Teaching Kids to Read

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Teaching kids to read carries different meanings based on grade level.

My focus is the upper elementary grades...third through sixth. In the primary grades, we are teaching child how to decode words. In grades three to six, teaching kids to read means that our students are focused on understanding what they are reading in order to learn about other subjects.

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Reading transitions from "how to do it" to text being a primary information source...as it is for all literate adults in the world. Without an increasing ability to draw value from text, children will begin to fall behind in all subject areas.

Teaching Reading

The result of this multi-subject focus?

Reading must be practiced in all content areas.

Of course we'll have focused reading instruction, but what students learn in our reading block about theme, main idea, characters, etc. will not directly transfer to how to read in science or social studies or math.

Teaching elementary reading in other content areas means...

Science

Elementary girl sitting on stack of books

Children must read with the process of investigation in mind:

What are we trying to find out?
What are we trying to prove?
What question are we trying to answer?

These things have to be considered as we read through a scientific text or article.

Social Studies

Our students must read with an inquisitive mindset about:

People
Geography's impact on people
Historical activities of people

This focus on "what we need to know" in a particular subject takes practice for kids to learn to read effectively...it's an approach rather than a genre.

These science, social studies and math formats may also differ from what a child will be exposed to in your daily reading block, where texts or selections have been carefully chosen to be highly interesting.

Betsy's Insights: Teaching Genre

Reading for Information

Sometimes our students must read selections that are informative but not especially compelling.

Learning to push through and extract meaning from any text is a skill set that must be taught as well...a skill that will serve them well as adults, when much of their reading will be decidedly on the boring side (unless you really love insurance contracts, tax forms and retirement investment statements!)

Teaching kids to read is a fascinating and gratifying endeavor. Seeing that reading light bulb go on in a child's head when they "get it" is what we live for as teachers.

I think these articles will help you in your efforts to create great readers in your classrooms.

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