The Basics of Teaching Reading and Writing

Teaching reading is a hugely complicated task. So much so that researcher Louisa Moats ended up entitling her influential article "Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science." (This, incidentally, also became the basis for the Reading Rockets name!)

To strengthen your skills in teaching reading and writing, you may want to try our self-paced online course, Reading 101: A Guide to Teaching Reading and Writing

Oral Language

Oral language encompasses both speaking and listening. Oral language skills include learning how spoken words sound, what words and sentences mean, and how to communicate ideas.

Print Awareness

Print awareness is understanding that print carries meaning, that books contain letters and words, and how a book "works" — such as identifying the front and back covers and that pages are turned.

Alphabet Knowledge

Alphabet knowledge is the ability to recognize and name uppercase and lowercase letters, recognize letter symbols in print, and know that there are sounds associated with each letter.

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of words — including rhymes, syllables, and phonemes.

Phonics and Decoding

Children's reading development is dependent on their understanding of the alphabetic principle — the idea that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language.

Sight Words and Orthographic Mapping

Words that you can read instantly are called sight words. Orthographic mapping is the process of storing a word permanently in memory for instant retrieval — and key to effortless, accurate, and fluent reading.

Fluency

Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with expression. Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read. Beginning readers must use the words they hear orally to make sense of the words they see in print.

Spelling

Learning to spell is built on a child's understanding that words are made up of separate speech sounds (phonemes) and that letters represent those sounds.

Comprehension

Comprehension is the reason for reading. Good readers think actively as they read. They use their experiences and knowledge of the world, vocabulary, language structure, and reading strategies to make sense of the text.

Writing

A child's writing development parallels their development as a reader. Writing is a complex task that balances purpose, audience, ideas and organization with the mechanics of writing (sentence structure, word choice, spelling).

Informal Assessment

Regular informal assessments throughout the school year provides useful information that can help teachers to identify the individual strengths and weaknesses of each student.

Who's at Risk?

Some kids have a disability that makes reading difficult to learn. Others come to school without the literacy experiences they need to become readers. Some children struggle because they've received poor or inadequate reading instruction. The more risk factors a child has, the more likely it is that he or she will encounter reading problems.

What Else Matters in Teaching Reading

In addition to an excellent reading curriculum, these factors play a critical role in helping students become strong readers: a teacher's skill with classroom management, differentiated instruction, working with the students' parents, and other interventions to help struggling readers.