Effective reading strategies can range from questioning and visualizing to pre-reading and decoding. Reading strategies are used to help students become effective readers. To see improvement in a student’s reading ability these skills need to be mastered. Decoding is one of the most important foundational skills. Many times if there is a comprehension problem, at the root of that difficulty is a decoding problem. Teaching students proven decoding strategies provides them with a strong foundation to ensure reading success.

What is decoding?

Decoding is the process of translating print into speech by rapidly matching a letter or combination of letters (graphemes) to their sounds (phonemes) and recognizing the patterns that make syllables and words. There is an area in the brain that deals with language processing and does this process automatically. Statistically speaking, about 30 percent of students do not access this part of their brain automatically and therefore must be taught decoding strategies very explicitly and systematically. This means that we start with the simplest sound/letter concept and build to the more complex. This method of phonics instruction has been proven to be the most effective in helping students gain decoding skills.

Why are decoding strategies important?

Decoding is important because it is the foundation on which all other reading instruction builds. If students cannot decode words their reading will lack fluency, their vocabulary will be limited and their reading comprehension will suffer. Teaching higher-level reading strategies to students stuck at the word level is ineffective and frustrating.

How can I teach decoding?

Explicit, systematic and multi-sensory phonics instruction produces effective decoding skills. Phonics can be taught both implicitly or explicitly. Implicit phonics begins with a whole word and then looks at beginning sounds, ending sounds and context clues. Explicit phonics does the reverse by building from a single letter to a word. Because of poor results with implicit phonics, phonics instruction has been given a negative connotation—phonics is not really effective unless it is taught explicitly and systematically. Phonics taught any other way could be compared to an alphabet soup of sounds. The way it is taught is what determines the level of success, particularly for those with learning disabilities such as dyslexia.
Presenting phonics and instructing it in a logical sequence, in which one concept builds upon the next, is another essential component of teaching phonics and decoding. This systematic approach helps students to master skills quickly and move to the next concept seamlessly. Teaching phonics using a multi-sensory approach reaches all learning styles in a classroom and gives those struggling readers the visual and hands-on instruction they need. When phonics is taught according to these guidelines, students will be able to find decoding success and it will quickly become an automatic process for them.

Results

Automatic recognition of individual words leads to fluent reading of strings of words, which in turn leads to full comprehension—the goal of reading instruction. When this process is automatic and efficient then additional reading strategies can be taught to help the students understand more from what they read and have a successful and fulfilling experience with text. As a teacher or parent what more could you want?

Learn more about how to teach decoding strategies by taking a tour of the Reading Horizons method. Select your area of interest and away you go!

Rachel Blackmer is the Program Manager for the English Skills Learning Center (ESLC) located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Rachel recently shared how one of the tutors at the ESLC has been using Reading Horizons with her ESL students.

The Reading Horizons program has been a wonderful teaching tool for me to use with my students.  I teach pre-literate adults with a student or two who have some low-level English.  What is great about the Reading Horizons program, is that all students, no matter what their level, can get something from the program.  Students, who already know the sounds and slides, can perfect their pronunciation and the preliterate adults can start to form sounds, not only from listening to me, but from others in the class.  Since language is still a barrier, the only feedback I get is watching my students engage fully in the activities we do.  They use to answer their cell phone calls in class or talk to each other in their own language, but now, they pay close attention and engage fully in everything we do.  They don’t seem to even bring their phones to class anymore.  One student of mine use to come to class here and there, but since Reading Horizons, she comes consistently to class.  She also came up to me one day after class and said, “Teacher, you teach very nice, very nice, like ‘a  sound ah’, and slides la, ba, very good teacher.”  The program is giving my students the confidence to try and sound out words when before, they would guess or turn away.  I love using Reading Horizons!

The ESLC has been awarded the Utah 2011 Non-Profit Volunteer Program of the Year. Way to go to all the students and volunteers!

Change. Success. Disappointment. Still believing that one teach can make a difference. This was what I read in a recent article in the Huffington Post. Teachers from the Chicago-area voiced what really mattered this last school year.

