Reading is a complex skill that requires children to develop multiple abilities, such as letter recognition, phonics, and reading comprehension, to become proficient readers.
How do you manage all of that as a teacher?
Sebastian Suggate's research provides insights into the optimal time to stimulate specific skills.
He emphasises the importance of connecting skills, rather than teaching them as separate.
Understanding Suggate's Research on Optimal Reading Instruction
Prior to beginning formal reading instruction, many abilities and knowledge are already developed.
Examples include phonological and phonemic awareness. Also vocabulary develops well before entering primary school.
Learning to read requires specific skills, but when is the optimal time to practise?
Suggate's research on reading interventions reveals how targeted phonics, fluency, and comprehension training can impact children's reading abilities over time.
He cited 71 studies on reading training, published between 1980 and 2013 and examined four types of interventions:
- Stimulating sound awareness without written texts;
- Focussing on sound-symbol combinations with texts (phonics);
- Practicing fluent and easy reading;
- And stimulating text comprehension.
His main inquiry is if these training sessions have an impact in the short and long run.
Key Findings: The Long-Term Impact of Reading Interventions
In the short run, all interventions have reasonable effects. However, after eleven months, the benefit often appears to have disappeared.
Suggate found that programs focussing on sound awareness and text comprehension had the most long-lasting effects, whereas those focussing on other abilities had less impact.
Targeted fluent reading instruction did not improve pupils' text comprehension skills. So, does what you do in the classroom have little to no effect? Luckily, this is not the case.
Suggate considered the factors that influence the performance. For example, the timing of the lesson.
It's important to learn certain things at the correct time, since otherwise pupils may not be ready to grasp it.
Suggate previously referred to this as the Luke effect, referencing the tale of the sower in the Gospel of Luke.
Suggate's meta-analysis highlights that early reading instruction in preschool programs often lacks long-term retention, emphasizing the need for more targeted interventions in later years.
Year 1 and 2 had better long-term impacts, whereas from year 3 onwards it had moderate to large effects. This doesn't imply teachers can relax till year 3. It's important to consider both the timing and the specifics.
Targeted work on reading comprehension, such as teaching reading techniques, is more effective in year 3 compared to year 1.
Reading comprehension integrates all other skills.
Suggate dismisses the notion that early targeted instruction of letter-sound pairings is optimal.
Preschoolers and toddlers are not ready for this approach, therefore the effects fade with time. Please wait until year 1. Preschoolers benefit from using language activities to improve their sound awareness.
For middle-year students, combining decoding, reading fluency, and text comprehension instruction is essential to fostering lasting literacy skills.
This encourages pupils to use their talents whenever necessary, rather than only during specific exercises.
Targeted training has been shown to aid weak readers and pupils with reading difficulties. They experience longer-lasting effects. Investing in learning disabilities is worthwhile.
Small groups can produce the same results as one-on-one sessions.
How Teachers Can Apply Suggate's Research in the Classroom
Suggate's meta-study suggests that formal reading education should start in year 1.
Suggate's lesson is to focus on what is optimal at the time, rather than what is possible. Targeted training for toddlers on the link between sound and letter is helpful in the short term, but less effective in the long run.
If a toddler is ready for formal reading training, they can work with the next group or skip a session.
Preparatory skills, including sound, letter, and script awareness, should be prioritised for everyone else. The crucial lesson is that, after specific instructions, connecting skills is most important.
That is what reading skills are ultimately about: the sub-skills must work together to produce a good reading of texts.
Practical Tips for Enhancing Reading Skills in the Classroom
Teaching reading effectively requires educators to focus on developing all sub-skills — such as phonemic awareness, decoding, and comprehension — ensuring they are integrated for optimal reading fluency.
This needs you, as a teacher, to consult with your colleagues, regardless of which group you teach, in order to develop a continuous reading queue.
Practising one sub-skill (for example, reading aloud) for an extended period of time increases the likelihood that pupils may perceive it as a separate skill.
Too short a time may indicate that not all pupils have mastered the sub-skill adequately to continue.
As a result, you must constantly monitor the situation and make adjustments, such as providing additional training and exercises or assigning more challenging, combined assignments.
In the lower grades, this mostly concerns sound, letter, and script awareness. After four weeks, you may already identify pupils in group 3 who are falling behind. Immediately grip their collar and provide extra support.
Do not wait till Christmas, since you will lose crucial practice time. Improve reading skills by connecting them to relevant tasks.
For instance, assign pupils to read a work aloud in groups within their subject areas. Link reading comprehension to topic or subject area instruction where possible. Collaborate with colleagues to help pupils learn reading skills.
Key takeaways
- Students learn to read in a continuous queue with their colleagues.
- Group 3 is ideal for targeted training on sound-letter combinations and word identification.
- Targeted training is especially beneficial for weak readers; provide it as soon as possible.
- Work on a combination of sub-skills.
Reference
Suggate, S. P. (2016). A meta-analysis of the long-term effects of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension interventions.