How we can bring reading to life in our classrooms...
Reading is one of the most powerful aspects of learning in our world. Learning to read is a determining factor in how we will learn in our school system. Throughout this blog, I have identified different strategies, resources and techniques that can be used in any classroom, with all types of students. By using these resources and others that achieve similar goals, students can be engaged and excel in the classroom through the development of their reading ability.
Reading Aloud
Although being read to can sometimes come across as juvenile, reading aloud to students can help them develop their own agency in reading. The following TedTalk discusses the importance of reading aloud to children, explaining the benefits it can have on a child's reading fluency, comprehension and overall love for reading.
From personal experience, I can understand why being read to is such an important part of developing our reading skills. As a child, my parents read to me every night before I went to bed; as well as, when I started to grow up, I would play audiobooks to fall asleep to. While at school, I was able to understand the need to ask questions about texts I was reading, examine different types of texts and enjoy what I was reading about. In addition to my own experiences, I relate the need for being read to through the students I have seen in my different placements. While working in Kindergarten, Grade 4 and Grade 5 classrooms, I have seen each teacher take a different approach towards reading aloud. Regardless of the teacher, book or student's abilities, I have seen how engaged students can be through storytelling.
Involving storytelling in any classroom ensures that students understand how engaging and motivating reading can truly be. Bringing books into the classroom to read aloud as a whole class, or in small groups can be very easy. We can find books at our libraries, bookstores or online. However, there are many ways we can bring stories into the classroom to be read, for example...
Reading Fluency & Assessment
Reading Fluency is an important aspect in ensuring our students are comprehending the text they are reading and remaining engaged. The Ontario Language curriculum for each Junior/Intermediate grade has an expectation of fluent reading from each student. Reading fluency includes the understanding or prediction of meaning for both familiar and unfamiliar words being read by the student; as well as a reasonable rate of speed while reading with expression and confidence.
Tools that can help students and teachers with reading fluency can be easy to find in our technologically-driven world. Literably is an online reading tool that benefits both teachers and students. The website asks for the name and reading level of the students in each classroom. Texts can be assigned by the teacher based on the reading levels of the students. Once the reading is assigned, students can read through the text while being recorded via the computer microphone. While the student reads, the application assesses the reading fluency, assessing reading similarly to PM Benchmarks. The information and assessments taken by the application eliminate individual evaluations of each student done by the teacher.
Reading through Online Resources
While working with our Ontario Language Curriculum in the classroom, we also need to take into consideration those students who require accommodations and modifications while reading. Students with exceptionalities, such as Dyslexia or Blindness require tools that will allow them to understand and read texts in more accessible ways. Google Read & Write is an amazing tool that can help students practice their reading skills while continuing to work at grade level. Google Read & Write allows students to be read to or read along with the text they are using in their classrooms. Along with read-aloud technology, Google Read & Write also provides an in-application text dictionary for further understanding and picture dictionary for those with visual learning strengths. Overall the tool is able to accommodate and include all students in the classroom to become a part of their reading development.
