Reading skills

Reading skills

Research Information

Reading is an essential process of learning. Through reading, people demonstrate their intake and comprehension of information. Among students, it is integral to their knowledge, and the skills developed in reading go a long way in expressing that students can comfortably assess and integrate information based on what they see and get from the reading materials available to them.

Additionally, reading is a process that involves a range of aspects through which the comprehension of different topics and ideas is thoroughly explored. This essay highlights the five areas of reading as well as provides activities to teach and reinforce independent practice for each of the reading areas. Furthermore, it will give graphic organizers essential for classwork.

Phonemic awareness highlights the sound structure of words through which students can make word distinction based on the arrangement of words. Whereas words may have similar spelling or word structure, phonemic awareness leads the students to listen to the sound structures of these words during reading. The importance is that they are better placed to make the proper pronunciation unique to the words they read, and as such, they can comprehend the words during reading. Phonemic awareness works to provide the students with the ability to differentiate between words based on how they are pronounced. Phonemic awareness is essential in teaching students English at lower levels, such as kindergarten and for students taking English as a second or foreign language.

Phonemic awareness teaches the students the ability to distinguish between words based on their sound, and this is further implemented through the spelling of the words. Through phonemic awareness, students can recognize words based on the patterns of sound on especially new words by reading them out. It is a word-by-word process that introduces new learners of the language to the operation of reading out and differentiating between words. The ability to read is influenced by the ability to recognize words and how they are structured. Phonemic awareness involves the distinction of words where the individual sound structures of the word are highlighted. The student is thus presented with a set of words, and they demonstrate phonemic awareness by manipulating the sounds of each word and subsequent individual sounds in a given word, thus safeguarding the reading ability of the students.

The role of phonemic awareness as a reading tool is supported based on its practical approach to reading. Here, students can distinguish between sounds based on word structure. It is helpful to learners in that it provides them with the necessary information regarding English so that as they proceed with their reading, they are better placed on distinguishing between words. As such, phonemic awareness lays the structural base for further reading and is supported by the accelerated comprehension of reading skills. Students with the ability to distinguish words based on their sound structure usually have better reading skills and do not struggle for pronunciation, recognition of words in comparison with those with weak phonemic awareness.

As an area of reading, phonics highlight and emphasize phonemic awareness so that readers can be able to distinguish words based on their sounds and spelling consideration. With heightened awareness, students make use of their listening skills to identify the structure of different words better. Through phonics, students demonstrate their reading abilities through the sound distinction between words so that when presented with other written words, they first establish their sound structure, which aids in the recognition of new words. Students are taken through the identification of words through their sounds. The history informs the use of phonics as an area of reading of the English language, which has borrowed heavily from other languages in the world. While some of these words have acquired spellings that are in line with English, others maintained the spelling structure of their previous languages. In addition to this, the language has also incorporated other modern languages, especially when there is no English alternative or translation for these foreign words. As such, the language is composed of overlapping words, and making the right distinction between these words is critical to reading.

The sound and spelling structure in English is not as straightforward as they are in other languages, and phonics enables students and learners alike to make the relevant distinction. When they are not in a position to make these distinctions, their reading is drastically affected alongside their comprehension of the language. Words with similar spellings can have different meanings and pronunciation altogether, and words with the same word structure can have different pronunciation. The key to understanding words in the language is based on the ability to distinguish the sound and spelling structures of different words. Inconsistency of word patterns follows that better comprehension of reading is dependent on phonics. The relationship between sounds and words plays a significant role in the identification of words during reading. When given a sentence structure, learners can identify words based on their phonic structure, and as such, the isolation enables them to read the words within the context of the sentence. The ability to make these distinctions is based on the knowledge they have of word and letter representation.

Phonics is supported mainly because it instils high levels of attentiveness on the part of the learner so that they can recognize the structure of words and their respective sounds. As they understand these relationships, learners can restructure a wide variety of words within the right context in the language. Learners who pay attention to phonics can make critical distinctions between words and their pronunciation. Learners are taken through the recollection of phonics in words and how to properly articulate them when presented with sentences, and its success is that they know the differences of words based on sound and spelling structure. They are taken through how to read words based on their structural integrity properly. The aim is to break down the words that have borrowed heavily from other languages in such a way that there is ease in recognizing words.