Below are some of the comments:

Kirstin Graef, kindergarten (first-year teacher)
Looking at the work the kids did at the beginning and then at the end! Wow, how did that happen? Sometimes I don't know who is doing more teaching, me or them. There were many times I felt like just a guide for my kids, and they were the ones that took everything and ran with it. One student especially made it worthwhile. He came in at the beginning of the year roaring, scissors swinging, hitting, yelling all day. He worked hard to learn the limits of school, to participate positively, and to be a good friend. He left with a hug, and in a calm voice said, "See you in first grade Ms. Graef!" Smiles, hugs, excitement, and knowing that overall I did the best I could -- that makes it worthwhile.

Katie Hogan, high school English
Losing staff members due to budget cuts devastated our ability to educate all of our students. Staff cuts exhausted already depleted resources, demoralized tenuously built bonds of trust between teachers and students, and forced even the best teachers to question whether "it's all worth it."

What else mattered was the continuing resilience. Another student rises out of 14 years of foster care to graduate, teenagers with cancer write essays and poems, and young people with autism continue to teach the rest of the world that imagination begets genius.

Noel Perez, alternative high school
Seeing my students graduate made it all worthwhile. For many, graduation was not a reality at first. Just getting to know them, and their struggles both inside and outside of school, made graduation that much sweeter. Many students had a real hard road to travel. At one graduation this year, we had a student come up to us, with tears in his eyes, and give us each a big hug! It put everything into perspective and reminded me why I choose to teach.

Anonymous school principal, Chicago
The thing that I find most memorable about this school year was seeing [one of our seventh graders] grow from an introvert, who barely wrote one word, who never did his homework, who failed a number of classes -- the person some teachers privately thought must be an idiot -- turn into "My Little College Professor," espousing wisdom in his answers far beyond his age and maturity level, holding conversations in science and social studies classes that proved he was well informed about local news and world issues.

All of this because one teacher stopped and paid attention. One teacher listened to him and cared. One teacher shared what she learned with other teachers (including the principal), and as a result taught us to appreciate this student and his eccentric ways, and the vast amount of knowledge and wisdom he possessed.

So, it won't be Performance Management that I remember. It won't be the standardized test scores and whether we're on probation, or whether we made A.Y.P. It won't be that we didn't receive a budget until June 6 with the expectation that it be completed by June 12.

What I will remember is that one teacher...can make a difference!

So what is it that mattered to you as a teacher. We would love to read your comments below.

As the school year comes to a closes teachers everywhere start thinking about what they can do to ensure their students can avoid the “summer reading slump.” The so-called summer slump can affect children’s reading abilities by up to three months and that can accumulate over the years.

Research shows that younger elementary school students rarely make up deficits in reading once they fall behind.  Conversely, students who read during the summer could end up three months ahead, too.

Below are three tips to ensure your students avoid the summer reading slump:

Tip 1: Send home a list of your favorite books
When students see their beloved teacher excited about summer reading it can really inspired them to follow that same course. A list of the “teacher’s favorites” will give the child and parent a good place to start when planning their summer reading.

Tip 2: Log reading hours in a Read-A-Thon
Encourage your students to keep track of their reading hours even over the summer. A little competition is sure to motivate even reluctant students. Several non-profit groups such as Reading Is Fundamental and PBS Kids have read-a-thons that can be found on the web. Great goal-setting activity for the summer as well!

Tip 3: Exercise their storytelling skills
Your students will benefit more from their reading activities if they look at it as fun and not just “homework.”  Have your students rewrite their favorite story or book they just finished with an alternate ending. “It could also have ended like this…”

So as your students are swimming, playing and vacationing this summer remind them that reading can be a fun summer activity. Happy summer reading!

For technology savvy parents and children digital books can also be a fun option. To download a free digital book for your PC visit http://www.mobistories.com. Click on Summer (in the Ages 2 – 4 category) add it to the cart and Michelle Obama then enter the code SUM0710 in the Coupon Code Box.

The theme of this years conference is A Novel Idea...Every Teacher a Reading Specialist. With hundreds of teachers, specialists, and administrators together for the Reading Horizons User Group Conference, we unite Reading Horizons customers, users, partners, and experts to share literacy instruction best practices, Reading Horizons how-to's, and more.

Dr. Joseph Torgesen, Director Emeritus of the Florida Center for Reading Research will be the keynote speaker.

His presentation is a must see that you won't want to miss.

The event will be held August 2, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Downtown Radisson Hotel.

Read more about the event, and see the entire agenda.

Register Today!