PERSONALIZED STUDY PLAN
T E A C H E R C E R T I F I C A T I O N S T U D Y G U I D E
5
U N D E R S TA N D T H E F O U N D AT I O N S
O F R E A D I N G D E V E L O P M E N T
T E A C H E R C E R T I F I C A T I O N S T U D Y G U I D E
5
C O M P E T E N C Y 1
UNDERSTAND THE FOUNDATIONS OF READING
DEVELOPMENT
When students practice fluency, they practice by reading connected pieces of
text. In other words, instead of looking at a word as just a word, they might read
a sentence straight through. Reading fluently is important because it enables
students to comprehend what they are reading. Students who are NOT fluent in
reading would sound out each letter or word slowly and pay more attention to the
phonics of each word. Fluent readers, on the other hand, might read a sentence
aloud using appropriate intonations. The best way to test for fluency, in fact, is
to have a student read something aloud, preferably a few sentences in a row--or
more. Sure, most students just learning to read will probably not be very fluent
right away; but with practice, they will increase their fluency. Even though flu-
ency is not the same as comprehension, it is said that fluency is a good predictor
of comprehension. Think about it: If you're focusing too much on sounding out
each word, you're not going to be paying attention to the meaning.
During the preschool years, children acquire cognitive skills in oral language that
they apply later on to reading comprehension. Reading aloud to young children
is one of the most important things that an adult can do because they are teach-
ing children how to monitor, question, predict, and confirm what they hear in
the stories. Reid (1988, p. 165) describes four metalinguistic abilities that young
children acquire through early involvement in reading activities:
1.
Word consciousness.
Children who have access to books can first tell
the story through the pictures. Gradually they begin to realize the connection
between the spoken words and the printed words. The beginning of letter
and word discrimination begins in the early years.
2.
Language and conventions of print.
During this stage, children
learn how to hold a book, where to begin to read, the left-to-right motion,
and how to continue from one line to another.
3.
Functions of print.
Children discover that print can be used for a variety
of purposes and functions, including entertainment and information.
Demonstrating knowledge of the developmental progression from
prereading to conventional literacy, with individual variations,
and analyzing how literacy develops in multiple contexts through
reading, writing, and oral language experiences
SKILL
1.1