Vocabulary is a crucial area of reading in that it acts to provide the learner with words that they use in reading. It is particularly essential because learners not only demonstrate their knowledge of the words in use, but they are in a position to understand, identify, and comfortably use it within the right and correct context. Reading involves going through sets of words provided regarding a particular subject, and as such, the learner needs to have the ability to both recognize these words and also know-how and when to use them. Through vocabulary, learners can adequately express themselves, thus aiding in communication. In a situation where they cannot recognize words, their reading and sense of the expression are curtailed until such a time when they will be in a position to identify the vocabulary.

In reading, vocabulary enables the learner to make a distinction in analyzing different words they come into contact with. In general, the comprehension of words is based on the perception of vocabulary so that learners will ignore or encounter difficulty in words they do not recognize. On the other hand, they will quickly identify with familiar words based on the scope of their vocabulary. As such, the depth of their reading is based on the range of the vocabulary and the words known to them. Among learners, this scope of vocabulary is expanded as soon as they are in a position to recognize words around them. Continued exposure to language and learning material is essential in broadening the vocabulary among learners. Young learners and international students have a limited vocabulary on any given new language. As such, their ability to read and recognize new words is limited to the scope of their vocabulary.

Vocabulary also involves the ability to recognize and use the word in its context. There are many words, which have similar spellings but have a very different meaning. Such words are referred to as homonyms and are extensive in their use. Additionally, a good number of these words also have similar sound structures, and learners face difficulty, especially with a limited vocabulary. For example, the word ‘book’ has a different meaning and can be used in various settings. It is used to signify the action of making reservations, appointments, and arrangements.

On the other hand, it also refers to a publication or set of written works bound together. Presented with these homonyms, students with limited vocabulary will not be able to recognize the words despite them being familiar with the words themselves. Vocabulary works to further the knowledge of the learners.

As an area of reading, vocabulary is supported because it exposes the reader to an enormous scope of words useful in their learning. Through this, learners are best positioned to recognize words and place them within the right and correct context. Because of this, reading is essential in the development of vocabulary among readers, given that learners are best placed on recognizing words supplementary to their vocabulary through reading than they do while listening. While listening is an integral part of learning, it does not capture the distinction of words and vocabulary the way reading does. Listening is limited while reading is broad in that learners can rely on their effort without necessarily having to rely on other avenues, which might not have the desired effects regarding the expansion of vocabulary. Nonetheless, students who incorporate both listening and reading in vocabulary development have better recognition and understanding of words. The growth and expansion of vocabulary take place throughout the learner’s life, and it helps shape their ability to express themselves and demonstrate effective communication.

Reading comprehension is the fourth area of reading, which draws attention to the ability of the learner to assess words and sentences and harmonize such information to what they are conscious about. As such, when learners cannot comfortably integrate new words and texts to what they are aware of, their reading and learning are curtailed to the extent of their knowledge. In reading, learners must demonstrate that they can identify and recognize sentence and word structures and at the same time, combine it to what they are aware of. Reading is not merely pronouncing words for marks; it involves understanding these words and their context. For example, when going through new material in the course of their reading, students with backing knowledge on what they are reading are better placed on demonstrating thorough reading comprehension as opposed to those without such experience. The ability to comprehend texts and words is highlighted by the amount of information they can retain and use in context accordingly.

Reading skills go a long way in facilitating comprehension in that it follows a procedural process where learners integrate such information into the current information they have. This is to say that when learners recognize words faster, their reading comprehension is also fast. Similarly, when they do not understand these words and texts within their original context, their reading comprehension is highly compromised, and they spend a lot of time trying to make sense out of such documents. Students and other learners can easily understand familiar texts and wordings, and at the same time, they show difficulty in getting a grip on unfamiliar texts. For example, a learner in second grade can comfortably read, understand, and explain the context from versions such as ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ given their comprehension allows them to. On the other hand, the same learner in grade will most certainly find difficulty in understanding and processing the texts found in thermodynamics essays because their comprehension does not have the room to accommodate and process information is such essays. However, reading comprehension does not mean the ability to read, and it concerns the strength of the reader to understand the texts before them.

