Various Approaches to Teaching Reading

Phonics approach – most soundly supported by research for effective instruction
                                    in beginning reading

  • Must be explicitly taught
  • Must be systematically organized and sequenced
  • Must include learning how to blend sounds together

Multi-Sensory Approach – effective for special needs

  • Uses all possible senses – tracing, saying, listening, looking
  • Typically called VAKT
    • Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Tactile
  • Can be used with either Phonics or Whole Language

Linguistic Method – supported only by “qualitative research”
                                    instead of quantitative research

  • Teaches “whole words” in word families
  • Students are not explicitly taught that there is a relationship between letters and sounds for most sounds

Language Experience – called “Whole Language”

  • Expects child to learn reading as “naturally” as speech
  • Uses child’s oral language as content for reading
  • Uses child’s oral language as basis for spelling instruction
  • Children learn to “read” by reading and re-reading “big books” together with the teacher and then the teacher gradually withdraws prompts so child appears to be reading that book

Reading Comprehension Support –

  • Explicitly teaches strategies and techniques for studying texts and acquiring meaning