Meet a Teacher: Supporting Your Child's Development as a Reader
Posted by Beardy
February 12, 2009, 11:52 pm
Meet NYC teacher, Samuel Ronfard: It wasn't until I started teaching reading about three years ago that I realized how complicated reading is. If I asked you whether you were a good reader, I am sure you would respond: "yes". But, what does it mean to be a good reader? Is it just being able to read letters on a page? Is it understanding what we read? And what does it mean to understand what we read?
Answering these questions is an important step to helping your child improve as a reader. I will start with the first one. A good reader is someone who can decode words, read with fluency and comprehend what they are reading.
Decoding means being able to put sounds together into words. If someone can decode a word, they can sound it out. In my experience very few students have difficulties sounding words out by the time they reach sixth grade which is what I teach. Some students do struggle with reading fluently. Instead of reading aloud effortlessly and with expression, they read slowly, word by word. Their oral reading is choppy and plodding. Reading fluently is important because it frees up mental energy to think critically about what you are reading. Getting your child to read fluently is the first step to making them a good reader.
To help them get there: Pick an engaging book to read with them; Make sure the book is neither too easy nor to hard (your child should know what level is appropriate for her or him). Once you have selected a just right book, you can use the following strategies:
(1) Read the text aloud before your child and then ask them to read it silently twice before having them read it out loud to you.
(2) Select a passage and time your child reading it. Have your child read the passage multiple times aloud recording the time each time.
(3) Make sure your child is reading for at least 30 minutes a night.
(4) Share your reading with your child and make reading a part of your daily routine.
Samuel Ronfard, 6th grade teacher at the Urban Assembly Academy of Arts and Letters in Brooklyn, NY
