ABCs of Teaching Reading

If reading came naturally, teaching reading would be a much easier job. Children would learn to read as readily as they learn to speak. Teachers would only need to give students the chance to practice their skills.

But children don't learn to read just from being exposed to books. Reading must be taught. For many children, reading must be taught explicitly and systematically, one small step at a time. That's why good teachers are so important.

Click below to find information for classroom teachers on:

• Top 10 Things You Should Know About Reading: What it takes to learn to read, the achievement gap in the U.S., and how we can help struggling readers
• Reading 101: What you should know about print awareness, the sounds of speech, phonemic awareness, phonics, informal assessment, fluency, vocabulary, spelling, writing, and text comprehension
• Who's at risk for not learning to read
• What else matters in teaching reading, such as classroom management, differentiated instruction/grouping, and working with parents
• Glossary of basic terms in reading instruction
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) and how this act affects what you do

Researchers have made a lot of progress in determining how to teach reading more effectively, but it really comes down to the effectiveness of each individual teacher. Teachers make the difference.
Our goal at Reading Rockets is to provide teachers with the information you need to apply findings from research to help all students learn to read, particularly those for whom reading does not come easy.
http://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/