National Academies Press: OpenBook

Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success (1999)

Chapter: Promoting Children's Reading Success

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Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
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Promoting Children’s Reading Success

Why is a book like this needed? A devastatingly large number of people in America cannot read as well as they need to for success in life. Large numbers of school-age children, including children from all social classes, face significant difficulties in learning to read. An increasing proportion of children in American schools, particularly in certain school systems, are considered learning disabled; most of the children are so identified because of reading difficulties. Failure to learn to read adequately for continued school success is especially likely among poor children, among children who are members of racial minority groups, and among those whose native language is not English. Achieving educational excellence for all requires an understanding of why these disparities exist as well as serious, informed efforts to redress them.

We are most concerned with the children in this country who do not read well enough to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive economy. To be employable in the modern world, today’s high school graduates must be able to read challenging material and use printed matter to solve problems independently. In the United States, we should expect 100 percent literacy from our population.

In the past, ideologies and narrowly focused beliefs have made it difficult to implement genuine reforms in reading instruction. The teaching of reading evokes passions like few other subject areas. Often the debate has been heated,

Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×

and parents and educators have been understandably frustrated by school districts and states that shift curricula to embrace the latest solution. In fact, there is no simple solution. This is one of the most important messages of this book.

Reading is a complex and multifaceted process, and children need an approach to learning that integrates many elements. Children who are first learning to read need appropriate help in understanding, learning, and using the spelling-sound conventions of the writing system, as well as opportunities to appreciate the information and pleasures offered by print. They need to learn more and more about the vocabulary and sentence structure of written English. They need help with procedures for monitoring comprehension. They also need sufficient practice with a variety of texts to achieve fluency, so that both word recognition and reading comprehension become increasingly fast, accurate, and well coordinated. Three main accomplishments characterize good readers:

  • they understand the alphabetic system of English to identify printed words,

  • they have and use background knowledge and strategies to obtain meaning from print,

  • they read fluently.

In good instruction, these three goals are not only addressed but are also well integrated, enabling young readers to gain proficiency in all of them.

Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×

Children who learn to read successfully master the three core elements. They are able to Identify Printed Words using sound spelling connections and have a sight word repertoire. They are able to use previous knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies to read for Meaning. They read with Fluency, that is, they can identify words swiftly so that what is read is understood and reading itself is enjoyable. Children start to accumulate the skills needed for reading early in life—building a Preschool Language and Literacy Foundation—which includes opportunities for children to develop oral language skills, including phonological awareness, motivation to read, appreciation for literate forms, print awareness, and letter knowledge.

Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×

CIRCUMSTANCES THAT PROMOTE READING

During the first months and years of life, children’s experiences with language and literacy can begin to form a basis for their later reading success. The ideal time to begin sharing books with children is during babyhood, even with children as young as six weeks. Research consistently demonstrates that the more children know about language and literacy before they arrive at school, the better equipped they are to succeed in reading. Main accomplishments include:

  • oral language skills and phonological awareness,

  • motivation to learn and appreciation for literate forms,

  • print awareness and letter knowledge.

These language and literacy accomplishments are achieved best through activities that are integrated across different developmental areas, that is, cognitive development, fine and gross motor development, social and emotional development, and language development.

Given the opportunity, young children develop vocabulary, other language skills, and basic knowledge about the world around them. They know what books are and how they work. They are enthusiastic about reading and are beginning to explore being readers and writers. They have opportunities to learn about letters and the structure of words.

Vocabulary, language skills, and knowledge about the world are acquired during interesting conversations with responsive adults. Talking about books, about daily happenings, about what happened at day care or at work not only contributes to children’s vocabularies, but also increases their ability to

Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×

understand stories and explanations and their understanding of how things work—all skills that will be important in early reading.

Knowledge about and love for literacy can develop only through experience. Children should own books, should have access to books in their preschool and primary classrooms, should be read to often, and should see others reading and writing. Understanding the value of literacy as a means of communication, as well as coming to love book-reading as a time for emotional closeness, are accomplishments typical of the future good reader.

The committee’s larger report emphasized the importance of phonological awareness—not to be confused with phonics. When children achieve phonological awareness, they are able to think about how words sound, apart from what words mean. For example, they appreciate that the word “kitchen” has two spoken parts (syllables), that the word “bed” rhymes with “bread,” and that the words “cat” and “king” begin with the same sound. Children can and should develop some degree of phonological awareness in the preschool years, because it is a crucial early step toward understanding the alphabetic principle and, ultimately, toward learning to read.

Another necessary circumstance for reading success is, of course, excellent reading instruction once children begin school. Although there is no single reading program out there to solve all problems, we do know that the most

Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×

Reading Instruction in Kindergarten Through Third Grade

Recommendations on the mechanics of reading:

  • Kindergarten instruction should be designed to provide practice with the sound structure of words, the recognition and production of letters, knowledge about print concepts, and familiarity with the basic purposes and mechanisms of reading and writing.

  • First grade instruction should be designed to provide explicit instruction and practice with sound structures that lead to phonemic awareness, familiarity with spelling-sound correspondences and common spelling conventions and their use in identifying printed words, “sight” recognition of frequent words, and independent reading, including reading aloud. A wide variety of well-written and engaging texts that are below the children’s frustration level should be provided.

  • Instruction for children who have started to read independently, typically second graders and above, should be designed to encourage children to sound out and confirm the identities of visually unfamiliar words they encounter in the course of reading meaningful text, recognizing words primarily through attention to their letter-sound relationships. Although context and pictures can be used as a tool to monitor word recognition, children should not be taught to use them to substitute for information provided by the letters in the word.

