidify the Foundation for Reading Success

Listening to Your Students Read Aloud to You

Beginning readers profit from reading aloud to someone who can provide them with daily, gentle, constructive feedback, positive encouragement, and praise.

Most problems that caregivers and students encounter when students read aloud at home stem from a single source: books that are too difficult. When students try to slog through a text at frustration level, the result is often just that: frustration.

When you listen to your students read aloud at home, make sure that they read aloud from text on their independent or instructional levels. A good rule of thumb is at least 90% accuracy and a satisfactory rate of speed. This means that if a student is making more than 1-2 mistakes in every 10 words, and/or reading very, very slowly - the text is TOO HARD! Choose an easier text for both your sakes!

Check with your students' teachers to determine appropriate levels for home reading. Students' sections in many local libraries now have leveling systems that make it relatively easy to choose books that are appropriate for your students' reading levels. View available leveled book / controlled text lists.

Here are a few more tips to keep this experience upbeat and productive:

• When your students make errors as they read aloud, don't jump and point at the error right away! Wait until the end of the sentence or phrase to see if they self-correct on their own. If they do, a simple comment of "Nice fixing!" will encourage this important self-monitoring behavior.
• If the student fails to self-correct an error by the end of the phrase or sentence, say, "Something tricked you; try this part again" and point to the beginning of the phrase or sentence. Remember, if errors are plentiful, the text is too hard! Choose an easier text!
• When your beginning reader struggles with an unfamiliar word, look at the word and make a quick decision. Can the word be blended easily (e.g., sss - - - iii- - -ttt ... 'sit')? If not, point your pencil under the first sound in the word and ask your student, "Sound?" Once the student responds with the correct beginning sound, you say the word to let the reading go on.
• Once your student reaches an end-of-first-grade reading ability, look at the unfamiliar word to see if it can be blended (see above) or "chunked" (e.g., If I know 'lake,' then this must be 'brake'). If so, ask your student, "Can you sound it out?" or "Do you see a chunk that you know?" Encourage the student to that information to identify the word. If the word is large or difficult, revert to easier strategy: point a pencil under the first sound in the word and ask your student, "Sound?" Once the student responds with the correct beginning sound, you say the word to let the reading go on.
• Remember, the goal is for your student to READ!! Don't get bogged down in teaching, giving advice, phonics lessons and so on.

Help Your Students Become Automatic on High Frequency Words
Words like 'the,' 'you,' 'could,' and 'come' are known as high frequency words. These words are the "glue" that holds text together. They make up a high proportion of written text, yet they are not easily "sounded out." Often, they need to be memorized by repetition. One way to help your students bring these words to "automatic" levels is to use flashcards. A list of high frequency words is available in the Word Study section of Services.

Build in Daily Time for Your Students to Read Silently from Text They Enjoy
Research suggests that the most effective way for students to build their vocabulary and knowledge about the world is to read, READ, READ!!! Be sure to build "time for reading" into your busy family lives. Once students are able to read silently - somewhere around mid-first to end-of-first-grade reading ability - they benefit enormously from a daily schedule that includes 10 minutes of oral and then 10 minutes of silent reading. Increase the amount of silent reading time for your older students, but be sure to keep some oral reading time for those who tend to struggle.