Which are the most crucial learning strategies to teach English Reading to 1st graders according to the Simple View of Reading?

Answer 1

This is a great question since the US is awakening regarding evidence-based reading practices.

This is my take on it:

1. Phonemic Awareness- Phonemic Awareness is the understanding that all words are made up of sounds. The phonemic awareness skill of blending is highly correlated with skilled reading. To develop strong blending skills, play games such as: *Find It!- Segment a word for an object in the room. Ask the child to say the word and find the object. Ex. /ch-a-r/ Chair! - *Do It!- Segment a word. Ask the child to say the word and do the action. Ex. /j-u-m-p! Jump!
2. Phonogram Facts- *English has 45 sounds, or phonemes, that are written using 75 phonograms.- *Phonograms may be spelled with one, three, or four letters. *Phonograms are commonly referred to as letter-sound correspondences or grapheme-phoneme correspondences. For a complete list, see phonograms.logicofenglish.com
3. Teaching Phonograms- *Teach the lowercase letters first- Lowercase letters are used a majority of the time. Uppercase letters are primarily used for proper nouns and at the beginning of a sentence. *Emphasize the sound, not the letter name- Sounds are the information needed to decode and spell.
4. Teach all the Sounds- *If a phonogram makes more than one sound, introduce all the sounds from the beginning. This prevents confusion by providing children the information needed to decode words encountered in books, signs, and the world around them. For example, knowing that s also says /z/ explains thousands or words including as, is, his, these, those, and easy. *Another must for phonograms that have more than one sound: Teach the sounds in the order of frequency. Then you can instruct the student to try the sounds in order, as the first sound will be the most likely. Use the words is, bees, and sees to try this skill with your student. Try the sound /s/, then try the sound /z/.
5. Phonogram Games- Help students to master the phonogram sounds by playing games: *Find the Phonogram- Write phonograms on cards and hide them around the room. Ask the child to find the cards and read the sounds. *Phonogram Jump- Lay phonogram cards in a pattern on the floor. Ask the child to jump from card to card and read the sounds. *Phonogram Sound Search- Ask the child to choose one of the phonograms listed in his laminated personal phonogram template. Then ask to look for pictures provided by the teacher whose names include the target phonogram.
6. Letter Recognition- Help the brain distinguish the most important parts of the letters. Show children the letters written in different fonts. Compare and contrast what is the same and what is different. Play matching games with the phonograms written in different fonts.
7. Left to Right Reading- English is written from left to right. Learning the direction of reading and writing takes practice. One way to reinforce reading from left to right is by following along with your pointer finger as you read aloud. This will also help young students to make the connection that the writing on the page, not the picture, is the key to reading.
8. Reversals- Systematic handwriting instruction is the fastest and most effective way to teach the letterbox the direction of reading and writing and to overcome reversals. Handwriting provides a sensory-motor experience of letters and words. The letterbox is the part of the brain that helps to learn recognizing the shapes of the letters.
9. Handwriting Tips- *Teach handwriting using systematic, explicit instructions (dictation is an example). Begin instruction using large-motor movements with a pointer finger, then transition to writing with a pencil on paper. *Once students know how to form the letters, switch using just the bold directions as cues and emphasize the rhythm of the motions, followed by the sound the letter makes. For example, with the lowercase d, transition to: roll, swing tall, straight. /d/
10. Complete Phonics- The phonograms and spelling rules explain 98% of English words. When students have accurate phonogram knowledge, they will not need to guess at words. The phonograms are the information needed to sound out any word, phonogram by phonogram.
11. Fluency Tips- *Students can self-teach fluency by sounding out words. *Model how to sound out new words, phonogram by phonogram.
12. Fluency Games- *Find the Words!- Hide the words around the room. Ask the student to find a card, bring it to you, and read the word. *Reading Basketball- Make word slips and ask the student to read the words. Each time they read one correctly, they may crumple it up and try throwing the paper ball into a basket. Score 1 point for each word read correctly and 1 point for each basket made.

The Simple View of Reading- A student's reading comprehension skills equal their listening comprehension skills times their decoding skills. This means that students who develop strong decoding skills can read and comprehend at the same level as they can listen and comprehend.