Teaching+Reading

= **Teaching Reading** =

In a classroom activity structure, literacy is an important daily requirement with 1 hour allocated to reading and 1 hour allocated to writing. In this time, the teacher would use scaffolding which gives the teacher the opportunity to model, share, guide and encourage independent reading and writing.

__**Teaching Reading Structure**__
During the allocated 1 hour reading session, the structure of the lesson may be split into three parts which include:
 * 1) Whole class activity- Shared reading/modeling reading = 10-15 minutes
 * 2) Small group activity- Shared reading, guided reading, reciprocal teaching, language experience activities = 40 minutes
 * 3) Whole group class share time = 10 minutes

To create an effective reading session, the teacher would follow the above structure and would need to think about the following in each allocated time:
 * 1) Before reading
 * 2) During reading
 * 3) After reading

__**Modeled Reading**__

 * In modeling teaching, the teacher selects a text to read to the whole class.
 * The teacher would model skilled reading behavior which would demonstrate fluency, phrasing and intonation. The would also show enjoyment and interest when reading many styles of writing and text types.

__**Shared Reading**__

 * Shared reading is a whole class instructional activity that engages children in problem-solving on texts using meaning, structure and visual information.
 * Shared reading is usually performed with a big book, and children are encouraged to join in with the teacher. The book may be a favourite text or it may contain lots of repetition.
 * This approach is effective as a teacher is able to model reading while providing plenty of support. The children also feel comfortable to join in when they feel is appropriate.

__**Guided Reading**__

 * In guided reading, a teacher works with a small group of children. All other children are doing independent work in a silent matter.
 * All the children are provided with the same book which is an unseen or unfamiliar text that is appropriate for the child's reading level.
 * When this activity is occurring, children should be aware of how the activity will work. There should be no interruptions.
 * During guided reading, the teacher discusses the topic, title and cover of the selected text.
 * The teacher would initially describe how the book is set up, for example a narrative or factual text, and introduce any new vocabulary that children may find difficult.
 * Children would read the text independently and silently.
 * During and after the children have read the text, the teacher would use prompts to strike up conversation about the text.

Meaning (semantic)
 * Prompting Questions (Hill 2006, p.177):**
 * 1) "Does this make sense?"
 * 2) "What is the story about?"
 * 3) "What is the picture telling us?"

Structure (syntax)
 * 1) "Does that sound right?"
 * 2) "Do we speak like that?"
 * 3) What would make it sound right?"

Visual (graphophonic)
 * 1) "What word does it look like?"
 * 2) "What shape is the word?"


 * Guided reading is effective as it can help children form a better understanding about the text.
 * The teacher is given the opportunity to form discussions about the text which helps develop a child's confidence and problem solving strategies. The child also learns comprehension in this activity.
 * When children are learning to read, the child may experience some road blocks to which they must overcome. The teacher would need to tackle these road blocks for the child to achieve effective reading development.

__**Reciprocal Teaching**__

 * This teaching approach contains a lower level of teacher involvement, giving children the opportunity to become independent with their reading. This approach applies to children who are fluent with their reading. The activity has a focus on comprehension.
 * In this activity, a teacher chooses a text for the children to read. The teacher initially leads a discussion about the text using four strategies which they children will later be asked to use in their own led discussion.
 * The four strategies are:
 * 1) Predicting- The aim is to predict what the book is about before reading the text. Predictions would be then checked against the text.
 * 2) Clarifying- Clarify any unfamiliar vocabulary or concepts in the book. This clarification is important as it gives children the opportunity to fully understand the text.
 * 3) Question generating- Thought-provoking questions are developed about the set text to help for discussions.
 * 4) Summarising- In each section, a summary is made, highlighting the main ideas in the section.


 * At the beginning, the teacher would demonstrate these strategies to the children and when they are familiar of how to use these strategies, children are put in control of their discussion in their group.

**__Independent Reading__**
Independent reading occurs when the child selects a book to read and they read independently and silently.