Reading comprehension stretches to incorporate the proficiency of the learner so that they are best placed to smoothly recognize, analyze, and make an application of the words they come across. As such, the cognitive skills of the learner ought to be developed so that they have ease in recognizing words. Their ability to form accurate inferences in the course of reading is the fruit of comprehension of texts and words. Higher and firm levels of grasping are brought about by how the readers form a relationship between the words and texts regarding their structure and the response of the reader after encountering them. It is essential to note that broad vocabulary is critical for reading comprehension in that the extent of the reader’s understanding is heavily dependent on the scope and nature of the vocabulary.

The final area of fluency, which is demonstrated by the ability of the learner to recognize words as they appear during reading. Fluency is an integral part of reading in that it tests the learner’s command of the language in whatever subject and context it is presented. When the learner is not in a position to recognize the words before them, their fluency is dealt a blow in that they will spend more time trying to familiarize themselves with those words. Additionally, learners who have difficulty in the comprehension of words as a result of learning disabilities may struggle with fluency more than their counterparts without these disabilities.

Another critical aspect of reading fluency is the knowledge the learner has of the language. When the learner has mastered a good understanding of the language, they find it easy to read and understand different texts and words and even in subjects that are foreign to them, they can grasp a few ideas here and there. For example, a second grader with a good understanding of English will demonstrate high levels of recognition of texts on American history despite them not necessarily joining the historical dates and events. Their recognition of words in such a text is dependent on their understanding of the language. Similarly, an international student learning a new language will have low levels of reading fluency when going through passages in the new language if they do not understand the language. For example, while a French-speaking student will be able to demonstrate fluency while reading French essays, the same student will have difficulty in reading English texts given their limited knowledge of the language. As such, fluency in reading is natural to learners who have an inherent understanding of the language and can go through texts and words without stopping midway from trying and recognizing what is before them.

In reading, fluency is essential in that it also enables others to make sense of what the learner is putting across. Incoherent eloquence puts both the learner and others around them in positions where they have to strain to understand what is being said. Moreover, it breaks the fluidity of reading, and simple texts can seem ambiguous to the learner. Learners who are fluent in their reading tend to have a higher retaining and understanding of the power of what they are going through. The fluency in reading is demonstrated further when the learner can reproduce what they have been reading over a given course of time.

Reading in its entirety is broad, given it has to factor in a list of key areas so that learners are better placed to not only understand what they are reading but also demonstrate their retaining power by reproducing information relevant to what they read. Effective and efficient reading must encompass all these five areas because each one of them is unique and complements the other. Additionally, the teacher must also be in a position to emphasize areas where the students need to work on to improve their overall grasp of words and texts in language use. Through phonemic awareness, learners can make a distinction between different words based on their sound structure. Phonics then highlights the spelling and sound structure of the words through reading. Students are taught how to make out the words given on the appearance of the letter, and through such arrangements, they can coherently articulate their words. Vocabulary, on the other hand, provides the learners with a broad scope of words that are recognizable through their reading. In addition to this, learners know how to use these words in context, thus facilitating their comprehension during reading. With broad vocabulary, learners can understand words and process them owing to the familiarity they have with the words. It then goes ahead to showcase their fluency in reading in such a manner that they can coherently express themselves. Reading is thus composed of interrelated areas that complement each other.

Graphic organizers and Websites play a central role in reading. They work to assist the students in critical areas of learning owing to their organizational structure. While reading boils down to the attentiveness and work of the student, teachers need to provide materials through which the five areas of reading are emphasized. Graphic organizers are used to enhancing learning by enforcing regions through which the learners can make use of their visuals to retain information. Additionally, it also ensures that reading comprehension among learners is advanced. Graphic organizers cut through all students and are essential learning tools, especially for students with learning disabilities. They can comprehend what they see and supplement other areas of learning. Students also can make recollection of visual representation of items they have seen before, and when it comes to thinking, their levels of thinking are developed further.

On the other hand, websites are used as tools of social learning owing to their interactive nature and ability to work both in the classroom and out of classroom setups. They broaden the scope of learning in ways that are conducive to the learners who have access to additional tools of learning. They are essential in bridging the gap between formal and informal situations so that learners have dynamic conditions best suited for them. Through such, learners can get supervision from members of their family who provide them links to websites that are as interactive as classroom setups only that they incorporate an interface that inhibits the reading process.

Activities

In the course of their teaching, teachers conduct activities that reinforce independent practice among the learners. These activities are geared towards supplementing what textbooks have to offer and more practical than theoretic. Through these activities, learners can easily practice their reading skills even when not in classroom settings. Events used for phonemic awareness emphasize the recognition of sounds in different words and sentence structures.

