September 30th Blog Post

Thinking back to my early years in pre-school and elementary school, I can remember my parents

and teachers reminding me to "sound it out". In this article it states that one of the main ways children learn how to read and develop their reading system is through powerful interactions with their teachers. A way that many successful teachers teach their students to read is through "coaching". Coaching word recognition is when a teacher creates cues to prompt the reader to think on the edge of their knowledge while they attempt to familiarize themselves with unfamiliar words.

In the case study that was conducted, it said that teachers can give students two types of cues: general and focused. General cues prompt thought while focused cues prompt the child to a specific action. I really like the support the students are given through the cues because I feel like the saying :sounds it out" can cause great anxiety for some students. I though it was great when the teacher asked students to use the pictures to help them touch certain letters and say aloud the sounds. One suggestion that I enjoyed was involving other children. For example, while a child may be trying to sound out a work they are unfamiliar with, the teacher can ask the class as a whole what they think that the word may be.

What helped you as a young child trying to learn words that were unfamiliar to you?
How do you plan to use "coaching" in your future classroom?

The link below is to an awesome site that I found on Pinterest. It is entitled "Raising a Reader" and it gives some wonderful examples on how to help children learn to read, and how to help children love to read. I encourage you all to go take a look!
http://www.motherhoodonadime.com/kids/raising-a-reader-seven-tips-to-help-your-child-learn-to-read/