Reading ~

I have my students read aloud every day so I can check pronunciation as well as comprehension. Having children read silently allows their mistakes to go unnoticed. Children frequently reverse letters when they read. For example, they confuse sacred and scared, diary and dairy. Another reason for reading aloud is to build vocabulary. A child reading silently skips over big words he doesn't know. When I am there listening to a child read, I can interrupt to ask the meaning. The whole class benefits as we can look up the definition, the base word within the larger word, and the part of the speech.

I also have my students read aloud for tone, inflection and punctuation. Reading aloud helps a child realize the difference between a comma, a period, a question mark and exclamation point. Children who are just learning to read tend to read individual words, not group of words or phrases. That limits comprehension. I encourage my students to become idea readers, not word readers. By reading aloud children learn to understand words within the context of a sentence, and they see how words connect with each other to express an idea. This practice promotes not only good reading but also good writing.

Marva Collins