Written By: P. V. Ananthalakshmi, Principal, Helikx Open School.
As a teacher we might have noticed in the class some students read fluently some others take a long time and struggle to understand the concept.
Why does this happen?
Reading is a skill. To read fast and fluently is very important to develop a good understanding skill. The student who reads fluently comprehends the concept of the passage rather than the words themselves and this helps to retain what they have read. The students with learning difficulties struggle, sometimes with each word, skip the words, sentences or replace similar words and have poor reading comprehension which hinders their academic performance.
“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.”
Strategies to help students to improve the reading skills:
A number of approaches which the teachers can apply as per the reading pace and reading style of the student to improve this skill.
1. Model Reading The teacher has to read aloud in such a way, it would help the students to understand what fluent reading sounds like. Using lots of expressions, giving a pause to emphasise a word or a point, variations in the reading speed and voice as per the meaning of the words depending on the prose, poetry, the story would help them to understand what is being read. While narrating a story or a poem the accent of the teacher help the students to understand the meaning of the word and the concept of the passage to become an active listener.
2. Reading in a Group /Peer Reading The students struggling with reading would not be comfortable with reading alone. Visual teaching materials can be used by the teacher. The reading material is divided into smaller units and students can repeat along with the teacher in a group, and more practice in such a way gives the opportunity to the students in reading aloud. This would increase the child's confidence and slowly it improves the reading fluency.
3. Recording the Reading Before and After Let each student read a small passage first time and record it. The teacher teaches them with modulation, and ample practice is given adding an expression for several days. Then rerecord the reading of each student and let them see the difference before and after recordings. We can notice that there is an improvement in the reading fluency of the students those who were struggling to read.
4. Re-reading Practice is given to familiarise high-frequency words in the passage for several days before moving to the next. This helps to improve the performance of the student. Repetition helps to change short-term memory to long-term memory which in turn improves the retention.
5. Printed Material The teacher can pre-record the reading passage, along with this the printed materials given to the students would help them to listen to the audio with modulation. Have the student follow along with the recording, at first with their finger and as they continue to listen, students can read aloud along with the recording.
6. Word Bank The students can make their own word bank and add on to it, unknown words and learn them in activity based games like scramble, puzzles, crossword and so on.
7. Activity Corner Encourage the students to read a book of their own selection. A silent reading session of 10 minutes which would make the reading more interesting. Allow them to share briefly what they read. The students who can read fluently can read aloud and help their friends. As quoted “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.” – Charles William Eliot (American Academic).
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