Reading

-Reading- 

The scaffolding approach to literacy shown in the diagram below is widely used when teaching reading in the classroom. It identifies the fact that as children progress through the different stages of reading, the amount of support that they receive from the teacher decreases. In the beginning with interactive read-aloud the "teacher will take full control of the reading, providing a model of how the teaching process works" (Hill, S 2006, pg 72), then in shared reading "the children can join in with the teacher, chanting and reading the chorus or refrain" (Hill, S 2006, pg 72). It is then in smaller groups that "children may have guided reading sessions with their teacher and again careful teacher scaffolding enables the children to take control" (Hill, S 2006 pg. 72) and finally children reach the stage of independent reading where they have complete control over their reading, where they select their books and read independently. The scaffolding approach also gives some representation of how competent a child is at reading by looking at what stage they are up to and how hard the books are that they are reading at that stage.  Interactive Read-aloud  Rog LJ (2003), identified that interactive reading-aloud is the perfect oportunity for teachers to model effective reading by their fluency and to expose the children to books ideas and words that they wouldn't be able to read on their own. Hill, S (2006), also found that "fiction books and information books can be read aloud at a level beyond what children can read independently"(pg 115). It has been found that "reading aloud builds enjoyment of books, literary language, vocabulary and knowledge about how to read"(Hill, S 2006, pg 115) and Rog LJ (2003) also found that "when children listen to stories being read aloud, they gain experience with many forms and genres of writing. They extend thier vocabulary, learn about story structure, and enrich their experience banks." (pg 11)   Shared Reading Hill, S (2006) defines shared reading as when "enlarged books are used to explore the conventions of print and the reading process. It is usually a whole-group activity and, although it is led by the teacher, the children can participate in the reading in various ways, including choral reading and reading theatre." (pg. 73) During shared reading "the teacher demonstrates the use of reading strategies, allowing the students to observe and join in" (Rog, LJ 2003, pg 11). A focus for such a task could be on "concepts about print, story structure, or text features such as rhymes, letter patterns, and punctuation." (Rog, LJ 2003, pg 11) Guided Reading "Guided reading involves a teacher working with a group of 4 to 6 children reading individual copies of the same text. The texts are selected by the teacher" (Hill, S 2006, pg 80) so that they may be at a level appropriate for the childrens reading capacities. They are specifically chosen so that they pose some challenges to the children, so that the teacher can introduce a range of problem solving strategies to help the children to read the text (Hill, S 2006, pg 80). According to Hill, S (2006) guided reading follows a procedure that involves, selecting an appropriate text, getting children ready for reading- often by discussing the topic of the book of the title and by connecting the book to the childrens prior experiences, talking through the book- by talking through the plot or narrative of the book and any new vocabulary is explained by using it in a sentence, and it can also include getting the children to summarise the story line, try and say what happens on each page from the illustrations only, and asking students questions that cue the reader to the sentence structure.

Independent Reading Independent reading, like independent writing, "provides students with opportunities to practice reading strategies, develop fluency, and build lifelong reading habits" (Rog, LJ 2003, pg.12). Rog, LJ (2003) explains that "an effective independent reading program requires time for reading as well as books that students will be able to read with ease and enjoy" (pg 12)

An important aspect of teaching children to read is security and predictability, so sessions should follow the same format each day; with tuning in the children with a verse, song or chant, rereading favourite books, using alphabet study, games, riddles, puzzles, spelling to teach from the book that was intruduced, bringing in new stories to read for enjoyment, independent reading allowing individuals or groups to explore old favourites, giving the children a chance to teach each other, and allowing the children to express themselves in some form, whether it be art or drama, with activities such as: painting, mask making, puppetry, mime or writing (Hill, S 2006, pg 76).

This video is an example of guided reading between a reading champion student and a student in need of a little extra help at Debden Park High School http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIlfeslrHvo It shows how other students can be used as motivators for children that are not enjoying reading, and mentors or helpers for children who need someone to spend a little bit of extra time with them so that they can progress in their reading abilities.

This video is an example of how teachers have been able to engage students boys in particular in reading. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACdU3HvIINw <span In this video we can see that by involving boys in their own reading champions group, they have motivated them to do more reading (because they have to complete certain reading tasks to become a reading champion), made other children want to become reading champions too because of it's high status within the school, and have given students control over the development of their own reading skills.