By Kristy Moody
Teaching children to read is one of the most essential components of learning. Many families count on the public-school system to teach their children how to read. I am one of the teachers that families trusted and in my early years of teaching, I did a mediocre job of it.
In fact, most of what I now know to be true about growing great readers I learned from peers, through reading everything I could find on the subject, and by working in schools where fellow teachers were not satisfied with the fact that only 60% of our students were reading on grade level based on running records and standardized assessments.
I want to be clear, I did not learn how to teach reading in my teacher education program.
Today as a school principal, my new teachers have very little knowledge of how to teach children to read, though they are “Reading Certified.” As a beginning teacher I thought it was just me. Teaching was my second career, so I wondered if others had a stronger pre-service experience. After 15 years in education, I've learned this is just not the case. It seems that many of us learned some bits of theory, a few strategies, and then we are pushed out into classrooms, responsible for other people’s children and helping them learn the skills that can open up a new world of possibilities.
Our teachers work hard, dedicate hours to developing lessons, learning new skills, and supporting learners. Collectively we must work together to support learners and educators as we grow all readers.
Teaching the primary grades in elementary school is something that many teachers love, or they avoid at all cost.
Kindergarten through second grade is a critical time in the development of foundational skills that pave the way for a very exciting or very challenging educational journey for children. In many instances, the practice of school grades is based on standardized tests in grades 3-5, so leaders often ignore the primary grades until those children enter 3rd grade. When they arrive as struggling decoders, principals panic and demand interventions.
There are no shortcuts to growing readers, and there is not one particular path.
You have to do the work, beginning wherever the child is, moving progressively forward in building their skills. To start, we must understand how the elements of reading work together to support skillful reading. Hollis Scarborough's reading rope is an excellent example of the elements and the importnace of each one in creating skillful readers.
Learn more about the elements of the Reading Rope here: Scarborough’s Reading Rope on the International Dyslexia Association website.
Scarborough, H. S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (EDS.), Handbook for research in early literacy (pp.97-110). New York, NY: Guilford Press.