The Reading Journey in Theory 1 - The stages of Reading Development

 

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A term with Lexplore - How do we do it?

In the picture, you can see the different parts of a term with Lexplore

• Where are we now?
• Where are we going?
• How do we get there?
• What was the outcome and what do we need to do next?

 

You will now find out more about what we call How do we get there?

 

 

After screening and analysis, you will begin the important work where you will plan the reading lessons in the future. 

Students spend most of their time in the classroom. Therefore, the lessons and exercises that Lexplore recommends are designed to be carried out in a larger group in the classroom. 

Successful teaching of reading in a school does not come by itself. It needs cooperation and consensus. 

 

Initial reading and decoding

The very first step on the reading development ladder is characterised by the technical part of reading, what we call in everyday speech "cracking the reading code " 

• To learn to read, the student must understand that each letter has one or more sounds and that the sounds can be combined to form words and the words can become sentences. 
• Decoding and the technical part of The Simple View of Reading should be given a large space in your teaching. 
• The student also needs to see a meaning in the reading and that the written language has a message. You show this, for example, by reading aloud and talking about the content. 
• Structured reading training with phonics and reading simple
  texts with exciting content gives the student good conditions to develop on
the reading journey. 
• Some students will have already passed the first phase when they start school. They still need to practice their reading fluency, which can be done like structured reading training with the audio method. 
  
  
  

 

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Confirmation and Reading fluency

Now, the student has cracked the reading code and can fluently read simple texts. Remember to still see the student as a beginning reader who needs a lot of
practice.  

• Intersperse reading fluency exercises with simple texts to maintain motivation. 
• Remember that short and intense is better for learning and motivation than something that goes on all the time. 
• If the student is to acquire knowledge in a subject, such as NO or SO, then it is still better for the student to listen and talk about the text. 
• In addition to creating opportunities for the student to continue practising his reading fluency, language-development teaching, where words and concepts must be at the centre, provides a good basis for continued positive reading development. For
  example, you can conduct lessons that only deal with words and concepts in a
text you read aloud. 
• Remember to differentiate between training decoding/ reading fluency and reading to learn, i.e. acquiring knowledge. So, don't train decoding and reading fluency if you expect
students to learn new facts. 
  
  
  

 

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From Learning to read to Reading to learn

As with the previous step, confirmation and reading fluency, you give the students good
conditions by continuing with a systematic teaching of reading fluency! 

However, since the texts that the student encounters become increasingly complex and
contain many new words and concepts, it also becomes more important for the
student to get help sorting these out to get a context in the text. 

The different reading strategies contribute strongly to increased understanding as the
student can read more effectively to understand and interpret texts. 

Teaching reading strategies should, therefore, be characterised by a classroom
climate where you learn together. You show, you talk, and the students
practice. 

Remember that the teaching can be based on texts you read aloud, and you get a common platform to start from. 

As the students get stronger, you can also let them practice in different reading
groups where they can practice one strategy at a time. 

When the student starts to read factual texts on their own, you should be very
careful that the student understands. For some students, it is still better
for the student to listen to text if they are expected to learn new knowledge! 

Again, remember to distinguish between training decoding/ reading fluency and reading
to learn, i.e. acquiring knowledge. 

 

 

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Reflective reading for a deeper understanding

You will now learn more about how you can help students with a deeper understanding when they have to read for a certain purpose, such as a deeper understanding of a fiction text or to learn something through a factual text. 

• The student can now read more advanced texts requiring them to reflect and analyse the content. For example, there may be texts with many underlying messages where you need to read between or beyond the lines to understand the text.  
• Examining texts together using different reading strategies is a way of giving students support in how they can approach texts in order to read effectively and gain new knowledge. 
• It is still good to create occasions where students can read aloud, for example, in pairs, to increase their reading fluency. If the reading fluency is good, it frees up the power to understand the content, even if you are starting to become a very good
  reader. 
• You now know that students who struggle with decoding must listen to texts when acquiring knowledge. 
• For students with language difficulties, such as understanding words and concepts or perhaps lacking experiences that help them understand the text, you can help them with pre-comprehension. You can, for example, conduct lessons focusing on the new words and concepts they will encounter. 
• Remember that lessons focusing on words and concepts before a new subject area benefit all students! 
  
  

 

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Fast and efficient reading with purpose

Now, the student has climbed all the way up their reading development ladder! Hopefully, they now read for pleasure and choose reading as a learning method. 

• It is not unusual for a group of students to be at different stages of the reading development ladder. It can be experienced as challenging for
  the teacher to carry out teaching that benefits all students. 
• Even if the student has developed optimally on their reading ladder, you can still challenge them in their reading. Everyone can continue to develop their reading fluency and vocabulary and vocabulary. 
• All students can practice reading fluency in literature at their level, where they read aloud in pairs and can work further with the content, such as words and concepts. 
• Joint learning where all students can share in each other's linguistic experiences benefits all students' language development.  
• The linguistically strong students are challenged by explaining and describing words and concepts, while those who struggle with their linguistic understanding get the opportunity to take part in the explanations of their peers and the teacher. 
  
  
  

 

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Important aspects of teaching

• Feel free to choose to read aloud to the students. Then you can remove the focus on decoding and reading fluency and focus on comprehension, which creates equal conditions between strong and weak decoders. 

• Those with difficulty with their linguistic understanding also only need to listen and not read independently. If you don't understand a text, you won't read it either.

  You have probably met students who are " browsers ". 

• Just as they may have difficulty with decoding, they may have difficulty understanding. You can facilitate through joint learning! 

• Start early with reading strategies. Reading strategies exist so that the students will be supported in tackling the text. If they become confident, even at the initial reading, they will benefit all students, especially those who struggle with reading. 

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Try to match your students

Now you have an overview of the different steps in reading development 🎉

Fundera en stund 🤔

• Om du tänker på dina elever, som grupp, vilket steg förväntas din grupp (klass) att befinna sig på?
• Känner du dig säker på vilka steg de enskilda eleverna befinner sig på?
• När du tagit del av lektionen om läsutvecklingsstegen, kan du lättare matcha dina elever till de olika stegen?

 

 

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Well done ⭐

Now that you’ve completed the course, The reading development stages.