  • Because the ability to obtain meaning from print depends so strongly on the development of accuracy in word recognition and reading fluency, both of the latter should be regularly assessed in the classroom, permitting timely and effective instructional response when difficulty or delay is apparent.

Recommendations on comprehension:

  • Kindergarten instruction should be designed to stimulate verbal interaction, to instruct vocabulary, and to encourage talk about books.

  • Beginning in the earliest grades, instruction should promote comprehension by actively building linguistic and conceptual knowledge in a rich variety of domains.

  • Throughout the early grades, reading curricula should include explicit instruction on strategies such as summarizing the main idea, predicting events and outcomes in upcoming text, drawing inferences, and monitoring for coherence and misunderstandings. This instruction can take place while adults read to students or when students read themselves.

  • Conceptual knowledge and comprehension strategies should be regularly assessed in the classroom, permitting timely and effective instructional response when difficulty or delay is apparent.

Recommendations on writing:

  • Once children learn to write letters, they should be encouraged to write them, use them to begin writing words or parts of words, and to use words to begin writing sentences. Instruction should be designed with the understanding that the use of invented spelling is not in conflict with teaching correct spelling. Beginning writing with invented spelling can be helpful for developing understanding of phoneme identity, phoneme segmentation, and sound-spelling relationships. Conventionally correct spelling should be developed through focused instruction and practice. Primary grade children should be expected to spell previously studied words and spelling patterns correctly in their final writing products. Writing should take place on a daily basis to encourage children to become more comfortable and familiar with it.

Recommendations on reading practices and motivation:

  • Throughout the early grades, time, materials, and resources should be provided (a) to support daily independent reading of texts selected to be of particular interest for the individual student, and also beneath the individual student’s frustration level, in order to consolidate the student’s capacity for independent reading and (b) to support daily assisted or supported reading and rereading of texts that are slightly more difficult in wording or in linguistic, rhetorical, or conceptual structure in order to promote advances in the student’s capacities.

  • Throughout the early grades, schools should promote independent reading outside of school by such means as daily at-home reading assignments and expectations, summer reading lists, encouraging parental involvement, and by working with community groups, including public librarians, who share this same goal.

Adapted from Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (National Academy Press, 1998)

Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×

effective programs share certain common features. Formal instruction in reading needs to focus on the development of two sorts of mastery: word recognition and comprehension. In Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (National Academy Press, 1998), we make recommendations for reading instruction for kindergarten through third grade. The concepts included in these recommendations, along with those relevant to preschoolers, toddlers, and babies, are those that we will clarify and illustrate throughout this book.

The majority of reading problems faced by today’s adolescents and adults could have been avoided or resolved in children’s early years. That is one reason why this book is partly addressed to policy makers, such as school superintendents, district leaders, and elected officials. If we, as a society, are to prevent

Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×

reading difficulties among the current generation of children in America, we must provide them with opportunities to:

  • explore the many uses and functions of written language and develop mastery of them,

  • understand, learn, and use the relationships between the spellings of words and the sounds of speech to recognize and spell written words,

  • practice and enhance vocabulary, language, and comprehension skills,

  • have adults read to them and discuss and react to the literature,

  • experience enthusiasm, joy, and success in learning to read and write,

  • use reading and writing as tools for learning,

  • receive effective prevention programs as early as possible if they are at risk of potential reading difficulties, and

  • receive effective intervention and remediation programs, well-integrated with their everyday classroom activities, as soon as they begin to have difficulty.

Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×

For the most high-risk children, enriched preschool environments and excellent primary grade instruction can be a deciding factor between success or failure that will follow them all their lives. That is why this book focuses mainly on early childhood environments and primary grade instruction. No time is as important, or as fleeting, as a child’s early years of life and schooling. Herein lies our greatest hope, and our most practical and effective opportunity for prevention.

Throughout the book we have tried to include the voices of a wide range of people—teachers, parents, pediatricians, volunteer tutors, and researchers. We also have provided vignettes of effective programs and interventions from around the country.

Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
Page 10
Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
Page 11
Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
Page 12
Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Promoting Children's Reading Success." National Research Council. 1999. Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6014.
×
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Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success Get This Book
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A devastatingly large number of people in America cannot read as well as they need for success in life. With literacy problems plaguing as many as four in ten children in America, this book discusses how best to help children succeed in reading. This book identifies the most important questions and explores the authoritative answers on the topic of how children can grow into readers, including:

  • What are the key elements all children need in order to become good readers?
  • What can parents and caregivers provide all children so that they are prepared for reading instruction by the time that they get to school?
  • What concepts about language and literacy should be included in beginning reading instruction?
  • How can we prevent reading difficulties starting with infants and into the early grades?
  • What to ask school boards, principals, elected officials, and other policy makers who make decisions regarding early reading instruction.

You'll find out how to help youngsters build word recognition, avoid comprehension problems, and more—with checklists of specific accomplishments to be expected at different ages: for very young children, for kindergarten students, and for first, second, and third grade students. Included are 55 activities to do with children to help them become successful readers, a list of recommended children's books, and a guide to CD-ROMs and websites.

Great strides have been made recently toward identifying the best ways to teach children to read. Starting Out Right provides a wealth of knowledge based on a summary of extensive research. It is a "must read" for specialists in primary education as well as parents, pediatricians, child care providers, tutors, literacy advocates, policy makers, and teachers.

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