A practical guide to teaching reading in the early years

A Practical Guide to Teaching Reading in the Early Years Copyrighted Material Ann Browne is a lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Development at the University of East Anglia where she co-ordinates the PGCE early years programme and contributes to courses for serv­ ing teachers She has had and maintains her experience of working with children throughout the early years Her two previous books on aspects of the English curriculum have both been published by Paul Chapman Copyrighted Material A Practical Guide to Teaching Reading in the Early Years Ann Browne � p·c·p Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd Copyrighted Material ©Copyright 1998 Ann Browne First published 1998 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the Publishers � PCP � PaulChapman Publishing Ltd A SAGE PublicationsCompany 6Bonhill Street London EC2A 4PU SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks,California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd 32, M-Block Market Greater Kailash-I NewDelhi 110 048 British Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 853964166 ISBN 85396400 X (pbk) Library of Congress catalog card number available Typeset byDorwyn Ltd, RowlandsCastle, Hampshire Printed and bound in Great Britain by Athenaeum Press, Tyne & Wear A BCD EF Copyrighted Material Contents vii Introduction Understanding reading The key skills of reading Range and response Organising for reading Routines and activities for developing reading Wider considerations Assessing reading Planning for reading 17 38 61 78 106 131 151 References Index 176 182 Copyrighted Material Copyrighted Material Introduction Knowing about reading, planning a reading curriculum and manag­ ing a class so there is sufficient time to teach every child to read often seem to be insurmountable problems at the start of a teaching career Even after many years of experience teachers can still lack confidence in their ability to teach reading effectively There is no shortage of advice from statutory bodies, researchers, lecturers, teachers, parents and the media The very multitude of the advice available is in itself confusing since it is often conflicting What is the place of phonics in learning to read? What does a real books approach mean? What does research have to offer the teacher? How I teach children to read well? Every day adults and children read a huge variety of texts which demand the use of many different strategies Reading is a flexible activity which involves the use of a variety of cognitive skills It is not a simple activity and consequently there are no simple solutions to the question of how to teach reading It requires knowledgeable practi­ tioners who appreciate its complexity and are willing to take a flexible approach to teaching if it is to be taught well It is probably still true that 'there is no one method, medium, ap­ proach, device or philosophy that holds the key to the process of learning to read' (DES, 1975, para b, p;77) Experience and research have shown that teachers who create environments in which learning can occur easily are more successful than those who adhere to particu­ lar methods or materials Teachers who are aware of the complexity of the activity, clear about teaching aims and intentions and who plan for reading so that all aspects are covered regularly in a purposeful and structured way will help children to learn to read and to appreciate the place of reading in their lives The authors of the Bullock Report (ibid., para 6.2, p 77) went on to write: 'We believe that the knowledge does exist to improve the teach­ ing of reading, but that it does not lie in the triumphant discovery or Copyrighted Material viii A Practical Guide to Teaching Reading re-discovery, of a particular formula.' I share their belief and with this sentence in mind I have written this book to try to lead readers through what can at times seem a confusing and difficult area My intention has been to clarify some of the jargon and anecdotal prac­ tices that are associated with reading and to present some suggestions about the teaching of reading in the early years I have taken as the starting point the advice which HMI have consistently offered in their reports on reading since the early 1990s and which is now enshrined in the National Curriculum for Initial Teacher Training (TTA, 1997) and the National Literacy Strategy (OfEE, 1997) In these documents it is suggested that those who teach reading well have a thorough know­ ledge of the subject and are effective classroom managers We are entering a period of immense curriculum change in literacy Teachers are being asked to adopt unfamiliar approaches to teaching reading and students are entering classrooms where these new prac­ tices are not yet established This book is intended to help those who work with young children, from nursery to the beginning of Key Stage 2, to implement the new requirements for reading It examines the statutory requirements, classroom management techniques, assess­ ment and approaches to planning for reading and places these practi­ cal considerations in the context of up-to-date thinking about learning to read The first chapters of the book are intended to provide readers with information about reading They introduce readers to the know­ ledge and understanding that need to underpin good teaching Later chapters look at effective classroom organisation and suggest ways of managing the reading curriculum in the early years These two as­ pects, subject knowledge and pedagogy, are drawn together in the final chapter which is concerned with planning Reading can be one of the most rewarding, satisfying and useful human activities I hope that this book encourages readers, who may be student teachers or experienced practitioners, to explore the chal­ lenges and complexities of teaching reading and to convey its pos­ sibilities to the young children they teach Ann Browne April 1998 Copyrighted Material Understanding reading Introduction Despite all the research that has been undertaken into reading skills, reading development, reading methods, reading habits, reading standards and the uses of literacy, there is still no single description of the reading process or one agreed way of helping children to become readers Understanding reading is not a simple matter However, in order to teach effectively, teachers need to know as much as possible about what they are teaching and why, and to be aware of some of the issues that are frequently raised about reading The personal definition we have of reading, the purposes for read­ ing we identify, how we ourselves use reading and how we think it is and should be used by others all influence why we consider literacy to be important Teachers have professional knowledge about how chil­ dren learn, the skills children need in order to become readers and the conditions which best support learning and learning to read When they are teaching, they combine their personal understanding and their professional expertise Both affect the way in which the reading curriculum is realised and perceived by pupils in school Cairney (1994, p 12) has suggested that teachers' personal under­ standing of literacy can have a significant impact on pupils: 'when teachers impose limited definitions of what it is to be literate on their students, many inappropriate demonstrations of literacy are offered This in turn can lead to similarly inappropriate literacy practices.' Conversely, informed and broad definitions which are based on knowledge and understanding may be the foundation for appropriate expectations and practices The intention of this chapter is to help readers to begin to appreciate the complexity of reading, to consider how their own perceptions of reading might affect their teaching and to consider what constitutes a broad, balanced and appropriate reading curriculum for young children Copyrighted Material Class Title Time available Year English Reading hours over weeks � Relevant sections of the National Curriculum programmes of study a, c, d Pupils will be encouraged to develop as enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers, with texts that extend thinking, with more complex narrative structures The texts will be traditional stories 2a, b Pupils should be taught to extend their phonic and graphic knowledge to include more complex patterns and irregularities Pupils should be taught to consider in detail the quality and depth of what they read Pupils should be introduced to the organisational, structural and presentational features of different types of texts i