1. Phonetic awareness

Given that phonemic awareness activities hardly use the visual strength of the learners, they must be attentive in their listening to grasp the word sounds from the respective activities. The foundation of reading lays in the ability of the learners to understand the sound of words.

1.1. Teachers can incorporate listening as an activity where learners are taught to listen out for sounds in whatever environment. From this, the teacher or instructor will point out what some of the sounds are, and as such, learners develop a keen sense of listening, which is useful in phonemic awareness.

1.2. Another activity is singing songs that emphasize words and their sounds. As the learners learn the songs, they can know the words and can comfortably sing them even while at home.

1.3. Another activity rhymes. Here, teachers come up with rhyming words and encourage learners to say words that are similar to what is being said. With this, students can broaden their knowledge of words in ways that are both fun and interactive.

1.4. Reading stories to the learners is another reinforcing activity. While they listen, teachers and instructors can introduce pictures whereby learners can associate what they hear to what they see. Additionally, asking them to repeat the stories enhances their power to retain and say out words.

1.5. Recitals of poems is another useful activity during phonemic awareness. Here, learners are encouraged to recite verses after listening to the teacher or instructor say them aloud over some time. The aim is to ensure that learners keep reciting these verses over and over so that they have basic knowledge of common words.

2. Phonics

Phonic based activities emphasize the relationship between letters, words, and their subsequent sounds. These reinforcers are used to highlight the knowledge of the learner and their ability to recognize words and letters from their sounds.

2.1. Sound and picture activities are essential in that they enable the learners’ associate objects to the sound they make. Here, the instructor provides pictures of different objects, says what they are then, later on, learners can associate those words with the objects.

2.2. Hunting for letters is another essential activity where the instructors pronounce letters, and learners have to identify them based on their sound. Here, the instructor says individual letters and task the learners with hunting for those letters based on what they hear. 2.3. Sound and spelling activities aid learners in making out the arrangement of words mentioned to them. The instructor makes different word sounds, then asks the learners to spell them out.

2.4. Another phonic activity is sing-along games, where songs that follow specific word structures and orders are taught to the learners. Through the rhythm and structure of the songs, learners then make the association between the words from the songs.

2.5. Re-reading favourite stories to the learners enable them to familiarize themselves with the words the stories, thus developing their phonics.

3. Fluency

Fluency activities help learners develop their ability to recognize words coherently, thus aid in developing reading skills.

3.1. Read aloud sessions enable the learner to distinguish fluency in reading. Here, the instructors read sections of texts while the learners watch and learn so that they have an idea of how to read.

3.2. Repeated readings are used as reinforcing activities where learners are advised to read texts frequently so that they can best recognize words that appear more often in the texts.

3.3. Another exercise is clustering words in texts in ways that learners can read by knowing what to say in phrases. The more learners familiarize themselves with phrases and cluster ready, the more their fluency improves.

3.4. Another activity is to have the learners talk about events around them. As they do this, they can develop critical thinking skills that they use in processing information around them. They then join together words and language to their immediate environment.

3.5. Another activity is encouraging learners to mimic words and texts. In this activity, learners listen to a story then imitate what they have heard. Instructors are also encouraged to ask leading questions in the course of the reading to prompt responses from the learners.

4. Comprehension

Comprehension activities aid learners in coordinating information to what they are already aware of. These activities encourage learners to assess words in ways that broaden their scope of understanding.

4.1. Revision of previous lessons helps build on the comprehension of learners. The teacher encourages students to make recollection of prior experiences and writing those revisions down.

4.2. Another activity is to promote learners to highlight texts that have essential information. It helps them better understand what they are reading.

4.3. Instructors need to have the learners set learning targets where they can have a certain amount of material they read that will aid in improving their reading skills.

4.4. Another activity is handing out assignments on specific events around the learners where they are required to give reports on what they saw. It enhances how learners incorporate information around them.

4.5. Another activity is encouraging learners to ask questions through their reading then attempt to answer these questions among themselves.

5. Vocabulary

            Vocabulary is essential in reading in that learners with a broad scope of vocabulary are best placed to understand words and use them in the right context. Vocabulary activities enhance learners to recognize more words through their reading.

