empowerment through reading instruction

Empowerment through reading instruction – reblogged from readilearn

22 Replies

The importance of reading to children every day is never far from my mind. It comes from a passion for all things literacy as well as the knowledge that reading means empowerment. Reading is the key that unlocks so much that is meaningful in today’s world.

Whether at home or in the classroom, children need to listen to stories read aloud to them every day. It should be non-negotiable and prioritised. I would also add time for independent reading of self-selected material to that non-negotiable list and, in the classroom, time for independent writing on self-chosen topics.

Listening to stories benefits children in many ways; including, but not limited to:

  • Sheer enjoyment
  • Connection with others and other ideas which leads to understanding, respect and empathy
  • Exposure to language and vocabulary which in turns develops language and vocabulary
  • Positive feelings for books as a source of pleasure and information and a stimulus for imagination and creativity
  • A model of fluent and expressive reading behaviour that can be aspired to and emulate
  • A desire to read for oneself.

Keeping in mind that reading aloud to children and making time for their independent reading are non-negotiable and occur in the classroom every day, children also require purposeful instruction in the process of reading.

While some children appear to learn easily and without effort before starting school, as my own two children did, others struggle to understand the marks on the page. Most children fall somewhere on a continuum between, benefitting from instruction along the way.

The readilearn collection of teaching resources for teachers of the first three years of school includes many to support your teaching of reading. Many resources are free, others are available for no more than a few dollars, or you can access all the resources for one low annual subscription of just A$25. (That’s about £13, €15, US$17 or CAN$22) I’m sure you’ll agree that’s great value.

Browse resources now

readilearn supports teachers teaching reading

Reading aloud

As part of our support for reading aloud, on the readilearn blog we regularly conduct interviews with authors and illustrators about their new books. Many of these interviews are available to download free from the Author and Illustrator Spotlight resources.  We also publish free lists of books on different topics for you to download; for example,

multicultural picture book

Continue reading: Empowerment through reading instruction – readilearn

22 thoughts on “Empowerment through reading instruction – reblogged from readilearn”

  1. Pingback: Empowerment through reading instruction – reblogged from readilearn — Norah Colvin – Shayla’s Blog

  4. Sandy Briggs

    Connection with others and other ideas which leads to understanding, respect and empathy
    Exposure to language and vocabulary which in turns develops language and vocabulary

    Norah, these are my two favorites of your list, although the entire list is critical. I love the fact that we connect through reading to and with our children. There are many discussions that can arise out of reading and these allow children to start to understand conversation as a tool for learning and expanding. I also love the exposure to language and vocabulary. Thank you for sharing this.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
    1. Norah Post author

      Thank you so much for adding your wisdom to the post, Sandy. You have a lot of experience to share and we can all benefit from it.
      Yes, the benefits of reading to and with young children are many, too many to list them all.:)

      Like

      Reply ↓
    1. Norah Post author

      Thanks, Kevin. readilearn is my other site. I thought I should say it was reblogged for new readers, such as yourself, who weren’t with me earlier on and wouldn’t know the ‘story’. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓
  6. Erica/Erika

    You remind me Norah, how I think many of us take reading for granted. It is still a privilege and many parts of the world do not have access to books, the way we do. I think your post is directed more to teachers and children reading. I find it interesting how some adults read to each other, just for pleasure. Patricia Tilton comments on how “voices are soothing.” An interesting post, as always:)

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓
    1. Norah Post author

      Thank you, Erica. It is sad that so many the world over don’t have access to books and reading instruction. I’m pleased that there are many organisations doing their best to change that, including Library For All which I wrote about recently.
      You’re right. The post was directed at teachers (or parents) teaching children to read.
      Patricia Tilton is a wonderful advocate for children’s books and all things literary.
      Thank you for your wonderful comment.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply ↓
  8. Patricia Tilton

    What a lovely post. Parents need to read out loud to children, beginning in utero and after birth. Voices are so soothing at that point and it carries over. My daughter loved to be read to, but didn’t enjoy reading independently. Now she’s an avid reader, if she makes the time for it. Always enjoy your thoughts.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓
    1. Norah Post author

      Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and adding your wisdom to the post, Patricia. Sometimes it takes a while for the benefits of those reading sessions to show through, but eventually they will. They are always positive.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply ↓

I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.