The Read-Aloud Textbook

As I arrange this reflective analysis paper on topics that relate to a foundational course and specifically searching for the modules that have given me the most information, taught me something new or expanded my knowledge on a specific topic of reading, I have come to realize how far I have come since I began this adventure. I began these courses after graduating from Marshall with my bachelors. I chose this path because of my love for reading and teaching reading. I have come to realize that these courses have enabled me to become a more effective reading teacher and I now have been given the skills, strategies and techniques that I needed to teach a child to read. I know that I will always need to keep up with classes and new techniques, but feel that I am much more capable of teaching reading than before I started these courses. The course 653 Literacy Acquisition helped me to improve and further develop my educational philosophies and beliefs. So, I chose to speak about the first lesson that was expected of me in this class, Module 1 Literacy Theories, Beliefs and Practices.

Read alouds are very beneficial to young children.They provided many opportunities for children to learn about an array of topics as well as obtain key literacy skills. Read alouds not only build literacy skills but also allow children to increase their communication and language skills. Through read alouds children can learn phonemic awareness, print concept, phonics, word recognition, and fluency. Read alouds can help children learn about topics such as, but not limited to, five senses, surroundings, and transportation. Educators, especially in early childhood, take full advantage of read alouds as teaching moments and opportunities to connect with their students as well as students to connect with them.

As a future teacher of the Early Childhood level it is essential to teach literacy in the early years of children’s schooling. According to the U.S Department of Education, it is said that children who do not start reading early enough in their school career struggle through the rest of their educational years. Some people believe that students will eventually catch up in school. However, this is false “out of 50 first graders who struggle with reading, 44 of them will still be struggling in the fourth grade (United Way). The only way that children can avoid this is by beginning to read early and learning the basics of

The type of (HLE) a child is in can significantly impacts a child’s emergent literacy development. (Senechal, Lefevre, Thomas , & Daley, 1996; Sawyer, et al., 2014; Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002; Senechal & LaFevre, 2014). HLE is defined by the “frequency of storybook reading and literacy teaching during book reading” (Sawyer, et al., 2014, p. 65). Sénéchal & LeFevre (2002 & 2014) conducted a study to prove that a positive and helpful HLE aids in children’s emergent literacy. The Home Literacy Model used proved the original hypothesis. There was a statistically significant predictor of parent’s creating a positive HLE and frequency of shared book reading that positively correlated to the child’s literacy abilities for the beginning of grade 1. Shared book reading comprises 4% of the significant differences with the child’s vocabulary. The formal literacy measures presented by the parents like, actively listening to the child read and the method the parent uses to teach, was deemed most helpful as a predictor for the child’s reading abilities by the end of grade 1. The study concluded that a positive HLE promoted growth within the child’s vocabulary and word reading skills (Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002; Senechal & LaFevre, 2014).

There has been a great deal of research in the area of whether reading aloud to young children is beneficial. Most experts believe that it is. Ample evidence shows that reading aloud to young children promotes the “development of language and other emergent literacy skills, which in turn help children prepare for school.” (Duursma, Augustyn, & Auckerman, 2008, p. 554). Research shows there are always advantages in

Some educators believe that reading aloud to children is a waste of time in a literacy program. Read-alouds are a step on the road of literacy that cannot be neglected, no matter how old or young; no matter what language he or she speaks; no matter how gifted or disadvantaged a child might be (Fox, 2013, p. 4). According to Fox (2013), “When a great story is read aloud, listeners discover that vocabulary is easier to understand. The flow and grammar of language becomes more familiar” (p. 4). This paper will discuss the effects of language development when reading aloud to infants and toddlers and how to create an effective read-aloud.

