Literacy-Sight Words

What are sight words?

• These are words which your child easily recognize when reading without having to attempt to decode for meaning or pronunciation.  These words may include "the", "who", and "what".  Sight words typically result from seeing the words frequently in text.  Over time, with more exposure to reading materials and practice, many or most words become sight words for skilled readers.
• Sight words also result from your child becoming familiar with letter and sound patterns.  Here's some examples: "s" followed by an "h" produces the "shuuhhh" sound, "c" before "a" produces a hard "c" sound (kuuuhhh).

How can I help my child?

Sight words are very important as your child's literacy develops.  Since sight words can be learned with frequent exposure, providing your children with plenty of reading material is essential.  You can work with your child to learn a wide array of words, as well as work with them on learning the sounds that are associated with the letters.  This can be done with homemade flashcards or simply while reading aloud.

Are learning sight words enough to become a skilled reader?

No. It should be noted that learning sight words is not enough alone to help your child become a skilled reader.  While a child may be able to identify and say a sight word, they may not be able to construct meaning from the text.  Helping your child with reading comprehension as well as many factors are equally important (see label Literacy-Comprehension Strategies and Literacy-Helping Your Child Become a Skilled Reader for more info)

References

Griffin, P. (2011). Printed word identification [Power Point Slides].  Retrieved from online lecture notes.

Literacy: Fluency

What does a fluent reader do? (Griffin, 2011)

• They can easily and quickly identify words, letters, and sounds.
• They are able to comprehend the material they are reading (see label Literacy-Comprehension Strategies)
• They use the appropriate intonation and tempo when reading (Example: Rising intonation or falling intonation when reading a question or statement and knows when grammar such as commas indicate a pause in a sentence)

What sort of issues can children have with fluency?

• Frequent pauses and hesitations while reading
• Mispronunciation of words
• The need to reread sentences frequently due to lack of comprehension

What can I do to help my child's fluency?

• Provide a vast array of reading materials for your child on many different subjects.  A mix of informational and fictional text is a good idea.  Make sure your children know that reading is important in your household.  Encourage your child to read books, newspapers, and magazines and also let your child see you and other household members enjoying reading.
• Read aloud to your child and discuss the material with them to ensure better reading comprehension (see label Literacy-Comprehension Strategies)
• Reading the same books to your child over and over again will likely begin to bore them, so it's a good idea to mix up the type of written materials you are reading, however; it is still a good idea to revisit a book that has been previously read from time to time to have different sort of discussions about the book.  This will enrich your child's background knowledge, especially when reading informational texts.

References

Griffin, P. (2011). Fluency [Power Point Slides].  Retrieved from online lecture notes.

Literacy: Comprehension Strategies

Just because a child can read text and identify the words correctly does not necessarily mean they are able to comprehend what it is they are reading.  Comprehension is essential for children to be able to become a skilled, fluent reader and is an important aspect of literacy. 

What exactly is comprehension?

" The reader or listener contributes personal knowledge and dispositions to provide background knowledge for the comprehension process.  What the speaker or writer indicates in the text is processed by the listener or reader so that it adds to background knowledge, questions it, confirms it, revises it, or transforms it in some other way..." (Snow, Griffin, & Burns, 2007, p. 22).

How can I help my child with their reading comprehension?

Reading aloud to your child can be very helpful in developing their reading comprehension.  When a child reads independently, it becomes their responsibility to clarify what the author is trying to say.  When you read aloud to your child, you become a mediator of sorts to aid the child in comprehension of the text. (Griffin).  When reading to your child to encourage comprehension, it is important to think aloud how you are comprehending what you are reading (The boy said he was sad. Do you think it may be because he lost his toy a few pages back?).  Taking breaks while reading to review and discuss helps to be sure your child is on the right track regarding comprehension and gives you the opportunity to guide them and provide clarity where needed. 

References

Griffin, P. (2011). Foundations of Reading Comprehension [Power Point Slides].  Retrieved from online lecture notes.

Snow, M.S., Griffin, P., & Snow, C.E. (1999). Starting out right: A guide to promoting children's reading success. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Helping Your Child Become a Skilled Reader

For your child to become a skilled reader, there is more to it than just being able to read the words.  Being able to read does not necessarily indicate that your child is comprehending the text.  To explain, lets take a look at a model entitled, "The Many Strands that are Woven into Skilled Reading" (Scarborough, 2001).

This model compares skilled reading to a rope, which consists of many different threads that are essential for the rope (skilled reading) to come together.  Let's look at each "thread":
Language Comprehension:

• Background Knowledge-This refers to the knowledge your child already has about the information being read or that can be applied to the information being read.  A good way to work on this with your child would be to take new opportunities while in the community to discuss new concepts and ideas with your children (See those bees by the flowers, do you know what they're doing?).  Watching educational programming with your children also helps to increase their background knowledge and familiarity with different concepts.
• Vocabulary-This includes the child's vocabulary breadth (see the label Vocabulary for more info and advice).
• Language Structures-This includes syntax and semantics, or your childs knowledge of how to construct a sentence with proper grammar and meaning (see the label Syntax for more info and advice).
• Verbal Reasoning-This involves your child's ability to make inferences and construct meanings from the text that is being read.  Understanding metaphor meanings and references is also an indicator of verbal reasoning skills.
• Literacy Knowledge-This includes your child understanding print concepts such as reading from left to right and top to bottom, how to hold a book, and that periods complete one sentence before moving to the next.  By giving your child access to books from the time they are infants, you can help them to understand print concepts.  It is helpful when reading to your child to use your finger to guide along to demonstrate to your child that your are reading from left to right and top to bottom.

Word Recognition:

• Phonological Awareness-This refers to the amount of awareness your child has of the sound form of language.  This includes their knowledge of syllables, as well as sentence intonation (a rise in voice when asking a question, for example). See the label Phonology for more info and advice.
• Decoding- This includes your childs understanding of the alphabetic principle, that is that each letter of the alphabet represents a sound, and those letters are put together to form words.  A good knowledge base about the sounds that letters make can help children to sound out or decode the meaning of unfamilar words.  Children can use their knowledge of sound patterns and letter combinations when trying to decode.
• Sight Recognition-Some words may be considered "sight words" for your child, which they easily recognize when reading without having to attempt to decode for meaning or pronunciation.  These words may include "the", "who", and "what".  Sight words typically result from seeing the words frequently in text.  Over time, with more exposure to reading materials and practice, many or most words become sight words for skilled readers.

These "threads" all work together to create a skilled reader.  The concepts under "Language Comprehension" become more strategic over time, as your child learns and practices using different aspects of background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge. The concepts under "Word Recognition" become more automatic with practice.  These threads combine to create a knowledge and strategy base which skilled readers use to read fluently.

This sight provides helpful suggestions on how to work with your child in some of the above mentioned areas:

http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/phonics

References

Griffin, P. (2011). Printed Word Identification &[Power Point Slides].  Retrieved from online lecture notes.

 Scarborough, H. 2001. Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. Pp. 97-110 in S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.) Handbook of Early Literacy. NY: Guilford Press.