The
article “Every Child, Every Day” by Richard L. Allington and Rachael E. Gabriel
suggests that research studies support that effective Language Arts instruction
can be implemented in any school setting by using six elements of reading
instruction that do not require a costly amount of resources. If research-based
strategies are applied to reading instruction in the classroom, students will
become more engaged and successful readers. These research-based reading
strategies are used to enhance the achievement of successful readers and
motivate struggling readers to accomplish the goal of reading instruction,
which is that every child has the ability to read.
The first
element of effective reading instruction states that students are more eager to
read and understand what they have read if given the opportunity to make their
own reading selections. The two main
components of reading instruction that can improve student motivation, as well
as reading comprehension is to create student access to reading material and
allow the students to select their own reading material. This approach to
reading instruction can motivate students through the personal experience of
choosing a book they are interested in and can help them further develop the
skills needed to choose a book that is appropriate for their reading level. If
students choose reading material that matches their reading level they will be
able to understand what they are reading and be more likely to read outside of
school because of successful in school reading experiences.
The second
element mentioned in this article claims that if a student’s reading accuracy
is above ninety percent they are able to improve their word recognition,
decoding, and analysis of words skills. In order to ensure that a student progresses
in their reading accuracy is to have them read and reread language arts
material. The more time spent on reading helps accelerate reading accuracy, but
students will only benefit from reading material that they understand, therefore
they will enjoy reading. Struggling readers are more likely to become
frustrated when they encounter words that they don’t understand and begin to
lack confidence in their reading accuracy, which will affect their word
recognition skills and decoding skills.
The third
element stems from the previously mentioned idea that students are more willing
to read material that they understand and is appropriate for their reading
level. It has been proven in research studies that when working with struggling
readers the focus should be on reading comprehension and not basic isolation
reading skills. This evidence was observed through the changes in the structure
of the brain’s white matter, which showed an improvement in reading ability
when struggling readers were exposed to numerous readings and rereading of texts
that they comprehended.
The fourth
element involves students writing about meaningful topics that can improve
their reading skills. When students are able to write about something they are
passionate about they take time to address how they want to communicate their
ideas, so other people are able to understand what they are attempting to say.
This helps students develop and organize their ideas by allowing them to write something
they know about and want to communicate what they know to others. Then the
student is able to read, reread, and analyze what they have just written to
ensure it conveys to other readers the main idea of what they were trying to
communicate.
The fifth
element of effective reading instruction proposes that students become more
effective readers when they converse with peers about what they have just read.
Students will become more engaged in the reading when they work with a partner
to answer questions and think about what they have just read. This gives
students an opportunity to analyze, comment on, and to highlight the important
information from the reading. It is more helpful for struggling readers to be
engaged in a conversation with a peer about what they have just read instead of
answering literal questions to see if they understood the reading. This type of
instruction incorporates reading, listening, and speaking skills, which many students
who struggle with reading difficulties can benefit from.
The sixth
element states that students reading fluency and comprehension of reading are
likely to increase when an adult reads aloud to model fluent reading. This
method of reading instruction can also aid students in the expansion of their
vocabulary, background knowledge, and components of a story. It is a suggested
that the teacher reads aloud to their student’s every day, even if only for 10
minutes as a way to use class time more effectively and it doesn’t require any
special materials to implement this strategy.
As
a teacher it would be beneficial to all students to invest in a classroom
library, so that students have access to reading material that range from lower
level to higher level texts. The six essential elements of reading instruction
aid in the improvement of reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension. This is
accomplished though reading strategies that allow self-selection of texts, read-alouds,
as well as conversing with peers.
Allington,
R., & Gabriel, R. (2012). Every child, every day. Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar12/vol69/num06/Every-Child,-Every-Day.aspx