            5.1. Teachers can come up with words and write them down on placards. As the learners pick the placards, the instructions are to form sentences using these words in all the available contexts.

            5.2. Teachers need to engage learners in word puzzles where certain words are erased from phrases, and learners are tasked with finding the missing words to make the sentences coherent.

5.3. Another activity is to provide learners with random letters, then have learners make as many words as possible from these letters.

            5.4. To reinforce vocabulary, teachers can give out assignments to their learners where they are required to find new words over a given period and write down the meaning of these words.

            5.5. Teachers can pair different students and encourage them to come up with word journals that they share before making final presentations in class.

Website Reviews      

As tools of social learning, websites incorporate their user interface to provide interactive lessons to readers across all ages and grades. They work to instigate reading skills owing to the number of resources tackling a list of different topics. Materials from websites and beneficial to both the learner and the teacher. Below is a list of websites I found helpful and have similar abilities among the students.

1. Reading Rockets

The website is useful in that it provides resources that build on the five areas of reading. These resources are especially essential in helping the learners acquire relevant skills that are useful in and out of classroom settings. Trough this website, teachers, and instructors can obtain data valuable in lesson plans and other graphic organizers they can incorporate in their lessons.

2. Read Theory

The website allows learners and teachers to set up accounts, which gives them access to material that boosts comprehension skills. Users pick on the levels they need to work on that are provided from the website. On the other hand, teachers have access to material that they can incorporate into their classwork and can guide them follow up on areas the learners struggling.

3. Read Works

The website provides learners with material from its vast library resources that help them acquire comprehension and vocabulary skills. In addition to this, it offers continuous assessments to gauge the progress of the learners. Teachers, on the other hand, benefit from teaching plans and guidance materials to aid in class efficiency.

4. Into the Book

This website is focused on improving reading comprehension by providing essential strategies to both learners and teachers. All the resource materials focus on what the learners already know and how to best improve on that. Additionally, it emphasizes learning activities that are practical and efficient, based on the strategies provided.

5. Read Write Think

As a social learning tool, this website provides literacy materials that work to strengthen the learner’s grip on a variety of subjects. Not only is it helpful in promoting the reading skills of learners, but it also enabled them to develop critical thinking skills that they integrated into their reading and writing. Furthermore, its friendly user interface is such that learners from lower grades can comfortably manoeuvre through the website. Teachers using the website can set up learning goals and objectives for their students through a wide variety of themes and can gauge their progress over time.

Reading Resources

In the course of their work, teachers incorporate resources to help them along the way. These resources act to reinforce the material available to the teacher. Moreover, they help the teachers utilize material around them to maintain their learners to improve their reading skills. In addition to being helpful to the teachers, they are inherently useful to parents and guardians because of their easy access. These reading resources are natural to use and are inexpensive to acquire and aim at improving the reading skills of learners through convenient and adaptable ways.

1. Magazines

Magazines have texts and diagrams that enhance the reading skills of learners. They have authentic information covering a wide range of topics from culture, wildlife, and everyday life of different individuals. As they go through magazines, learners are exposed to broad subjects alongside notable illustrations to emphasize on essential areas of reading.

2. Books

Books offer a variety of information on diverse topics and are central resources for reading. They are structured in such a way that learners can enhance their reading skills by supplementing what the teacher offer. Furthermore, books cover a broad scope of topics and genres that instil necessary skills focusing on the different areas of readings. As such, they are essential reading resources for the teachers.

3. Newspapers

Newspapers improve on the reading skills of learners by expanding on their vocabulary, given that they capture current events. Through this, teachers can guide their knowledge of events that happen around them. Newspapers are useful reading resources because they are readily available and can be used in both formal and informal learning setups.

4. Dictionaries

Dictionaries are made up of words that make up the vocabulary by adding new words alongside their meaning and use in sentence structures. As such, they are useful reading resources in that they expose learners to a broad scope of vocabulary and come in handy when learners have difficulty in understanding words. Through the dictionary, learners can find the correct spelling and meaning of the words. The most intriguing aspect is that dictionaries provide phonic structures of words and improve on phonemic awareness.

5. Atlases

As for reading resources, the atlas provides the geographical information of different areas. They are useful in developing reading skills in that they improve the comprehension of learners by focusing on how they interpret information.

Graphic Organizers

The graphic organizers are courtesy of Scholastic and Teachers Pay Teachers.