Practices of Early Literacy Instruction - Coursework Example

Many studies have determined the existence of a strong relationship between a child’s ability to read and the length of time the child spends reading (Armbruster, et al., n.d., p. 22). This evidence has long encouraged teachers to promote the practice of voluntary reading in the classroom. Teachers need to hear, guide, and supervise the children as they read because there is no research evidence to support the improvement of reading fluency in children through independent, silent reading with minimal feedback and guidance from the teachers (Armbruster, et al., n.d., p. 22). Most students need nearly two years of phonics instruction. Starting phonics instruction early during kindergarten helps the teachers complete it near the first grade’s end. Accordingly, starting it early in the first grade implies that it should be completed at the second grade’s end (Armbruster, et al., n.d., p. 17). Evidence-based practice implies that teachers should use both print sources and firsthand experiences to enhance learning (Spencer and Guillaume, 2006, p. 208).

Language and vocabulary are both of paramount importance for a child to learn to read. Children draw connections between the words they see in the text and the words they have heard and are stored in their memories to make sense of what they are reading. Vocabulary also plays an important role in reading comprehension. Children find it hard to understand what they read without knowing the meanings of the words they read. Teachers should try to make the children memorize the meanings of new words as the class proceeds towards reading more advanced texts. “While a substantial amount of general vocabulary is acquired through wide reading, it is also important for teachers to address word learning directly” (Richek, 2005, p. 414). Scientific research on vocabulary instruction shows that for the most part, vocabulary learning is an indirect process and that teachers must teach the children some vocabulary directly (Armbruster, et al., n.d., p. 29). Readers in the initial stages of learning may be accurate in reading but their word recognition is slow and inefficient. Word recognition is improved with continued reading practice and becomes more rapid, effortless, and automatic. Automaticity is used for only speedy and accurate word recognition and does not refer to reading with expression. While automaticity is necessary for fluency, it is not sufficient alone. It is through reading that children can learn different meanings of the same word when used differently, the multidimensionality and interrelatedness of word knowledge (Spencer & Guillaume, 2006, p. 207).