Basic reading is all about sounds. The more versed in the children with the sounds, the faster they will learn to read.
Mastery of the letter sounds is a must. Once the child has mastered each sound of the letters, reading for them becomes easier. If they know their sounds, they can sound off the letters and connect them to form a word.
You already covered the lessons about syllables so the next step is to teach the CVC words. CVC means consonant-vowel-consonant words.
Start by showing the syllables using a flashcard.
For example:
ma – we assume that the children know how to read the syllable ma, you add another letter and connect them together to form a CVC word.
Emphasize the sounds while reading the words. In time, the children will get used to it and they will easily read the three-letter words or the CVC words.
The point to remember is, use the same vowel at a time. Say for example today you tackle the vowel a, so you let the children read words with the short a at the middle.
Here is a list of easy to read CVC-a words for young learners.
bat cat car dam fan far gas hat ham hag jam lap
lad mad mat map nap pan pat rag ram sad sat tag
tap van wag yam
For beginner readers, you can use pictures to make them understand what they are reading. For the more advanced especially if you are tutoring one-on-one, you can let the child look at the picture, name it then she can write the word.
For the more advanced, or if you see that the child can already read CVC words, follow it up with short stories.
Here’s a sample short story for the starter reader.
Bam Bam is a Ram
Bam Bam is a Ram.
Bam Bam is a fat ram.
Bam Bam sat on a van.
From this short story; you can draw exercises and give the child some seat works to do.
Here are some examples:
- Question and answer.
- Fill in the blank.
- Answer with Yes or No.
- Underline what is true about the story.
- Encircle the word that completes the sentence.
- Underline the word that makes the sentence correct
These exercises will make reading more effective.
Remember that reading and comprehension must always go together.
Here are directions that you can use for the worksheets of the younger children.
- Match the word to the correct picture.
- Match the picture to the word.
- Encircle the correct name of the picture.
- Color the correct picture that matches the word.
Sample Worksheet.
Pam is a Lass
Pam is a lass.
Pam has a bag.
The bag has a tag.
Underline the sentence that is true about the story.
Pam is a lass.
Pam has a hat.
Pam has a bag.
The bag has rag.
The bag has tag.
Write the word that best completes the sentence.
Pam is a _______. (lad – lass)
Pam has a ________. (bag – bat)
The bag has a ______.(tag – bat)
The ______ has a tag. (rag – bag)
______ is a lass. (Pam– Bam)