According to Allington (2014), though reading volume is central to the development of reading proficiencies, typical commercial core reading programs tend to provide material to engage students in only 15 minutes of reading each day. With the remaining 75 minutes allocated to completing workbook pages and answering lower-level comprehension questions, many students receive very little time to engage in reading. Cunningham (2005) reminds us that as early as 1977, Richard Allington pleaded, “If they don’t read much, how they ever gonna get good” (p.1). Reading volume is defined as the time students spend reading in addition to the number of words they consume as they read (Allington, 2012). This combination impacts all aspects of students’ cognitive abilities, ranging from vocabulary development as well as knowledge of the world (Cunningham & Zibulsky, 2013). In one of the most extensive studies of independent reading, Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding (1988) connected reading growth to the time students spent reading outside of school. They found that independent time spent reading was the best predictor of reading achievement. In this study, the researchers determined that fifth-grade students that read forty minutes per day scored in the 90th percentile on standardized tests. Simply put, those who read more than an hour outside of school outperform their lower achieving peers. Not only has independent reading been found to have profound affects on student achievement, but

The act of reading is a process that involves a complexity of cognitive processes and developmental stages. Recent research has shifted the paradigm of thinking of what range of skills serves as the foundation of literacy. Skilled readers need language development, conceptual knowledge base, and a broad vocabulary. Children must have sufficient decoding skills that are composed of smaller elements of speech known as phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondence. In addition, readers must have the ability to fluently and easily recognize these words. But to attain a high level of skills, young children need opportunities to develop these strands, not in isolation, but interactively. (Neuman, Copple, & Bredekamp, 2000)

The idea of teaching literacy at a young age can be overwhelming but it can be as simple as reading out loud, singing and socializing with our children. “Reading regularly with young children stimulates optimal patterns of brain development and strengthens parent-child relationships at a critical time in child development, which, in turn, builds language, literacy, and social-emotional skills that

Developing reading skills in children has become a vital component in formal education. Scholars argue that when the child is exposed to some amount of reading it is a step towards the child becoming a good reader. As a result, many educators today continue to support that it is important to become a proficient reader which will be by reading widely and frequently. However, there have been arising issues that have become obstacles in gaining reading proficiency. This paper will explore the critical issues with developing reading skills in children from preschool to high school level. The emphasis will be in the identification of most known aspects in programs designed to help in the development of reading skills.

Studies have been conducted to determine how an implementation of instruction directly affects student literacy. Emphasis has been placed on understanding the critical issues in the literacy practices in children 's language and the implications it has on early literacy development. Many educators today have recognized the value of independent reading. They have involved students in literature from their most punctual experiences with print. This set up managed silent reading time in their classrooms. Thus, students who start reading abstract substance in school will probably keep on reading outside of school than students who don 't start a book in school (Guthrie&Coddington,2009).

The importance of students learning to read is to help them develop the understanding needed to be successful in school and later in life. Learning to read takes place as a result of multiple cognitive and language complexities, that must be developed in order for students to master accurate and fluent reading abilities. Skills that involve language and phonological development when learned early in education formulates reading comprehension in students. However, it is these two concepts that form the controversy that surrounds the idea regarding the best method to develop reading skills in students. Recognizing the importance of instruction techniques, the focus of educators is in determining whether successful reading development is phonetics based or whole language based when developing reading skills (Mahdavi & Tensfeldt, 2013).

Students who are taught key skills and strategies in reading instruction often develop into more proficient readers than those who are not provided with these skills in an explicit and systematic way. As formal reading instruction for many students commences in the foundation year of school, it is the role of the educator to model and explain the key components of literacy to students. Research on effective reading instruction suggests that students benefit when they learn concepts of print, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). Moreover, reading instruction needs to be supported by effective teaching strategies that include modelled reading aloud, shared book reading, guided

Reading is one of the basic components of literacy. “Reading is a process of translating visual codes into meaningful language” (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998, p. 849). Children with emerging literacy are at the early stages of reading which mostly involves decoding letters into their corresponding sounds and then linking those sounds to single words. A study was conducted that found that 5% of a child’s daily speech was entirely produced during joint book reading (as cited in Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998 p. 855). Reading is made up of the following components: contextual, semantic, language, sound, and print units.

Reading aloud activity is commonly used by teachers all around the world.However,most ELT methodology authors such as Broghton,Brumfit,Flavell,Hill,and Pincas, on the other hand some speacialists suggest its use.The discussion about reading aloud is a perennial one.