How to get Primary Learners Reading for Meaning

Those of you that follow me know that I am a lover of Common Core--even at the primary level. One of the issues that I've had with the implementation is the fundamental misunderstanding of how children read--on the part of those who publish basal texts.  My county adopted a basal text and expects us to use it as a resource.  I like many of the stories that my students have been exposed to in the time that we've been using the textbook...but beyond that...I find myself frustrated.  Our text--although relatively new to us--is five years old.  Common practice with regard to the expectations of CCSS are quite different today than they were when the standards first came out. Here are a few things that I think contribute to building great readers for the long term.

Especially with primary readers, phonemic awareness is huge.  Students must be able to hear themselves sounding things out.  They need to be able to hear the slightest nuances in our language.  It is a fundamental building block to long term read ability.  Don't underestimate the importance of this skill especially in kindergarten and first grade.

This is one issue that I have with basal series.  They often are built around a piece of foundational text that fits into a theme or season, but doesn't fit with a skill that students should be learning developmentally.  The speed at which we are asking children to learn these difficult phonetic patterns do not allow for mastery and they build a system where only the strongest learners survive.  Make sure that the phonetic progression your basal text is using makes sense developmentally and that it is appropriate for your young learners.  We are their first real exposure to reading and the way we develop them will give them a feeling of empowerment or failure.

Presenting students with lots of phonetically based text that will allow them to sharpen their skills and put them into practice will help them to gain confidence and speed with regard to their reading.  In this way, speed, accuracy, and comprehension come together in the mind of your young reader.

Using leveled readers or texts during small group and independent time will give your students the support necessary to help them build up from the phonics foundation that you're working towards daily.  Different students need different things.  Try not to bombard your emergent readers with too much when they are first getting started.  Offer lots of support so that they feel successful.  Then, gradually work them into independence throughout the year.

Here's an example of a text that I've used with some of my students.

Note that the text is large and repetitive.  This is something I use in the fall, so, I give tons of support to complete this activity in my small group time.  We do a little bit daily.  

Monday: Read once just for fun.

Tuesday: Re-read and discuss the main idea.

Wednesday: Re-read and text code.

Thursday: Re-read and respond to the written question.

I added timing numbers to it so that I could use it for RTI if necessary.

Want to have this sample for your class?  Click HERE to download the apples passage.

If you have a basal text, I am sure they come with leveled readers. 

You can go through these same steps with those...or with any leveled printables that you've got in your teacher stash! :)

I remind my students often that the goal of reading is proper rate with full comprehension.  For what THEY see, I don't have separate charts for fluency, vs. vocabulary, vs. comprehension etc...but I grade things on rubrics so that when we talk, I am bringing up several aspects of reading.  Often in primary students become fixated on just one aspect of reading and that hampers them as they come to more difficult texts in the intermediate grades.  An over emphasis on fluency, for example, will have students who read quickly but comprehend little.  We need a balanced approach when setting reading goals for sure!

In my classroom, I don't differentiate my assessment because I want a standardized test that gives me information on how ALL students approach the same text.  Not all students respond to paper pencil assessments...and with the emphasis on testing, I think it would be wise to vary the style of assessments that you give your students to keep things fresh and not overwhelming.

This is HUGE to me.  I don't know how in good conscience we can give children reading tests that are not AT LEAST on their grade level.  When I discovered that our basal series tests were lexiled at almost two years above grade level half way through the year, I about lost it. :(  I wrote my own comprehension tests that reflected the phonetic pattern, sight words, and theme of the week.

I have a whole blog post on how I determined a need for these and what went into creating them.  If you want to check out the post, click HERE.

As progressive as students are today, there is no substitute for the tried and true methods of teaching reading.  No matter what systems come and go, remember that the proper progression with primary aged learners goes a long way into creating the foundations of a great reader.