5. Things to consider before teaching
reading
• All children listen from birth and naturally
acquire speech.
• All children have to learn how to read
and write.
• Meaning is the most important element
in reading just as it is in listening.
• Just as listening came before
speaking, so reading comes before
writing.
6. Think about your own teaching
situation
• How old are the children in your class?
• Can they read and write in their mother
tongue?
• Do they know there are different spellings
for similar sounds in English?
• What words might beginners recognize
already?
7. What are your three main priorities
when teaching your students to read
in English?
• Focus on meaning
• Word recognition, making the connection
between familiar sounds and written
words or phrases.
• Naming the letters of the alphabet.
• Predicting the pronunciation of a written
word.
9. Activities to help children connect
sounds with letters
Play alphabet games:
1. Memory games—using letter cards
2. Initial letter games—children recognize and
collect the first letters of different words.
3. Feel the letter—children close their eyes and
touch cut-out sandpaper letters on a card.
10. Letter and Word Recognition
• ‘Look and Say’ Approach
Have two or three sets of flashcards with words on them, for
example, animals words, colour words, sports words. Then
ask the students to find the words according to your
instructions.
• Phonic Approach
Do the same, but ask the students to find words focused on the
sounds and rhymes.
• Words children already know or half-known from their mother
tongue.
Use the same technique but ask the students to do word groupings.
11. Teaching Tips for Word Recognition
• Label things in the classroom, even pictures/photos
that you use.
• Keep sets of pictures and new words and phrases
children have learnt recently in a special display
area.
• Let the children play at being teacher to revise the
words and phrases.
• Hand out wishes cards and praise cards with short
phrases that children can bring home and read to
their parents.
12. Another Reading activities
• Reading a story
• Reading a class story
• Reading texts based on the child’s language
• Reading familiar nursery rhymes or songs
• Reading aloud
• Silent reading
13. Some Reading Materials
• Reading cards
• Home-made books
• Books for native speakers of the language
• Easy readers for foreign language learners
• Picture dictionaries
• Books with tapes
