Components of Reading Instruction by Liz Vanlandingham

Phonemic Awareness

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 20:08:39 UTC

Phonemic Awareness Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 20:52:44 UTC

One activity for phonemic awareness is Phoneme Manipulation. In this activity, the teacher will select a word family (e.g., the "at" family). The teacher will then pronounce several words within that family, emphasizing the ending letter sounds (e.g., cat, bat, rat). The teacher will introduce a new beginning sound, explaining he/she will add it to create a new word, emphasizing the beginning sound (e.g., "c" + "at" = cat). The teacher will then help the students blend the beginning sound with the rest of the word and have the students repeat the word with the new beginning sound. The teacher can then practice with other words in that family, as well as other word families.

Another activity for phonemic awareness is called Sound Take Away. The teacher will tell the students to pronounce a word (e.g., cup). He/she will demonstrate how to segment a word by taking away part of it (e.g., "cup" - "c" = "up"). Then he/she will tell students to delete the beginning sound and say what is left (e.g., "up").

For students with exceptionalities, the teacher may use an activity such as having students clap or hop to the sounds. Pictures may also be used to help with sounds.

Phonics Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 21:03:31 UTC

One activity for phonics is for the teacher to use his/her arms to sound out words. Holding one arm in front and placing the hand of the other arm on the opposite shoulder, the teacher will tap the hand down the extended arm, saying each sound in the word. Once the end of the arm has been reached, the teacher will return the hand to the shoulder, saying the whole word while sliding the hand down the arm (e.g., c→a→t→ cat).

Another phonics activity is called Pattern Searches. The teacher will give the students short story passages and have them find all of a particular letter blend (e.g., "th"). The teacher will then have the students highlight each letter blend found in the passage.

Students with exceptionalities can identify letters by sight, say each letter out loud, and trace the letters with a finger.

Vocabulary Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 21:03:50 UTC

A vocabulary activity called Act It Out has students working in pairs or small groups to act out several of the week's vocabulary words.

Another vocabulary activity is called Sing It or Rhyme It. Here, the teacher divides students into pairs or small groups and has them create a short song or poem that includes certain vocabulary words from a lesson. Each group of students will then sing their song or say their poem for the class.

Students with exceptionalities can create a poem or song with their small group.

Fluency Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 21:24:58 UTC

An activity to promote fluency is Choral Reading. The teacher will choose a text that is not too long and is on most of the students' independent reading level. Each student will have a copy of the text or all students will share a big book. Then, students will read along with the teacher as a group. The choral reading can be practiced several times to help the students master fluency.

Another fluency activity is Partner Reading. The teacher will pair the students so they can take turns reading aloud to each other. By combining a more fluent reader with a less fluent reader, the stronger reader can help the weaker one with word recognition, providing feedback and encouragement. The stronger reader will read the selected passage aloud first and then the weaker reader will read the same passage aloud. The weaker reader can repeat the passage until it becomes fluid.

Students with exceptionalities can choral read with a partner to gain confidence in their reading abilities.

Comprehension Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 21:31:20 UTC

A strategy for comprehension is Active Reading. The teacher will model reading to students, talking about what is happening in the story as it is read. The teacher can stop and discuss tricky vocabulary. He/she can ask questions such as "What happened here?" or "What will happen next?" These questions can help students picture the story in their minds, which will help them understand its actions and intent.

Another comprehension activity is Tell Me About It. Here, the teacher reads a story aloud to students and then asks students to tell the story in their own words. The teacher can ask questions to help students add details and give an accurate account of the action.

Students with exceptionalities can be given sentence starters to help them describe what they have learned.

Phonemic Awareness At-Home Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 21:39:19 UTC

In the activity Road Trip Rhymes, parents will pick out an object while driving and ask the child questions such as "What rhymes with tree/car?" Then the parent can also have the child pick out an object and ask the parent to create a rhyme. This activity will help children recognize word families in a fun way. It can also help children learn new words for objects they might not yet have known.

Phonics At-Home Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 21:44:44 UTC

Parents can help their child learn phonics by helping them identify letter names and sounds. The parent can say "I'm thinking of a letter and it makes the sound 'm' or 'b.'" Practicing letter names will help encourage the child to master consonant and vowel sounds. Parents will also be helping the child gain confidence to become a reader.

Vocabulary At-Home Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 21:49:28 UTC

To help their child build vocabulary, parents can choose a new word to explore, providing a "kid-friendly" definition. The parent can give an example of the word's use in daily life and then ask the child to also give an example. Parents should continue using the new word at home over the next days and weeks in order to add it to the child's vocabulary. Building vocabulary will help beginning readers make better of sense of what they are reading. The greater the vocabulary knowledge, the more likely a child will understand what they hear or read.

Fluency At-Home Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 21:53:42 UTC

Parents can help their child gain fluency as they reread their favorite books. Parents should have the child choose a favorite book, and then read and reread that same book over a number of days. Over time, the child will become more familiar with the book's words, helping them learn to read those words with increases accuracy and speed. Repeated exposure to a favorite story will help the child gain not only fluency, but an understanding of what the story is about. This activity will increase a child's confidence that he or she can read the story themselves.

Comprehension At-Home Activities

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 21:54:09 UTC

To increase comprehension at home, parents and children can explore their world together. The parent and the child can take a walk in the neighborhood or a trip to the store and talk about animals, people, or items they see that connect to stories they have read together. They can talk about how the real life situations and the stories connect. Parents and children can also add their own personal stories to the conversation. This activity helps children develop a sense of family, as well as adding to their social skills, as they become more confident in expressing themselves. Sharing stories will help children comprehend the importance of building connections with both friends and family.

Phonics

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 22:10:31 UTC

Vocabulary

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 22:12:16 UTC

Fluency

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 22:13:36 UTC

Comprehension

lvanlandingham2 — 2025-04-09 22:18:27 UTC