How Children Learn To
Read
Daniel J. Barnes
Wilmington University
The first
step in the process of learning how to read is learning the alphabetic system.
Before a child can begin to read or pronounce written words, they must learn
the 26 letters of the alphabet. During one of my methods courses I experienced
this first hand when working with my friend’s three year old daughter. Having
been tasked with completing the Abecedarian Assessment on a child, I went to
the only person I knew with a child to help me out. I knew that his daughter
Natalie was smart for her age based on my interactions with her socially. Her
vocabulary and verbal skills are well above that of a typical three year old
child, but I knew that I would encounter many difficulties or impossibilities
when administering parts of the assessment. I was proven correct when I had to
stop the assessment on the first section titled “Letter Knowledge.” Natalie was
unable to correctly identify any letters of the alphabet other than the letters
“N” and “L” as they are the first letters of her first and last name. If I had
continued to work with Natalie, I would begin by teaching her the alphabet so
that she could begin the process of learning to read.
Once a
child learns the letters of the alphabet, they must then learn the sounds, or
phonemes, that each letter makes. Relationships can then be made between the
individual phonemes and the sounds they make when put together with others to
make words. This relationship is known as phonemic awareness, defined as the
knowledge that words are made up of a combination of individual sounds
(National Reading Panel, p. 2). Phonemic awareness is critical for reading
success. Learning a new word involves forming a connection between visual
information about the word as it appears in print and its meaning,
pronunciation, and other information that is stored in the child’s oral
vocabulary. This connection is what enables the reader to access information
about the word stored in the brain when the word is encountered in print
(Effective Reading Instruction, p. 6). These connections allow children to
increase vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension, which are critical skills that
proficient readers have.
In addition
to phonemic awareness, phonics is another component of reading instruction that
is critical for success when reading. Phonics is the relationship between a
specific letter and its sound as it relates to the written word (National
Reading Panel, p. 2). Phonics is something that can be observed on a daily
basis in elementary and secondary classrooms as students practice sounding out
new vocabulary words. When faced with an unfamiliar word in text, students are
taught to break the word down into smaller chunks and to sound it out in order
to gain an understanding of the correct sound the word makes. Students who do
not develop these skills will often struggle with all but the simplest of
texts. I have observed this throughout my time in classrooms over the course of
this program, and I continue to practice this skill when I read and come across
a word I am not quite sure how to pronounce. Teaching students to develop these
skills at an early age will help them become better and more effective readers
as they will be able to understand the relationships that are made when letters
are combined together to form words. Even unfamiliar words will soon be able to
be quickly pronounced and will become sight words with increased automaticity.
This in turn will increase oral reading rate and fluency.
Once children
understand the alphabetic principle, that words are made of individual sounds,
and the relationship between letters in a word, they can begin to practice
fluency. Fluency is the ability to read text accurately and smoothly (National
Reading Panel). The key word in the definition is “accurately.” It is essential
that readers of all ages not only read with appropriate speed, but also that
they read with the goal of understanding what they are reading. This is why
fluency and comprehension are often talked about in conjunction with one
another. Throughout my limited time in classrooms over the course of my
experiences in this program I have observed both ends of the spectrum and
everything in between where it relates to fluency, oral reading rate, and comprehension.
I have practiced DIBELS assessments with students who could only read 30 words
per minute but could remember every single detail and important idea of what
they read. Other students could read over 100 words per minute but couldn’t
remember anything but the smallest details. These students either struggled
with comprehension, or were too focused on being a fast reader because the idea
they have of good readers is that they are fast. In these instances the
students were simply decoding and not gaining anything significant out of the
text. I know that at times I have to stop myself when reading because I tend to
read too fast and I find myself not remembering things from even a few
sentences or paragraphs back. Proficient and effective readers strike a balance
between fluency and comprehension that works for them.
At this
point in their reading education, children are or should be working on
increasing vocabulary and comprehension. Increasing one’s vocabulary knowledge
is important for reading fluency and comprehension because it allows for
automatic word recognition as text is read. When children encounter new
vocabulary words they should not only learn the meaning of the word, but should
also have opportunities to hear and use the word in context in school and at
home. If a piece of text contains too many new or difficult words,
comprehension can become impossible (National Reading Panel, p. 3). Finally,
comprehension is the ultimate goal once children have learned the fundamental
elements of reading instruction. Whether reading for business, pleasure, or
academics, comprehension is an essential component of effective reading. Many factors go into comprehension such as
decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and background knowledge to name a few. A reader
brings all of their learned and practiced skills, combined with their knowledge
and experiences, to a piece of text to make connections and to help make a
mental representation of the words on the page. In both the elementary and
secondary classrooms that I have been in, the students have practiced many
strategies to aid in comprehension. I have observed students stop reading at
key points to draw what is happening in the story, to close their eyes and
visualize, and to talk with a partner about what they just read. Visualizing,
making connections, inferring, predicting, evaluating, questioning, and using
context clues are reading strategies that students are taught in early
elementary school and that they will continue to use throughout their academic,
personal, and professional lives.
References
Learning Point Associates (2004). A closer look at the five essential
components of effective reading instruction: A review of scientifically based
reading research for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.learningpt.org%2Fpdfs%2Fliteracy%2Fcomponents.pdf&ei=yUsZVOv7IMuzggSw3IHoCQ&usg=AFQjCNFZk12xh7HmLkkukLYjYh-4NLULfg&sig2=6t03D3oUNj0ouzr-Lf1k_Q&bvm=bv.75558745,d.eXY
LEARNS. The national reading panel: five components of reading instruction
frequently asked questions. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scsk12.org%2Fscs%2Fsubject-areas%2Fkweb%2Fimages%2Fnationalreadingpanel_faq.pdf&ei=pEwZVK3DGMixggTyuYCABw&usg=AFQjCNEVoEttO7okrc_F25uPRS0zy3r4sw&sig2=Hds8PImDlwA3hkvvnIElAw
Vacca, J., Vacca, R., Gove,
M.,Burkey,L.,Lenhart,L.,McKeon,C. (2012). Reading
and learning to read (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
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