Early+Years+Readers



Early Years Readers

As a group, we discovered that in order for teacher’s to have a positive influence on a child’s reading skills, three significant areas must be addressed. They include text selection, assessing fluency and assessing comprehension. Text selection is important to ensure children remain engaged and interested in reading. Assessing fluency relates to a child’s ability to read with ‘accuracy, appropriate speed, phrasing and expression (Rasinski, 2004 p.2). Finally, comprehension assessment determines what a child ‘understands from the print, illustrations, layout and design’ (Hill, 2006 p.190) of a text.

With regards to text selection, the general discovery made by the group was that a text must be exciting. This ensures the reader is highly engaged, resulting in a higher degree of reading comprehension.
 * Text Selection**

An evaluation made by the International Reading Association and Children’s Book Council discovered that children considered the following elements to produce an engaging text (Hill 2006, p.109):
 * Fast-paced plot
 * Lots of detail
 * Lots of description of setting and characters
 * Variety in plots
 * Do not like sad books
 * Books which teach a lesson
 * Warmth in books- characters like each other, express their feelings and sometime act selflessly

It was also discovered that it is important to extend a child’s abilities by challenging them with a text slightly more difficult than they are comfortable with. Giving a child such a task allows them to hear and see new words, broadening their vocabulary and putting into practice the skills learnt to determine unfamiliar words.

Reading fluency is often referred to as a ‘child’s ability to read quickly, accurately, expressively, with good phrasing and comprehension’ (Rasinski, 2009 p.3). Fluency is an important skill in reading as it allows for ‘comprehension of the text and for children’s attitudes toward reading to develop’ (Hill, 2006 p.168).
 * Reading Fluency**

As described by Hill (2006, p.169) reading fluency rubrics allow a teacher to monitor a child’s reading by listening to them read and marking the behaviours the child displays. The column with the most marks is the level at which the child is currently reading from. This method of assessment focuses on key skills including, reading pace, phrasing, punctuation and expression.

The implications of these results are that the level of fluency varies between children, therefore each child should be aware of their individual learning goals to ensure they are working toward achieving fluency or further developing their skills.
 * Summary Table**
 * **Student** || **Rate** || **Phrasing** || **Pausing** || **Stress** || **Expression** || **Fluency Level** ||
 * **Child A** || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 ||
 * **Child B** || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 ||
 * **Child C** || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 ||
 * **Child D** || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 ||
 * **Child E** || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 ||

Reading comprehension is commonly known as ‘the act of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning from the text’ (Hill, 2006 p.190). Hill (2006 p.193-194) describes the three types of comprehension question, they include:
 * Reading Comprehension**

In the story 'Jessica's Box' Literal- questions in which the answer is right there. E.g What is the name of Jessica’s dog?

Interpretive- involve thinking and searching. E.g What was Jessica trying to do at school?

Inferential- involve thinking beyond the text. E.g What did you learn from this book?


 * Reading Comprehension Skills**


 * ** Student ** || ** Comprehension Skills ** ||
 * **Child A** || * Able to answer literal questions
 * Clear understanding of interpretive questions
 * Capable of answering inferential questions ||
 * **Child B** || * Able to answer literal questions
 * Difficulty answering interpretive questions
 * Unable to answer inferential questions ||
 * **Child C** || * Able to answer literal questions
 * Clear understanding of interpretive questions
 * Unable to answer inferential questions ||
 * **Child D** || * Able to answer literal questions
 * Difficulty answering interpretive questions
 * Unable to answer inferential questions ||
 * **Child E** || * Able to answer literal questions
 * Clear understanding of interpretive questions
 * Capable of answering inferential questions ||

The implications of these results are that teaching must be adapted to each child to meet their needs. As we know, children learn differently and do so at different stages. This therefore recognises that children of similar age are capable of different things but a teacher with the appropriate skills is able to achieve a uniform outcome. In relation to reading comprehension, an emphasis on the comprehension questions listed above will encourage children to think more about what they are reading, resulting in a great understanding of the texts they are reading.