“Reading is not walking on the words; it's grasping the soul of them”,

Paulo Freire

1. Reading is a life skill which involves day to day activities like

 Reading description on a bottle of medicine.
 News paper reading
 Reading of Safety rules and signs
2. Reading develops the mind. Teaching young children to read helps them develop
their language skills as well.
3. Reading helps to discover new things.
4. Reading develops the imaginative skill and creativity.
5. It helps to improve (vocabulary and spelling) communication both written and
spoken.

It was felt that in order to accomplish success one needs to have good reading and
comprehension skills. Without these skills children will struggle to grow academically
as reading is the foundation to all academic subjects such as History, Mathematics and
Science and also influences the child’s ability to write.

So I decided to choose Reading skills as the topic of my assignment. Being an English

teacher of grade 4, 5 and 8 I started working on reading skills of my students. I was
lucky enough I had a listening resource provided with our APS books(Global English
and Move Ahead)(Cambridge Elevator)

Target Audience:
I strongly felt that students come from grade 3 and in grade 4 they have to read long
comprehension passages. It seems that itslike a herculean task for them and it
becomes a real issue in Grade 4. Why? Because at this at this stage of their academic
lives that children become responsible for the material they read. They are required to
find information through reading more independently. 

The APSACS syllabus requires the child to read a source document and then answer
related questions using knowledge gained from studying.

If the child is unable to read effectively this is often the time they struggle and reading
becomes a problem. This needs to be addressed immediately.
Concordia’s fully online MEd in Curriculum & Instruction: Reading Interventionist is for
educators who want to open their students’ minds and hearts to whole new worlds
through the power of reading.

Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension is the ability to understand a written passage of text.
Basically:  “Did you understand what you have read?” It is the bridge between the
passive reader and active reader. It is the crucial link to effective reading which is
essential for a rich academic, professional and personal life.

In order to establish successful reading comprehension it was vital to establish at first

cognitive foundation. These cognitive skills include attention, auditory analysis, sound
blending, memory, processing speed and visual perception.

A lack of strong reading comprehension skills definitely affects a child’s success at

school as academic progress depends on understanding, analysing and applying
information gathered through reading.

Reading is important because words are the building blocks of life. Reading is a non-
negotiable in life.

Reading can be a fun and imaginative time for children, which opens doors to all kinds
of new worlds for them. 

With a busy timetable, though it was difficult to listen to each and every child.

Studies show that reading for pleasure makes a big difference to children’s educational
performance. Likewise, evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every
day not only perform better in reading tests than those who do not, but also develop a
broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other
cultures.

In order to develop student’s strong reading skills. Five approaches were selected.

Utilize various reading materials

Be creative by teaching reading through different formats. Books, magazines, listening
resource(Cambridege Elevator),audio CDs of novels, and other recorded reading can
give students multiple ways to connect with the material. Practice was carried out while
reading novel. Students were asked to listen each and every chapter of novel while
reading it silently. The aim was that they will gain experience seeing the words on the
printed page while listening them on the recording. Other technologies, such as
listening audios, can refocus a reading exercise into one where students can pay
attention to the sentence structure and words without getting discouraged by their own
comprehension.

Relate reading to other areas of the student’s life

students were encouraged to read selected material and then discuss it in relation to
other books, movies, news items, or TV shows. For this approach following questions
were kept as milestone.

Have your students make the comparison:

 What did they like about how each format portrayed the topic?

 How would they have changed a format to better match the topic?

 What was the message the writers intended the reader/observer to get from
the material?

Being able to connect what has been read to something else in their lives helps
students think abstractly about the material. For instance when they heard listening
audio about traditional dances of other countries they were asked to gather information
about traditional dance of their country Pakistan. And present it in the class. Grade 4
students prepared presentation on topics and read them in class. (photos are attached)

 Have fun with words

As students work on their reading assignments, they were asked to write words or
phrases down that they don’t understand and bring them to class on an index card. A
classroom discussion was conducted on the words until everyone understands the
various meanings and uses. Additionally, students can then put their cards up on a wall
creating a record of challenging language they have mastered. Depending on the type
and format of the classroom, these cards could be used for subsequent writing classes
to help students further develop their vocabulary.

 Create a record of progress

Help students create a journal of their reading work. Have them list the reading they
have done and a brief summary of the material. Make a section of challenging words or
phrases; another section can be used for passages they don’t readily understand.
Finish with the students’ opinion of the material, likes, dislikes, and whether they would
read more from this author. Review these journals with the students regularly and
celebrate their progress with them. Use the journals at parent-teacher conferences so
the parents can also see the progress.

 Make reading about communication—not just a tool

several lessons were prepared where students read a number of different written
materials: grocery store ads; instructions on how to put together a bookcase; a recipe;
a newspaper article; weather report—all great examples. Discussion was held on how
important it is to be able to read these items accurately and understand them. In each
case, following questions were asked:

 What is the important information being conveyed?

 Where might students encounter the material currently in their lives?

These real-world examples help students understand the long-term importance of

quality reading skills and comprehension.

As you well know, your role as a teacher cannot end with a simple reading assignment.
Part of your charge is to help ingrain a passion for reading so all students can achieve.
And if it just so happens that you’re looking to take on more of a reading interventionist
role, we can help with that.

Reading is one of the main academic focus areas in the primary grades. Children must
have a solid foundation in reading skills at an early age to read more complex books
later and be proficient in their understanding of them. Reading is essential in any
school subject, as textbooks and other written media are used to convey the majority of
information being taught. Reinforce reading skills at home and help your child develop
a love of reading by giving your child a rich language learning environment.

Fluency
Reading fluency is the ability to read with expression and accuracy at an appropriate
rate. Fluent reading is apparent when a child has phonological awareness, knows how
to pause at punctuation and reads smoothly. Reading to your child frequently provides
him with a model of fluency to emulate when he begins reading independently.
Increased comprehension is a benefit of reading fluently. When your child can read
without having to spend a lot of time sounding out words, he will have an easier time
understanding what he's read

Comprehension
Reading comprehension encompasses several skills. Basically, comprehension is
achieved when the reader understands what he's read. Teachers use several methods
to help students comprehend texts. In the primary grades, these methods include
having the children predict, question and summarize what they've read. You can
reinforce these skills every time you read to your child or have her read to you. Ask her
to make a prediction about the story before reading. Pause and ask questions about
the characters and the plot during the reading. Finally, get her to retell the story in her
own words after reading. Proficiency in these skills will help your child understand the
story and be able to comprehend books later as she reads independently.

Children see reading as a chore, especially if it’s tied to lesson plans.

Teach your students to highlight and underline valuable information as they read.

Students can increase their understanding by seeing how the material connects with
their life.

Blend real-world problem solving skills into your curriculum.

Set reading goals

Have each student set their own reading goals. This can help them take action in
building reading skills and students will be more mindful of how they are improving.

Read in portions
Long, complex reading can be more digestible by breaking it up into pieces. Shorter
segments will help students retain the information as the class discusses the materials.
It can also help students build confidence in understanding a complex subject.