The more you read, the wiser you grow. It’s an indisputable fact that reading has innumerable benefits. It helps improve comprehension, vocabulary, and cognition. It also reduces stress and depression. It’s thus important for teachers to encourage students to read more. There are many reading strategies that teachers can utilize. Reading techniques help students become motivated readers. Here are some effective reading strategies that teachers can apply in their classes:
Choral Reading
Choral reading is the practice of reading aloud together with a group. Teachers can ask all students in the class to read aloud, all at once. This practice of choral reading helps students develop confidence and fluency. It is especially beneficial for students who become conscious and hesitant when asked to read alone. Through such techniques, students also learn to pronounce words correctly and read tough words fluently.
Visualisation
Visualisation is one of the most popular reading strategies. It involves forming mental images of the text that is being read. To use this reading technique in class, teachers can ask students to read some text and then describe mental images that form in their minds as they read the passage. This will help students process the information better and articulate it efficiently.
Reading Partners
If you are considering effective reading strategies that involve peer-to-peer interaction, you can divide the students into pairs. However, the pairing should be between children of different grades. Both students can help each other to improve their reading skills. This arrangement will help both the students. The younger student will improve his fluency and vocabulary, while the older student will feel less pressured and more confident when helping the student from the lower grade.
Inferring
The art of inference is an essential skill that every student must acquire. Using inference-related reading strategies, teachers can help students understand information that is not very obvious, something like ‘reading between the lines’. It is essential for students to understand that most information is not explicitly articulated in text. A lot of it has to be inferred through clues and hints. This leads to a higher level of comprehension. To teach the inference reading techniques to students, teachers can share a passage with students and ask them to read it. They can then pause and ask the students what they infer from the text. Using clues, teachers can direct the students to an appropriate conclusion.
Questioning
Questioning is among popular reading strategies that help develop curiosity and stimulate critical thinking. Through these techniques, teachers can inculcate the skill of exploring the depth of meaning in a text. Teachers can instruct their students to not just ask questions during reading but also before and after. This will help them focus on the important information in a passage. Teachers can teach students what kind of questions to ask. For instance, ‘what does this phrase mean?’ or ‘why did a particular character do that?’ or ‘what was the reason or cause of that situation?’, etc. Questioning helps students clarify concepts and learnings in their minds.
These were the top reading strategies teachers can apply in their classrooms starting today! Whether you are taking a live online class on SuperTeacher teaching app, or in a traditional classroom, you can always rely on these effective reading strategies.
Reading is one of the most important skills to inculcate in students. Find out smart strategies in which we can make students not just better at reading but also in comprehending what they read.