Creating Readers in Kindergarten

Creating Readers in Kindergarten

Every primary teacher subconsciously wants their students to be good readers. What if there was an indicator that could give you high probability that your students would have a high chance of becoming an on-grade reader by third grade? This may be one of the best kept secrets in education because there is one. Students who master alphabetical principle in kindergarten or the first part of first grade have an extremely high probability of being on or above grade level in reading by the time they are in third grade.

If your child was sick and there was medication to make them well we would probably all make sure the child received the medication. Yet that is not the case with education and learning to read. Looking at data of students who have not mastered alphabetical principle in kindergarten the percent of below level readers in third grade, the percentages come very close to the same.

Oregon has the poorest graduation rates in the nation and only 14% of students entering kindergarten are able to recognize any letters (Otto, 2017). For years third grade tests scores have been used to predict graduation rates along with the number of prison beds that will be needed in the future. Knowing this information, along with knowing how we are able to turn those numbers upside down, our proficiency rate has remained the same for the state.

Many kindergarten and first grade students are able to memorize words and stories so they appear to be readers. They sound like readers, they look like readers, but then they hit second grade and multisyllabic words, they have no idea how to decode those words because they had not mastered alphabetic principle in kindergarten or first grade. Now at second grade they are having to go back and learn those skills and this becomes a setback they struggle to overcome by the end of their grade.

It’s time to take the medicine and get these students reading. There is no question that it is hard work and help is not going to come from parents/guardians for many of these students. Kindergarten and first grades need to be restructured along with the focus of the students mastering alphabetical principle instead of just moving forward with the curriculum. Curriculum does not teach the students, teachers do; and therefore the teachers need to intensify their instruction and do whatever it takes to make sure their students have mastered knowing their letters and sounds along with blending them in kindergarten and first grade. The students will then be ready to apply this information to decoding multisyllabic words in second grade keeping them on track to become a strong reader.

If students are reading and on-grade level no one will question a teacher’s teaching. It’s when students appear to be falling below the grade mark when microscope seems to come out. Remember, all standards are geared toward the students being able to read on grade level. If you have a student who falls below, you need to make sure you step back and teach that skill to mastery. This means you need to be RELENTLESS  and AMPLIFIED in your instruction to get those struggling students to mastery. Hoping they will simply absorb the information has not worked in the past and it is up to you to help those students learn the information. You will be giving that student the gift of learning.

There is no question that this requires hard work but isn’t student success worth the effort?

Reference:

Otto, R.,(2017), What is grade-level reading and why is it important?, Children’s Institute

Decoding Phonics in Intermediate Grades

As intermediate classroom teachers we have all experienced the
non-reader or struggling reader. The chances are extremely high
that they also struggle with spelling and writing. I hear examples
of students with these struggles from their teachers every week.
So know you are not the only teacher struggling with this
problem, but we have a nation of learners facing these struggles.

While working with students who know they are struggling,
I have found it key to let them know they’re smart and that I’m
going to help them learn a new way of decoding. Building back
their confidence is just as important as getting them to be
able to read.

Starting with six key vowel rules, I teach and train the students
to locate them in words. These six key vowel rules are: closed
syllable, open syllable, vowel teams, silent “e,” “r” controlled,
and consonant “le”. The objective is for the learner to use these
tools to be able to pronounce a word. Yes, there are digraphs and
diphthongs that change the sounds but by using these six vowel
rules they are able to get an approximation for most words and
then with context clues know how to say the word correctly.

The other key in this process is using their classroom texts.
They are finding the words and using the skills in their reading
rather than teaching them the rules with alternate text and then
having them apply the rules in their classroom texts.

Another struggle you often experience with these students is
they do not hear the individual sounds in the
words—-phonemic awareness. You may have to step back
and teach the learner how to hear each sound in the word
and then using the six-vowel rules construct the word.
Surprisingly, this can have a big impact on their ability to spell.
It is often assumed students have already mastered these rules,
when in fact, they have not. Again this skill can be taught using
words from their texts and applying the six-vowel rules. It’s a
great feeling as you see your students start to be able to decode

words and start reading. It will happen faster than you think and
you don’t need to buy a new curriculum. Remember
teachers teach; curriculums don’t.  

Rule	Explanation
Closed Syllable	The vowel is followed by a consonant making the vowel short. Cat  - mud -  pig - bet - lot Kid/nap – pic/nic – nap/kin
Open Syllable	There is not a consonant after the vowel making the vowel long. Go – me – a – I Ro/bot – me/ter – na/ture – ma/jor
Vowel Teams	The first vowel says its name, or is long. The saying, “when two vowels go walking the first does the talking.” Rain – eat – bait – goat – meat
Silent “e”	Vowel consonant “e,” the vowel will be long or say its name. Hike – cane – make – cute - pope
“r” Controlled	The “r” follows the vowel and controls the sound. Far – curl – shirt – her – corn – bark - ark
Consonant le	Multi-syllable words, found at the end making its own syllable. Lit/tle – bot/tle – tum/ble- jun/gle – sim/ple – ket/tle

Roll Six Game

Roll the die and locate a word with that syllable rule. The one who
finds five words with the rule wins.

1	2	3	4	5	6
Closed	Open	Vowel Team	Silent “e”	“r” Controlled	Consonant le